Matthew 26:54

26:54 How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?”

Genesis 3:15

3:15 And I will put hostility ¹  between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring; ² 

her offspring will attack ³  your head,

and ⁴  you ⁵  will attack her offspring’s heel.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 44:26

44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants ⁷ 

and brings to pass the announcements ⁸  of his messengers,

who says about Jerusalem, ⁹  ‘She will be inhabited,’

and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,

her ruins I will raise up,’

Lamentations 4:20

ר (Resh)

4:20 Our very life breath – the Lord’s anointed king ¹⁰  –

was caught in their traps, ¹¹ 

of whom we thought, ¹² 

“Under his protection ¹³  we will survive among the nations.”

Daniel 9:24

9:24 “Seventy weeks ¹⁴  have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to put an end to ¹⁵  rebellion,

to bring sin ¹⁶  to completion, ¹⁷ 

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in perpetual ¹⁸  righteousness,

to seal up ¹⁹  the prophetic vision, ²⁰ 

and to anoint a most holy place. ²¹ 

Daniel 9:26

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ²² 

As for the city and the sanctuary,

the people of the coming prince will destroy ²³  them.

But his end will come speedily ²⁴  like a flood. ²⁵ 

Until the end of the war that has been decreed

there will be destruction.

Zechariah 13:7

13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who is my associate,”

says the Lord who rules over all.

Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; ²⁶ 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

Acts 1:16

1:16 “Brothers, ²⁷  the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through ²⁸  David concerning Judas – who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus –

Acts 2:23

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ²⁹  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ³⁰ 

[3:15]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “hostility” is derived from the root אֵיב (’ev, “to be hostile, to be an adversary [or enemy]”). The curse announces that there will be continuing hostility between the serpent and the woman. The serpent will now live in a “battle zone,” as it were.

[3:15]  ² sn The Hebrew word translated “offspring” is a collective singular. The text anticipates the ongoing struggle between human beings (the woman’s offspring) and deadly poisonous snakes (the serpent’s offspring). An ancient Jewish interpretation of the passage states: “He made the serpent, cause of the deceit, press the earth with belly and flank, having bitterly driven him out. He aroused a dire enmity between them. The one guards his head to save it, the other his heel, for death is at hand in the proximity of men and malignant poisonous snakes.” See Sib. Or. 1:59-64. For a similar interpretation see Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.50-51).

[3:15]  ³ tn Heb “he will attack [or “bruise”] you [on] the head.” The singular pronoun and verb agree grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “head” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A crushing blow to the head would be potentially fatal.

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Or “but you will…”; or “as they attack your head, you will attack their heel.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is understood as contrastive. Both clauses place the subject before the verb, a construction that is sometimes used to indicate synchronic action (see Judg 15:14).

[3:15]  ⁵ sn You will attack her offspring’s heel. Though the conflict will actually involve the serpent’s offspring (snakes) and the woman’s offspring (human beings), v. 15b for rhetorical effect depicts the conflict as being between the serpent and the woman’s offspring, as if the serpent will outlive the woman. The statement is personalized for the sake of the addressee (the serpent) and reflects the ancient Semitic concept of corporate solidarity, which emphasizes the close relationship between a progenitor and his offspring. Note Gen 28:14, where the Lord says to Jacob, “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you [second masculine singular] will spread out in all directions.” Jacob will “spread out” in all directions through his offspring, but the text states the matter as if this will happen to him personally.

[3:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will attack him [on] the heel.” The verb (translated “attack”) is repeated here, a fact that is obscured by some translations (e.g., NIV “crush…strike”). The singular pronoun agrees grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “heel” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A bite on the heel from a poisonous serpent is potentially fatal.

[44:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.

[44:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.

[44:26]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the anointed one of the Lord.” The term “king” is added in the translation to clarify the referent of the phrase “the Lord’s anointed.”

[4:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “was captured in their pits.”

[4:20]  ¹² tn Heb “of whom we had said.”

[4:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “under his shadow.” The term צֵל (tsel, “shadow”) is used figuratively here to refer the source of protection from military enemies. In the same way that the shade of a tree gives physical relief and protection from the heat of the sun (e.g., Judg 9:15; Job 40:22; Ps 80:11; Song 2:3; Ezek 17:23; 31:6, 12, 17; Hos 4:13; 14:8; Jon 4:5, 6), a faithful and powerful king can provide “shade” (= protection) from enemies and military attack (Num 14:19; Ps 91:1; Isa 30:2, 3; 49:2; 51:16; Jer 48:45; Lam 4:20).

[9:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days), cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.

[9:24]  ¹⁵ tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.

[9:24]  ¹⁶ tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).

[9:24]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.

[9:24]  ¹⁸ tn Or “everlasting.”

[9:24]  ¹⁹ sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.

[9:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:24]  ²¹ tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.

[9:26]  ²² sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.

[9:26]  ²³ tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”

[9:26]  ²⁴ tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[9:26]  ²⁵ sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.

[13:7]  ²⁶ sn Despite the NT use of this text to speak of the scattering of the disciples following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27), the immediate context of Zechariah suggests that unfaithful shepherds (kings) will be punished by the Lord precisely so their flocks (disobedient Israel) can be scattered (cf. Zech 11:6, 8, 9, 16). It is likely that Jesus drew on this passage merely to make the point that whenever shepherds are incapacitated, sheep will scatter. Thus he was not identifying himself with the shepherd in this text (the shepherd in the Zechariah text is a character who is portrayed negatively).

[1:16]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Men brothers.” In light of the compound phrase ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί (andre" adelfoi, “Men brothers”) Peter’s words are best understood as directly addressed to the males present, possibly referring specifically to the twelve (really ten at this point – eleven minus the speaker, Peter) mentioned by name in v. 13.

[1:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “foretold by the mouth of.”

[2:23]  ²⁹ tn Or “you killed.”

[2:23]  ³⁰ tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.