Judges 8:4

Gideon Tracks Down the Midianite Kings

8:4 Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites. ¹ 

Psalms 22:14-15

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ² 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ³  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

22:15 The roof of my mouth ⁴  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ⁵ 

You ⁶  set me in the dust of death. ⁷ 

John 19:28

Jesus’ Death

19:28 After this Jesus, realizing that by this time ⁸  everything was completed, ⁹  said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ¹⁰  “I am thirsty!” ¹¹ 

John 19:2

19:2 The soldiers ¹²  braided ¹³  a crown of thorns ¹⁴  and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. ¹⁵ 

Colossians 4:8-9

4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ¹⁶  and that he may encourage your hearts. 4:9 I sent him ¹⁷  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ¹⁸  They will tell ¹⁹  you about everything here.

[8:4]  ¹ tn Heb “And Gideon arrived at the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and chasing.” The English past perfect (“had crossed”) is used because this verse flashes back chronologically to an event that preceded the hostile encounter described in vv. 1-3. (Note that 7:25 assumes Gideon had already crossed the Jordan.)

[22:14]  ² tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ³ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[22:15]  ⁴ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ⁵ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ⁶ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ⁷ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[19:28]  ⁸ tn Or “that already.”

[19:28]  ⁹ tn Or “finished,” “accomplished”; Grk “fulfilled.”

[19:28]  ¹⁰ sn A reference to Ps 69:21 or Ps 22:15.

[19:28]  ¹¹ sn In order to fulfill (τελειωθῇ [teleiwqh], a wordplay on the previous statement that everything was completed [τετέλεσται, tetelestai]) the scripture, he said, “I am thirsty.” The scripture referred to is probably Ps 69:21, “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Also suggested, however, is Ps 22:15, “My tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth, and you [God] lay me in the dust of death.” Ps 22:1 reads “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?,” a statement Jesus makes from the cross in both Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34. In light of the connection in the Fourth Gospel between thirst and the living water which Jesus offers, it is highly ironic that here Jesus himself, the source of that living water, expresses his thirst. And since 7:39 associates the living water with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ statement here in 19:28 amounts to an admission that at this point he has been forsaken by God (cf. Ps 22:1, Matt 27:46, and Mark 15:34).

[19:2]  ¹² tn Grk “And the soldiers.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:2]  ¹³ tn Or “wove.”

[19:2]  ¹⁴ sn The crown of thorns was a crown plaited of some thorny material, intended as a mockery of Jesus’ “kingship.” Traditionally it has been regarded as an additional instrument of torture, but it seems more probable the purpose of the thorns was not necessarily to inflict more physical suffering but to imitate the spikes of the “radiant corona,” a type of crown portrayed on ruler’s heads on many coins of the period; the spikes on this type of crown represented rays of light pointing outward (the best contemporary illustration is the crown on the head of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor).

[19:2]  ¹⁵ sn The purple color of the robe indicated royal status. This was further mockery of Jesus, along with the crown of thorns.

[4:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”