Leviticus 20:24-26

20:24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples. ¹  20:25 Therefore you must distinguish ²  between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground – creatures ³  I have distinguished for you as unclean. ⁴  20:26 You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.

Numbers 16:9-10

16:9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them? 16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek ⁵  the priesthood also?

Deuteronomy 10:8

10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ⁶  to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings ⁷  in his name, as they do to this very day.

Deuteronomy 10:1

The Opportunity to Begin Again

10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 23:13

23:13 You must have a spade among your other equipment and when you relieve yourself ⁹  outside you must dig a hole with the spade ¹⁰  and then turn and cover your excrement. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ¹² 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ¹³ 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 1:5

1:5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb ¹⁵  I chose you. ¹⁶ 

Before you were born I set you apart.

I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

Acts 13:2-4

13:2 While they were serving ¹⁷  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ¹⁸  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 13:3 Then, after they had fasted ¹⁹  and ²⁰  prayed and placed their hands ²¹  on them, they sent them off.

Paul and Barnabas Preach in Cyprus

13:4 So Barnabas and Saul, ²²  sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, ²³  and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ²⁴ 

Galatians 1:15

1:15 But when the one ²⁵  who set me apart from birth ²⁶  and called me by his grace was pleased

Galatians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁷  an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

Galatians 1:15-16

1:15 But when the one ²⁸  who set me apart from birth ²⁹  and called me by his grace was pleased 1:16 to reveal his Son in ³⁰  me so that I could preach him ³¹  among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from ³²  any human being, ³³ 

Hebrews 7:26

7:26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

[20:24]  ¹ tc Here and with the same phrase in v. 26, the LXX adds “all,” resulting in the reading “all the peoples.”

[20:25]  ² tn Heb “And you shall distinguish.” The verb is the same as “set apart” at the end of the previous verse. The fact that God had “set them apart” from the other peoples roundabout them called for them to “distinguish between” the clean and the unclean, etc.

[20:25]  ³ tn The word “creatures” has been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the following relative clause modifies the animal, bird, or creeping thing mentioned earlier, and not the ground itself.

[20:25]  ⁴ tc The MT has “to defile,” but Smr, LXX, and Syriac have “to uncleanness.”

[16:10]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Piel perfect. There is no imperfect tense before this, which makes the construction a little difficult. If the vav (ו) is classified as a consecutive, then the form would stand alone as an equivalent to the imperfect, and rendered as a modal nuance such as “would you [now] seek,” or as a progressive imperfect, “are you seeking.” This latter nuance can be obtained by treating it as a regular perfect tense, with an instantaneous nuance: “do you [now] seek.”

[10:8]  ⁶ sn The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi. This was not the initial commissioning of the tribe of Levi to this ministry (cf. Num 3:11-13; 8:12-26), but with Aaron’s death it seemed appropriate to Moses to reiterate Levi’s responsibilities. There is no reference in the Book of Numbers to this having been done, but the account of Eleazar’s succession to the priesthood there (Num 20:25-28) would provide a setting for this to have occurred.

[10:8]  ⁷ sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.

[10:1]  ⁸ tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.

[23:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “sit.” This expression is euphemistic.

[23:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with it”; the referent (the spade mentioned at the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “what comes from you,” a euphemism.

[49:1]  ¹² tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the womb.” The words “your mother’s” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I knew you.” The parallelism here with “set you apart” and “appointed you” make clear that Jeremiah is speaking of his foreordination to be a prophet. For this same nuance of the Hebrew verb see Gen 18:19; Amos 3:2.

[13:2]  ¹⁷ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Appoint.”

[13:3]  ¹⁹ tn The three aorist participles νηστεύσαντες (nhsteusante"), προσευξάμενοι (proseuxamenoi), and ἐπιθέντες (epiqente") are translated as temporal participles. Although they could indicate contemporaneous time when used with an aorist main verb, logically here they are antecedent. On fasting and prayer, see Matt 6:5, 16; Luke 2:37; 5:33; Acts 14:23.

[13:3]  ²⁰ tn Normally English style, which uses a coordinating conjunction between only the last two elements of a series of three or more, would call for omission of “and” here. However, since the terms “fasting and prayer” are something of a unit, often linked together, the conjunction has been retained here.

[13:3]  ²¹ sn The placing of hands on Barnabas and Saul (traditionally known as “the laying on of hands”) refers to an act picturing the commission of God and the church for the task at hand.

[13:4]  ²² tn Grk “they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:4]  ²³ sn Seleucia was the port city of Antioch in Syria.

[13:4]  ²⁴ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[1:15]  ²⁵ tc ‡ Several important witnesses have ὁ θεός (Jo qeos) after εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen; so א A D Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï co) while the shorter reading is supported by Ì⁴⁶ B F G 629 1505 pc lat. There is hardly any reason why scribes would omit the words (although the Beatty papyrus and the Western text do at times omit words and phrases), but several reasons why scribes would add the words (especially the need to clarify). The confluence of witnesses for the shorter reading (including a few fathers and versions) adds strong support for its authenticity. It is also in keeping with Paul’s style to refrain from mentioning God by name as a rhetorical device (cf. ExSyn 437 [although this section deals with passive constructions, the principle is the same]). NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[1:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “from my mother’s womb.”

[1:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:15]  ²⁸ tc ‡ Several important witnesses have ὁ θεός (Jo qeos) after εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen; so א A D Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï co) while the shorter reading is supported by Ì⁴⁶ B F G 629 1505 pc lat. There is hardly any reason why scribes would omit the words (although the Beatty papyrus and the Western text do at times omit words and phrases), but several reasons why scribes would add the words (especially the need to clarify). The confluence of witnesses for the shorter reading (including a few fathers and versions) adds strong support for its authenticity. It is also in keeping with Paul’s style to refrain from mentioning God by name as a rhetorical device (cf. ExSyn 437 [although this section deals with passive constructions, the principle is the same]). NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[1:15]  ²⁹ tn Grk “from my mother’s womb.”

[1:16]  ³⁰ tn Or “to me”; the Greek preposition ἐν (en) can mean either, depending on the context.

[1:16]  ³¹ tn This pronoun refers to “his Son,” mentioned earlier in the verse.

[1:16]  ³² tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.

[1:16]  ³³ tn Grk “from flesh and blood.”