Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ¹  not be afraid of those who kill the body ²  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ³ 

Proverbs 28:1

28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, ⁴ 

but the righteous person is as confident ⁵  as a lion.

Proverbs 29:25

29:25 The fear of people ⁶  becomes ⁷  a snare, ⁸ 

but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high. ⁹ 

Isaiah 41:10

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ¹⁰ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ¹¹ 

Isaiah 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹² 

men of ¹³  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ¹⁴  the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 43:1-2

The Lord Will Rescue His People

43:1 Now, this is what the Lord says,

the one who created you, O Jacob,

and formed you, O Israel:

“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect ¹⁶  you.

I call you by name, you are mine.

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ¹⁷  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ¹⁸  you.

Isaiah 51:7-8

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹⁹ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;

a clothes moth will devour them like wool.

But the vindication I provide ²⁰  will be permanent;

the deliverance I give will last.”

Isaiah 51:12-13

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ²¹ 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ²² 

51:13 Why do you forget ²³  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ²⁴ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ²⁵ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 1:8

1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, ²⁷  for I will be with you to protect ²⁸  you,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 1:17-18

1:17 “But you, Jeremiah, ²⁹  get yourself ready! ³⁰  Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them. ³¹  1:18 I, the Lord, ³²  hereby promise to make you ³³  as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in ³⁴  the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.

Ezekiel 2:6

2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ³⁵  and thorns ³⁶  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ³⁷  for they are a rebellious house!

Acts 4:13

4:13 When they saw the boldness ³⁸  of Peter and John, and discovered ³⁹  that they were uneducated ⁴⁰  and ordinary ⁴¹  men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:19

4:19 But Peter and John replied, ⁴²  “Whether it is right before God to obey ⁴³  you rather than God, you decide,

Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ⁴⁴  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ⁴⁵  of the temple guard ⁴⁶  and the Sadducees ⁴⁷  came up ⁴⁸  to them,

Acts 3:14

3:14 But you rejected ⁴⁹  the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you.

[10:28]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ² sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ³ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[28:1]  ⁴ sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.

[28:1]  ⁵ tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”

[29:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “the fear of man.” This uses an objective genitive to describe a situation where fearing what people might do or think controls one’s life. There is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males, so the translation uses the more generic “people” here.

[29:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “gives [or yields, or produces]”; NIV “will prove to be.”

[29:25]  ⁸ sn “Snare” is an implied comparison; fearing people is like being in a trap – there is no freedom of movement or sense of security.

[29:25]  ⁹ sn The image of being set on high comes from the military experience of finding a defensible position, a place of safety and security, such as a high wall or a mountain. Trusting in the Lord sets people free and gives them a sense of safety and security (e.g, Prov 10:27; 12:2).

[41:10]  ¹⁰ tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).

[41:10]  ¹¹ tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).

[41:14]  ¹² tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ¹³ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”

[43:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[51:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[51:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”

[51:12]  ²¹ tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.

[51:12]  ²² tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.

[51:13]  ²³ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ²⁴ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ²⁶ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

[1:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

[1:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “rescue.”

[1:17]  ²⁹ tn The name “Jeremiah” is not in the text. The use of the personal pronoun followed by the proper name is an attempt to reflect the correlative emphasis between Jeremiah’s responsibility noted here and the Lord’s promise noted in the next verse. The emphasis in the Hebrew text is marked by the presence of the subject pronouns at the beginning of each of the two verses.

[1:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “gird up your loins.” For the literal use of this idiom to refer to preparation for action see 2 Kgs 4:29; 9:1. For the idiomatic use to refer to spiritual and emotional preparation as here, see Job 38:3, 40:7, and 1 Pet 1:13 in the NT.

[1:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will make you terrified in front of them.” There is a play on words here involving two different forms of the same Hebrew verb and two different but related prepositional phrases, “from before/of,” a preposition introducing the object of a verb of fearing, and “before, in front of,” a preposition introducing a spatial location.

[1:18]  ³² tn See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.

[1:18]  ³³ tn Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the Lord is promising to protect Jeremiah from any future attacks which may result from his faithfully carrying out his commission. See a similar use of the same Hebrew verb tense in v. 9, and see the translator’s note there.

[1:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I make you a fortified city…against all the land….” The words “as strong as” and “so you will be able to stand against all the people of…” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

[2:6]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

[2:6]  ³⁶ tn The Hebrew term is found elsewhere in the OT only in Ezek 28:24.

[2:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “of their faces.”

[4:13]  ³⁸ tn Or “courage.”

[4:13]  ³⁹ tn Or “and found out.”

[4:13]  ⁴⁰ sn Uneducated does not mean “illiterate,” that is, unable to read or write. Among Jews in NT times there was almost universal literacy, especially as the result of widespread synagogue schools. The term refers to the fact that Peter and John had no formal rabbinic training and thus, in the view of their accusers, were not qualified to expound the law or teach publicly. The objection is like Acts 2:7.

[4:13]  ⁴¹ tn For the translation of ἰδιῶται (idiwtai) as “ordinary men” see L&N 27.26.

[4:19]  ⁴² tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[4:19]  ⁴³ tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14).

[4:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ⁴⁷ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[3:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”