Luke 7:12

7:12 As he approached the town gate, a man ¹  who had died was being carried out, ²  the only son of his mother (who ³  was a widow ⁴ ), and a large crowd from the town ⁵  was with her.

Genesis 44:20-22

44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ⁶  The boy’s ⁷  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ⁸  and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see ⁹  him.’ ¹⁰  44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ¹¹  will die.’ ¹² 

Job 1:18-19

1:18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:19 and suddenly ¹³  a great wind ¹⁴  swept across ¹⁵  the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

Zechariah 12:10

12:10 “I will pour out on the kingship ¹⁶  of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, ¹⁷  the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn. ¹⁸ 

[7:12]  ¹ tn Grk “behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[7:12]  ² tn That is, carried out for burial. This was a funeral procession.

[7:12]  ³ tn Grk “and she.” The clause introduced by καί (kai) has been translated as a relative clause for the sake of English style.

[7:12]  ⁴ sn The description of the woman as a widow would mean that she was now socially alone and without protection in 1st century Jewish culture.

[7:12]  ⁵ tn Or “city.”

[44:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

[44:21]  ⁹ tn The cohortative after the imperative indicates purpose here.

[44:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that I may set my eyes upon him.”

[44:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:22]  ¹² tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.

[1:19]  ¹³ tn The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) in this sentence is deictic, pointing out with excitement the events that happened as if the listener was there.

[1:19]  ¹⁴ sn Both wind and lightning (v. 16) were employed by Satan as his tools. God can permit him such control over factors of the weather when it suits the divine purpose, but God retains ultimate control (see 28:23-27; Prov 3:4; Luke 8:24-25).

[1:19]  ¹⁵ tn The word מֵעֵבֶר (me’ever) is simply “from the direction of”; the word עֵבֶר (’ever) indicates the area the whirlwind came across.

[12:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or “dynasty”; Heb “house.”

[12:10]  ¹⁷ tc Because of the difficulty of the concept of the mortal piercing of God, the subject of this clause, and the shift of pronoun from “me” to “him” in the next, many mss read אַלֵי אֵת אֲשֶׁר (’ale ’et ’asher, “to the one whom,” a reading followed by NAB, NRSV) rather than the MT’s אֵלַי אֵת אֲשֶׁר (’ela ’et ’asher, “to me whom”). The reasons for such alternatives, however, are clear – they are motivated by scribes who found such statements theologically objectionable – and they should be rejected in favor of the more difficult reading (lectio difficilior) of the MT.

[12:10]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term בְּכוֹר (bÿkhor, “firstborn”), translated usually in the LXX by πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos), has unmistakable messianic overtones as the use of the Greek term in the NT to describe Jesus makes clear (cf. Col 1:15, 18). Thus, the idea of God being pierced sets the stage for the fatal wounding of Jesus, the Messiah and the Son of God (cf. John 19:37; Rev 1:7). Note that some English translations supply “son” from the context (e.g., NIV, TEV, NLT).