John 11:41

11:41 So they took away ¹  the stone. Jesus looked upward ²  and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. ³ 

Psalms 121:1-2

Psalm 121 ⁴ 

A song of ascents. ⁵ 

121:1 I look up ⁶  toward the hills.

From where ⁷  does my help come?

121:2 My help comes from the Lord, ⁸ 

the Creator ⁹  of heaven and earth!

Psalms 123:1

Psalm 123 ¹⁰ 

A song of ascents. ¹¹ 

123:1 I look up ¹²  toward you,

the one enthroned ¹³  in heaven.

Isaiah 38:14

38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,

I coo ¹⁴  like a dove;

my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ¹⁵ 

O sovereign master, ¹⁶  I am oppressed;

help me! ¹⁷ 

Luke 18:13

18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ¹⁸  far off and would not even look up ¹⁹  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ²⁰  to me, sinner that I am!’ ²¹ 

[11:41]  ¹ tn Or “they removed.”

[11:41]  ² tn Grk “lifted up his eyes above.”

[11:41]  ³ tn Or “that you have heard me.”

[121:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 121. The psalm affirms that the Lord protects his people Israel. Unless the psalmist addresses an observer (note the second person singular forms in vv. 3-8), it appears there are two or three speakers represented in the psalm, depending on how one takes v. 3. The translation assumes that speaker one talks in vv. 1-2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in v. 3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in vv. 4-8. If the verbs in v. 3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Verses 3-8 are speaker two’s response to the words of speaker one. See the note on the word “sleep” at the end of v. 3.

[121:1]  ⁵ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[121:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”

[121:1]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term מֵאַיִן (me’ayin) is interrogative, not relative, in function. Rather than directly stating that his source of help descends from the hills, the psalmist is asking, “From where does my help come?” Nevertheless, the first line does indicate that he is looking toward the hills for help, probably indicating that he is looking up toward the sky in anticipation of supernatural intervention. The psalmist assumes the dramatic role of one needing help. He answers his own question in v. 2.

[121:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “my help [is] from with the Lord.”

[121:2]  ⁹ tn Or “Maker.”

[123:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.

[123:1]  ¹¹ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[123:1]  ¹² tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”

[123:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12).

[38:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”

[38:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”

[38:14]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[38:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.

[18:13]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

[18:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

[18:13]  ²⁰ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

[18:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.