John 5:42

5:42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God ¹  within you.

John 5:46-47

5:46 If ²  you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses ³  wrote, how will you believe my words?”

John 8:37

8:37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. ⁴  But you want ⁵  to kill me, because my teaching ⁶  makes no progress among you. ⁷ 

John 8:46-47

8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty ⁸  of any sin? ⁹  If I am telling you ¹⁰  the truth, why don’t you believe me? 8:47 The one who belongs to ¹¹  God listens and responds ¹²  to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond, ¹³  because you don’t belong to God.” ¹⁴ 

John 15:7

15:7 If you remain ¹⁵  in me and my words remain ¹⁶  in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. ¹⁷ 

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Exhortation to Teach the Covenant Principles

6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 6:7 and you must teach ¹⁸  them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, ¹⁹  as you lie down, and as you get up. 6:8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm ²⁰  and fasten them as symbols ²¹  on your forehead. 6:9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates. ²² 

Joshua 1:8

1:8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! ²³  You must memorize it ²⁴  day and night so you can carefully obey ²⁵  all that is written in it. Then you will prosper ²⁶  and be successful. ²⁷ 

Psalms 119:11

119:11 In my heart I store up ²⁸  your words, ²⁹ 

so I might not sin against you.

Proverbs 2:1-2

Benefits of Seeking Wisdom ³⁰ 

2:1 My child, ³¹  if ³²  you receive my words,

and store up ³³  my commands within you,

2:2 by making ³⁴  your ear ³⁵  attentive to wisdom,

and ³⁶  by turning ³⁷  your heart ³⁸  to understanding,

Proverbs 7:1-2

Admonition to Avoid the Wiles of the Adulteress ³⁹ 

7:1 My child, ⁴⁰  keep my words

and treasure up my commands in your own keeping. ⁴¹ 

7:2 Keep my commands ⁴²  so that you may live, ⁴³ 

and obey ⁴⁴  my instruction as your most prized possession. ⁴⁵ 

Colossians 3:16

3:16 Let the word of Christ ⁴⁶  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ⁴⁷  in your hearts to God.

James 1:21-22

1:21 So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly ⁴⁸  welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. 1:22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves.

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ⁴⁹  a slave ⁵⁰  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ⁵¹  Greetings!

James 2:14

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ⁵²  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ⁵³  save him? ⁵⁴ 

[5:42]  ¹ tn The genitive in the phrase τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ (thn agaphn tou qeou, “the love of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“God’s love”) or an objective genitive (“love for God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, the emphasis would be on the love God gives which in turn produces love for him, but Jesus’ opponents are lacking any such love inside them.

[5:46]  ² tn Grk “For if.”

[5:47]  ³ tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:37]  ⁴ tn Grk “seed” (an idiom).

[8:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “you are seeking.”

[8:37]  ⁶ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:37]  ⁷ tn Or “finds no place in you.” The basic idea seems to be something (in this case Jesus’ teaching) making headway or progress where resistance is involved. See BDAG 1094 s.v. χωρέω 2.

[8:46]  ⁸ tn Or “can convict me.”

[8:46]  ⁹ tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”

[8:46]  ¹⁰ tn Or “if I tell you.”

[8:47]  ¹¹ tn Grk “who is of.”

[8:47]  ¹² tn Grk “to God hears” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).

[8:47]  ¹³ tn Grk “you do not hear” (in the sense of listening to something and responding to it).

[8:47]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “you are not of God.”

[15:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ¹⁷ sn Once again Jesus promises the disciples ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. This recalls 14:13-14, where the disciples were promised that if they asked anything in Jesus’ name it would be done for them. The two thoughts are really quite similar, since here it is conditioned on the disciples’ remaining in Jesus and his words remaining in them. The first phrase relates to the genuineness of their relationship with Jesus. The second phrase relates to their obedience. When both of these qualifications are met, the disciples would in fact be asking in Jesus’ name and therefore according to his will.

[6:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “repeat” (so NLT). If from the root I שָׁנַן (shanan), the verb means essentially to “engrave,” that is, “to teach incisively” (Piel); note NAB “Drill them into your children.” Cf. BDB 1041-42 s.v.

[6:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”

[6:8]  ²⁰ sn Tie them as a sign on your forearm. Later Jewish tradition referred to the little leather containers tied to the forearms and foreheads as tefillin. They were to contain the following passages from the Torah: Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; Deut 6:5-9; 11:13-21. The purpose was to serve as a “sign” of covenant relationship and obedience.

[6:8]  ²¹ sn Fasten them as symbols on your forehead. These were also known later as tefillin (see previous note) or phylacteries (from the Greek term). These box-like containers, like those on the forearms, held the same scraps of the Torah. It was the hypocritical practice of wearing these without heartfelt sincerity that caused Jesus to speak scathingly about them (cf. Matt 23:5).

[6:9]  ²² sn The Hebrew term מְזוּזֹת (mÿzuzot) refers both to the door frames and to small cases attached on them containing scripture texts (always Deut 6:4-9 and 11:13-21; and sometimes the decalogue; Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; and Num 10:35-36). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 443-44.

[1:8]  ²³ tn Heb “mouth.”

[1:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).

[1:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “be careful to do.”

[1:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”

[1:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[119:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “hide.”

[119:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”

[2:1]  ³⁰ sn The chapter begins with an admonition to receive wisdom (1-4) and then traces the benefits: the knowledge of God and his protection (5-8), moral discernment for living (9-11), protection from evil men (12-15) and immoral women (16-19), and enablement for righteous living (20-22).

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “my son.”

[2:1]  ³² sn Verses 1-11 form one long conditional sentence in the Hebrew text: (1) the protasis (“if…”) encompasses vv. 1-4 and (2) the apodosis (“then…”) consists of two parallel panels in vv. 5-8 and vv. 9-11 both of which are introduced by the particle אָז (’az, “then”).

[2:1]  ³³ sn The verb “to store up” (צָפַן, tsafan; cf. NAB, NLT “treasure”) in the second colon qualifies the term “receive” (לָקַח, laqakh) in the first, just as “commands” intensifies “words.” This pattern of intensification through parallelism occurs throughout the next three verses. The verb “to store up; to treasure” is used in reference to things of value for future use, e.g., wealth, dowry for a bride. Since proverbs will be useful throughout life and not always immediately applicable, the idea of storing up the sayings is fitting. They will form the way people think which in turn will influence attitudes (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 43).

[2:2]  ³⁴ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַקְשִׁיב (lÿhaqshiv, “by making attentive”) functions as an epexegetical explanation of how one will receive the instruction.

[2:2]  ³⁵ sn The word “ear” is a metonymy of cause; the word is used as the instrument of hearing. But in parallelism with “heart” it indicates one aspect of the mental process of hearing and understanding. A “hearing ear” describes an obedient or responsive person (BDB 24 s.v. אֹזֶן 2).

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[2:2]  ³⁷ tn The Hiphil imperfect (“by turning”) continues the nuance introduced by the infinitive construct in the first colon (GKC 352 §114.r). The verb נָטָה (natah) normally means “to stretch out” and only occasionally “to turn” or “to incline” one’s heart to something, as is the case here.

[2:2]  ³⁸ tn Or “mind” (the center of the will, the choice).

[7:1]  ³⁹ sn The chapter begins with the important teaching of the father (1-5), then it focuses on the seduction: first of the victim (6-9), then the temptress (10-12), then the seduction (13-20), and the capitulation (21-23); the chapter concludes with the deadly results of consorting (24-27).

[7:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “my son.”

[7:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “within you” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “with you.” BDB 860 s.v. צָפַן Qal.1 suggests that “within you” means “in your own keeping.”

[7:2]  ⁴² tc Before v. 2 the LXX inserts: “My son, fear the Lord and you will be strong, and besides him, fear no other.” Although this addition has the precedent of 3:7 and 9 and harmonizes with 14:26, it does not fit here; the advice is to listen to the teacher.

[7:2]  ⁴³ tn The construction of an imperative with the vav (ו) of sequence after another imperative denotes a logical sequence of purpose or result: “that you may live,” or “and you will live.”

[7:2]  ⁴⁴ tn The term “obey” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied for the sake of clarity and smoothness. Some English versions, in light of the second line of v. 1, supply “guard” (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT).

[7:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the little man in your eye.” Traditionally this Hebrew idiom is translated into English as “the apple of your eye” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); a more contemporary rendering would be “as your most prized possession.” The word for “man” has the diminutive ending on it. It refers to the pupil, where the object focused on – a man – is reflected in miniature. The point is that the teaching must be the central focus of the disciple’s vision and attention.

[3:16]  ⁴⁶ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

[3:16]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.

[1:21]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “with meekness.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[2:14]  ⁵² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:14]  ⁵³ tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pisti") in the verse. See ExSyn 219.

[2:14]  ⁵⁴ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.