5:1 Now 6 Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, 7 and the crowd was pressing around him 8 to hear the word of God.
8:11 “Now the parable means 9 this: The seed is the word of God.
8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem 15 heard that Samaria had accepted the word 16 of God, they sent 17 Peter and John to them.
13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled together to hear the word of the Lord. 18
4:1 Therefore we must be wary 26 that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.
1:1 After God spoke long ago 27 in various portions 28 and in various ways 29 to our ancestors 30 through the prophets, 1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, 31 whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. 32
1:1 After God spoke long ago 33 in various portions 34 and in various ways 35 to our ancestors 36 through the prophets,
1 tn Heb “What to the straw with [in comparison with] the grain?” This idiom represents an emphatic repudiation or denial of relationship. See, for example, the usage in 2 Sam 16:10 and note BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d(c).
2 tn Heb “Oracle of the
3 tn Heb “Is not my message like a fire?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer that is made explicit in the translation. The words “that purges dross” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” See preceding note.
5 tn Heb “Oracle of the
6 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
7 sn The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Cf. the parallel in Matt 4:18.
8 sn The image of the crowd pressing around him suggests the people leaning forward to catch Jesus’ every word.
9 tn Grk “is,” but in this context it is clearly giving an explanation of the parable.
10 tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he replied.”
11 tn There is some discussion about the grammar of this verse in Greek. If “these” is the subject, then it reads, “These are my mother and brothers, those who.” If “these” is a nominative absolute, which is slightly more likely, then the verse more literally reads, “So my mother and brothers, they are those who.” The sense in either case is the same.
12 sn Hearing and doing the word of God is another important NT theme: Luke 6:47-49; Jas 1:22-25.
13 tn Grk “said.”
14 sn This is another reference to hearing and doing the word of God, which here describes Jesus’ teaching; see Luke 8:21.
15 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
16 tn Or “message.”
17 sn They sent. The Jerusalem church with the apostles was overseeing the expansion of the church, as the distribution of the Spirit indicates in vv. 15-17.
18 tc Most
19 tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.
20 tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.
21 tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”
22 tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.
23 sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.
24 tn The Greek term here is ῥῆμα (rJhma), which often (but not exclusively) focuses on the spoken word.
25 tc Most
26 tn Grk “let us fear.”
27 tn Or “spoke formerly.”
28 tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).
29 tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.
30 tn Grk “to the fathers.”
31 tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).
32 tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.
33 tn Or “spoke formerly.”
34 tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).
35 tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.
36 tn Grk “to the fathers.”