Matthew 11:13-14

11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John appeared. ¹  11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.

Deuteronomy 18:18

18:18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command.

Deuteronomy 34:5-6

34:5 So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab as the Lord had said. 34:6 He ²  buried him in the land of Moab near Beth Peor, but no one knows his exact burial place to this very day.

Deuteronomy 34:10

34:10 No prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face to face. ³ 

Luke 24:27

24:27 Then ⁴  beginning with Moses and all the prophets, ⁵  he interpreted to them the things written about ⁶  himself in all the scriptures.

Luke 24:44

Jesus’ Final Commission

24:44 Then ⁷  he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me ⁸  in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms ⁹  must be fulfilled.”

John 1:17

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but ¹⁰  grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

John 5:45-47

5:45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. ¹¹  5:46 If ¹²  you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses ¹³  wrote, how will you believe my words?”

John 5:2

5:2 Now there is ¹⁴  in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate ¹⁵  a pool called Bethzatha ¹⁶  in Aramaic, ¹⁷  which has five covered walkways. ¹⁸ 

Colossians 3:7-11

3:7 You also lived your lives ¹⁹  in this way at one time, when you used to live among them. 3:8 But now, put off all such things ²⁰  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth. 3:9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices 3:10 and have been clothed with the new man ²¹  that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. 3:11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave ²²  or free, but Christ is all and in all.

Hebrews 3:1-6

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ²³  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ²⁴  3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s ²⁵  house. ²⁶  3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 3:5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s ²⁷  house ²⁸  as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. 3:6 But Christ ²⁹  is faithful as a son over God’s ³⁰  house. We are of his house, ³¹  if in fact we hold firmly ³²  to our confidence and the hope we take pride in. ³³ 

[11:13]  ¹ tn The word “appeared” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[34:6]  ² tc Smr and some LXX mss read “they buried him,” that is, the Israelites. The MT reads “he buried him,” meaning in the context that “the Lord buried him.” This understanding, combined with the statement at the end of the verse that Moses’ burial place is unknown, gave rise to traditions during the intertestamental period that are reflected in the NT in Jude 9 and in OT pseudepigraphic works like the Assumption of Moses.

[34:10]  ³ sn See Num 12:8; Deut 18:15-18.

[24:27]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:27]  ⁵ sn The reference to Moses and all the prophets is a way to say the promise of Messiah runs throughout OT scripture from first to last.

[24:27]  ⁶ tn Or “regarding,” “concerning.” “Written” is implied by the mention of the scriptures in context; “said” could also be used here, referring to the original utterances, but by now these things had been committed to writing.

[24:44]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:44]  ⁸ sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.

[24:44]  ⁹ sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.

[1:17]  ¹⁰ tn “But” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the implied contrast between the Mosaic law and grace through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 seems to indicate clearly that the Old Covenant (Sinai) was being contrasted with the New. In Jewish sources the Law was regarded as a gift from God (Josephus, Ant. 3.8.10 [3.223]; Pirqe Avot 1.1; Sifre Deut 31:4 §305). Further information can be found in T. F. Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (SBT).

[5:45]  ¹¹ sn The final condemnation will come from Moses himself – again ironic, since Moses is the very one the Jewish authorities have trusted in (placed your hope). This is again ironic if it is occurring at Pentecost, which at this time was being celebrated as the occasion of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is evidence that some Jews of the 1st century looked on Moses as their intercessor at the final judgment (see W. A. Meeks, The Prophet King [NovTSup], 161). This would mean the statement Moses, in whom you have placed your hope should be taken literally and relates directly to Jesus’ statements about the final judgment in John 5:28-29.

[5:46]  ¹² tn Grk “For if.”

[5:47]  ¹³ tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Regarding the use of the present tense ἐστιν (estin) and its implications for the dating of the Gospel of John, see the article by D. B. Wallace, “John 5,2 and the Date of the Fourth Gospel,” Bib 71 (1990): 177-205.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn The site of the miracle is also something of a problem: προβατικῇ (probatikh) is usually taken as a reference to the Sheep Gate near the temple. Some (R. E. Brown and others) would place the word κολυμβήθρα (kolumbhqra) with προβατικῇ to read “in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Pool, there is (another pool) with the Hebrew name.” This would imply that there is reference to two pools in the context rather than only one. This does not seem necessary (although it is a grammatical possibility). The gender of the words does not help since both are feminine (as is the participle ἐπιλεγομένη [epilegomenh]). Note however that Brown’s suggestion would require a feminine word to be supplied (for the participle ἐπιλεγομένη to modify). The traditional understanding of the phrase as a reference to the Sheep Gate near the temple appears more probably correct.

[5:2]  ¹⁶ tc Some mss (א [L] 33 it) read Bethzatha, while others read Bethsaida (Ì^[66],75 B T W^s [Ψ] pc vg); codex D has Belzetha. A lot of controversy has surrounded the name of the pool itself: The reading of the Byzantine (or majority) text (A C Θ 078 Ë^1,13 Ï), Bethesda, has been virtually discarded by scholars in favor of what is thought to be the more primitive Bethzatha, even though many recent translations continue to employ Bethesda, the traditional reading. The latter is attested by Josephus as the name of a quarter of the city near the northeast corner of the temple area. He reports that the Syrian Legate Cestius burned this suburb in his attack on Jerusalem in October a.d. 68 (J. W. 2.19.4 [2.530]). However, there is some new archaeological evidence for this problem. 3Q15 (Copper Scroll) from Qumran seems to indicate that in the general area of the temple, on the eastern hill of Jerusalem, a treasure was buried in Bet áEsdatayin, in the pool at the entrance to the smaller basin. The name of the region or pool itself seems then to have been Bet ᾿Esda, “house of the flowing.” It appears with the dual ending in the scroll because there were two basins. Bethesda seems to be an accurate Greek rendition of the name, while J. T. Milik suggests Bethzatha is a rendition of the Aramaic intensive plural Bet áEsdata (DJDJ 3, 271). As for the text of John 5:2, the fundamental problems with the Bethesda reading are that it looks motivated (with an edifying Semitic etymology, meaning “House of Mercy” [TCGNT 178]), and is minimally attested. Apart from the Copper Scroll, the evidence for Bethesda is almost entirely shut up to the Byzantine text (C being the most notable exception, but it often has Byzantine encroachments). On the one hand, this argues the Byzantine reading here had ancient, semitic roots; on the other hand, since both readings are attested as historically accurate, a decision has to be based on the better witnesses. The fact that there are multiple readings here suggests that the original was not well understood. Which reading best explains the rise of the others? It seems that Bethzatha is the best choice.

[5:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[5:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “porticoes,” or “colonnades”; Grk “stoas.”

[3:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “you also walked.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is commonly used in the NT to refer to behavior or conduct of one’s life (L&N 41.11).

[3:8]  ²⁰ tn The Greek article with τὰ πάντα (ta panta) is anaphoric, referring to the previous list of vices, and has been translated here as “all such things.”

[3:10]  ²¹ sn Put off all such things. The commands in vv. 8-9 are based on two reasons given in vv. 9-10 – reasons which are expressed in terms of a metaphor about clothing oneself. Paul says that they have put off the old man and have put on the new man. Two things need to be discussed in reference to Paul’s statement. (1) What is the meaning of the clothing imagery (i.e., the “have put off” and “have been clothed”)? (2) What is the meaning of the old man and the new man? Though some commentators understand the participles “have put off” (v. 9) and “have been clothed” (v. 10) as imperatives (i.e., “put off!” and “put on!”), this use of participles is extremely rare in the NT and thus unlikely here. It is better to take them as having the semantic force of indicatives, and thus they give an explanation of what had happened to the Colossians at the time of their conversion – they had taken off the old man and put on the new when they trusted in Christ (cf. 1:4). While it is difficult to say for certain what the background to Paul’s “clothing” metaphor might be (whether it is primarily Jewish and comes from the OT, or primarily Gentile and comes from some facet of the Greco-Roman religious milieu), it is nonetheless clear, on the basis of Paul’s usage of the expression, that the old man refers to man as he is in Adam and dominated by sin (cf. Rom 6:6; Eph 4:22), while the new man refers to the Christian whose new sphere of existence is in Christ. Though the metaphor of clothing oneself primarily reflects outward actions, there is a distinct inward aspect to it, as the rest of v. 10 indicates: being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. Paul’s point, then, is that Christians should take off their dirty clothing (inappropriate behavior) and put on clean clothing (behavior consistent with knowing Christ) because this has already been accomplished in a positional sense at the time of their conversion (cf. Gal 3:27 with Rom 13:14).

[3:11]  ²² tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[3:1]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “of our confession.”

[3:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ²⁶ tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (Ì^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ ({olw, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁷ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:5]  ²⁷ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:5]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Num 12:7.

[3:6]  ²⁹ sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.

[3:6]  ³⁰ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.

[3:6]  ³² tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì^13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) add μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν (mecri telou" bebaian, “secure until the end”). The external evidence for the omission, though minimal, has excellent credentials. Considering the internal factors, B. M. Metzger (TCGNT 595) finds it surprising that the feminine adjective βεβαίαν should modify the neuter noun καύχημα (kauchma, here translated “we take pride”), a fact that suggests that even the form of the word was borrowed from another place. Since the same phrase occurs at Heb 3:14, it is likely that later scribes added it here at Heb 3:6 in anticipation of Heb 3:14. While these words belong at 3:14, they seem foreign to 3:6.

[3:6]  ³³ tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”