John 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ¹  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ²  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ³  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

John 12:46

12:46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.

Psalms 18:28

18:28 Indeed, ⁴  you are my lamp, Lord. ⁵ 

My God ⁶  illuminates the darkness around me. ⁷ 

Psalms 97:11

97:11 The godly bask in the light;

the morally upright experience joy. ⁸ 

Isaiah 50:10

50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?

Who obeys ⁹  his servant?

Whoever walks in deep darkness, ¹⁰ 

without light,

should trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ¹¹ 

Is my hand too weak ¹²  to deliver ¹³  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ¹⁴  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 2:4

2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;

he will settle cases for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ¹⁶ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ¹⁷ 

Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Isaiah 2:17

2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,

arrogant men will be brought low; ¹⁸ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ¹⁹ 

in that day.

Jude 1:6

1:6 You also know that ²⁰  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ²¹  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ²²  in eternal chains ²³  in utter ²⁴  darkness, locked up ²⁵  for the judgment of the great Day.

Jude 1:13

1:13 wild sea waves, ²⁶  spewing out the foam of ²⁷  their shame; ²⁸  wayward stars ²⁹  for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness ³⁰  have been reserved.

[12:35]  ¹ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ² tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ³ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[18:28]  ⁴ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki)is asseverative here.

[18:28]  ⁵ tn Ps 18:28 reads literally, “you light my lamp, Lord.” 2 Sam 22:29 has, “you are my lamp, Lord.” The Ps 18 reading may preserve two variants, נֵרִי (neriy, “my lamp”) and אוֹרִי (’oriy, “my light”), cf. Ps 27:1. The verb תָּאִיר (ta’ir, “you light”) in Ps 18:28 would, in this case, be a corruption of the latter. See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 150, n. 64. The metaphor, which likens the Lord to a lamp or light, pictures him as the psalmist’s source of life. For other examples of “lamp” used in this way, see Job 18:6; 21:17; Prov 13:9; 20:20; 24:20. For other examples of “light” as a symbol for life, see Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:13.

[18:28]  ⁶ tn 2 Sam 22:29 repeats the name “Lord.”

[18:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “my darkness.”

[97:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “Light is planted for the godly, and for the upright of heart joy.” The translation assumes an emendation of זָרַע (zara’, “planted”) to זָרַח (zara’, “shines”) which collocates more naturally with “light.” “Light” here symbolizes the joy (note the following line) that accompanies deliverance and the outpouring of divine favor.

[50:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[50:10]  ¹⁰ tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.

[50:2]  ¹¹ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ¹² tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ¹³ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[2:4]  ¹⁶ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[2:4]  ¹⁷ sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:93; M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle. Breaking weapons and fashioning agricultural implements indicates a transition from fear and stress to peace and security.

[2:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the pride of men will be brought down, and the arrogance of men will be brought low.” As in v. 11, the repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:17]  ¹⁹ tn Or “elevated”; NCV “praised”; CEV “honored.”

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:6]  ²¹ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

[1:6]  ²² sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

[1:6]  ²³ sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

[1:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”

[1:13]  ²⁷ tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”

[1:13]  ²⁸ tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.

[1:13]  ²⁹ sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.

[1:13]  ³⁰ tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.