John 1:38

1:38 Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?” ¹  So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), ²  “where are you staying?”

John 18:4

18:4 Then Jesus, because he knew everything that was going to happen to him, ³  came and asked them, “Who are you looking for?” ⁴ 

John 18:7

18:7 Then Jesus ⁵  asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

The Song of Songs 3:2

3:2 “I will arise ⁶  and look all around ⁷  throughout the town,

and throughout the streets ⁸  and squares;

I will search for my beloved.”

I searched for him but I did not find him. ⁹ 

The Song of Songs 6:1

The Lost Lover Found

The Maidens to the Beloved:

6:1 Where has your beloved gone,

O most beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned?

Tell us, ¹⁰  that we may seek him with you. ¹¹ 

Matthew 28:5

28:5 But the angel said ¹²  to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know ¹³  that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ¹⁴ 

Mark 16:6

16:6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. ¹⁵  He has been raised! ¹⁶  He is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him.

Luke 24:5

24:5 The ¹⁷  women ¹⁸  were terribly frightened ¹⁹  and bowed ²⁰  their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living ²¹  among the dead?

[1:38]  ¹ tn Grk “What are you seeking?”

[1:38]  ² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:4]  ³ tn Grk “knowing all things that were coming upon him.”

[18:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “Whom do you seek?”

[18:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁶ sn Three 1st person common singular cohortatives appear in verse 2: אָקוּמָה (’aqumah, “I will arise”), אֲסוֹבְבָה (’asovÿvah, “I will go about”), and אֲבַקְשָׁה (’avaqshah, “I will seek”). These cohortatives have been taken in two basic senses: (1) resolve: “I will arise…I will go about…I will seek” (KJV, NIV) or (2) necessity: “I must arise…I must go about…I must seek” (NASB, NJPS). There is no ethical or moral obligation/necessity, but the context emphasizes her intense determination (e.g., 3:4b). Therefore, they should be classified as cohortatives of resolve, expressing the speaker’s determination to pursue a course of action. The three-fold repetition of the cohortative form emphasizes the intensity of her determination.

[3:2]  ⁷ tn The root סָבַב (savav) in the Qal stem means “to go around, to do a circuit” (1 Sam 7:16; 2 Chr 17:9; 23:2; Eccl 12:5; Song 3:3; Isa 23:16; Hab 2:16), while the Polel stem means “to prowl around” (Ps 59:7, 15; Song 3:2) (HALOT 739-740 s.v. סבב). The idea here is that the Beloved is determined to “look all around” until she finds her beloved.

[3:2]  ⁸ sn There is a consonantal wordplay in 3:2 between the roots בּקשׁ and בּשׁק, that is, between אֲבַקְשָׁה (’avaqshah, “I will seek [him]”) and בַּשְּׁוָקִים (bashshÿvaqim, “streets”). The wordplay emphasizes that she searched in every nook and cranny.

[3:2]  ⁹ sn The statement בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו (biqqashtiv vÿlo’ mÿtsa’tiv, “I sought him but I did not find him”) appears twice in 3:1-2. In both cases it concludes a set of cola. The repetition depicts her mounting disappointment in her failure to locate her beloved. It stands in strong contrast with 3:4.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “Tell us!” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And we may seek him with you.” The vav-conjunctive on וּנְבַקְשֶׁנּוּ (unÿvaqshennu, “and we may seek him with you”) denotes purpose/result.

[28:5]  ¹² tn Grk “But answering, the angel said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[28:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “for I know.”

[28:5]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[16:6]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Crucify in 15:13.

[16:6]  ¹⁶ tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, hgerqh). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God.

[24:5]  ¹⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).

[24:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “They were extremely afraid.”

[24:5]  ²⁰ sn Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.

[24:5]  ²¹ sn By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.