Job 14:13

The Possibility of Another Life

14:13 “O that ¹  you would hide me in Sheol, ² 

and conceal me till your anger has passed! ³ 

O that you would set me a time ⁴ 

and then remember me! ⁵ 

Psalms 55:5-8

55:5 Fear and panic overpower me; ⁶ 

terror overwhelms ⁷  me.

55:6 I say, ⁸  “I wish I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and settle in a safe place!

55:7 Look, I will escape to a distant place;

I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)

55:8 I will hurry off to a place that is safe

from the strong wind ⁹  and the gale.”

Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ¹⁰  not be afraid of those who kill the body ¹¹  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ¹² 

Luke 12:4

12:4 “I ¹³  tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, ¹⁴  and after that have nothing more they can do.

Luke 12:2

12:2 Nothing is hidden ¹⁵  that will not be revealed, ¹⁶  and nothing is secret that will not be made known.

Luke 1:6-7

1:6 They ¹⁷  were both righteous in the sight of God, following ¹⁸  all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. ¹⁹  1:7 But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, ²⁰  and they were both very old. ²¹ 

Luke 1:2

1:2 like the accounts ²²  passed on ²³  to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word ²⁴  from the beginning. ²⁵ 

Luke 2:8

The Shepherds’ Visit

2:8 Now ²⁶  there were shepherds ²⁷  nearby ²⁸  living out in the field, keeping guard ²⁹  over their flock at night.

[14:13]  ¹ tn The optative mood is introduced here again with מִי יִתֵּן (mi yitten), literally, “who will give?”

[14:13]  ² sn Sheol in the Bible refers to the place where the dead go. But it can have different categories of meaning: death in general, the grave, or the realm of the departed spirits [hell]. A. Heidel shows that in the Bible when hell is in view the righteous are not there – it is the realm of the departed spirits of the wicked. When the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually the grave or death. See chapter 3 in A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels.

[14:13]  ³ tn The construction used here is the preposition followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive, forming an adverbial clause of time.

[14:13]  ⁴ tn This is the same word used in v. 5 for “limit.”

[14:13]  ⁵ tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) means more than simply “to remember.” In many cases, including this one, it means “to act on what is remembered,” i.e., deliver or rescue (see Gen 8:1, “and God remembered Noah”). In this sense, a prayer “remember me” is a prayer for God to act upon his covenant promises.

[55:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “fear and trembling enter into me.”

[55:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “covers.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the preceding imperfect.

[55:6]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the verbs in v. 5.

[55:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “[the] wind [that] sweeps away.” The verb סָעָה (sa’ah, “sweep away”) occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 120).

[10:28]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ¹¹ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ¹² sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[12:4]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:4]  ¹⁴ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[12:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “concealed.”

[12:2]  ¹⁶ sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known, though the stress with the images of darkness and what is hidden in vv. 2-3 is on the attempt to conceal.

[1:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “walking in” (an idiom for one’s lifestyle).

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn The predicate adjective has the effect of an adverb here (BDF §243).

[1:7]  ²⁰ sn Elizabeth was barren. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth are regarded by Luke as righteous in the sight of God, following all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly (v. 6). With this language, reminiscent of various passages in the OT, Luke is probably drawing implicit comparisons to the age and barrenness of such famous OT personalities as Abraham and Sarah (see, e.g., Gen 18:9-15), the mother of Samson (Judg 13:2-5), and Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Sam 1:1-20). And, as it was in the case of these OT saints, so it is with Elizabeth: After much anguish and seeking the Lord, she too is going to have a son in her barrenness. In that day it was a great reproach to be childless, for children were a sign of God’s blessing (cf. Gen 1:28; Lev 20:20-21; Pss 127 and 128; Jer 22:30). As the dawn of salvation draws near, however, God will change this elderly couple’s grief into great joy and grant them the one desire time had rendered impossible.

[1:7]  ²¹ tn Grk “were both advanced in days” (an idiom for old age).

[1:2]  ²² tn Grk “even as”; this compares the recorded tradition of 1:1 with the original eyewitness tradition of 1:2.

[1:2]  ²³ tn Or “delivered.”

[1:2]  ²⁴ sn The phrase eyewitnesses and servants of the word refers to a single group of people who faithfully passed on the accounts about Jesus. The language about delivery (passed on) points to accounts faithfully passed on to the early church.

[1:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “like the accounts those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word passed on to us.” The location of “in the beginning” in the Greek shows that the tradition is rooted in those who were with Jesus from the start.

[2:8]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[2:8]  ²⁷ sn Some argue that shepherds were among the culturally despised, but the evidence for this view of shepherds is late, coming from 5th century Jewish materials. December 25 as the celebrated date of Jesus’ birth arose around the time of Constantine (ca. a.d. 306-337), though it is mentioned in material from Hippolytus (a.d. 165-235). Some think that the reason for celebration on this date was that it coincided with the pagan Roman festival of Saturnalia, and Christians could celebrate their own festival at this time without fear of persecution. On the basis of the statement that the shepherds were living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night it is often suggested that Jesus’ birth took place in early spring, since it was only at lambing time that shepherds stood guard over their flocks in the field. This is not absolutely certain, however.

[2:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “in that region.”

[2:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “living in the field (see BDAG 15 s.v. ἀγραυλέω) and guarding their flock.”