Matthew 5:3-11

5:3 “Blessed ¹  are the poor in spirit, ²  for the kingdom of heaven belongs ³  to them.

5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁴ 

5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger ⁵  and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children ⁶  of God.

5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

5:11 “Blessed are you when people ⁷  insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely ⁸  on account of me.

Matthew 16:17

16:17 And Jesus answered him, ⁹  “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood ¹⁰  did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

Luke 2:29-30

2:29 “Now, according to your word, ¹¹  Sovereign Lord, ¹²  permit ¹³  your servant ¹⁴  to depart ¹⁵  in peace.

2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation ¹⁶ 

Luke 10:23-24

10:23 Then ¹⁷  Jesus ¹⁸  turned ¹⁹  to his ²⁰  disciples and said privately, “Blessed ²¹  are the eyes that see what you see! 10:24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see ²²  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

John 20:29

20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people ²³  who have not seen and yet have believed.” ²⁴ 

Acts 26:18

26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn ²⁵  from darkness to light and from the power ²⁶  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ²⁷  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Acts 26:2

26:2 “Regarding all the things I have been accused of by the Jews, King Agrippa, ²⁸  I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today,

Colossians 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

Ephesians 1:17-18

1:17 I pray that ²⁹  the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ³⁰  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation ³¹  in your growing knowledge of him, ³²  1:18 – since the eyes of your ³³  heart have been enlightened ³⁴  – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, ³⁵  what is the wealth of his glorious ³⁶  inheritance in the saints,

[5:3]  ¹ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

[5:3]  ² sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

[5:3]  ³ sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.

[5:4]  ⁴ sn The promise they will be comforted is the first of several “reversals” noted in these promises. The beatitudes and the reversals that accompany them serve in the sermon as an invitation to enter into God’s care, because one can know God cares for those who turn to him.

[5:6]  ⁵ sn Those who hunger are people like the poor Jesus has already mentioned. The term has OT roots both in conjunction with the poor (Isa 32:6-7; 58:6-7, 9-10; Ezek 18:7, 16) or by itself (Ps 37:16-19; 107:9).

[5:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “sons,” though traditionally English versions have taken this as a generic reference to both males and females, hence “children” (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[5:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “when they insult you.” The third person pronoun (here implied in the verb ὀνειδίσωσιν [ojneidiswsin]) has no specific referent, but refers to people in general.

[5:11]  ⁸ tc Although ψευδόμενοι (yeudomenoi, “bearing witness falsely”) could be a motivated reading, clarifying that the disciples are unjustly persecuted, its lack in only D it sy^s Tert does not help its case. Since the Western text is known for numerous free alterations, without corroborative evidence the shorter reading must be judged as secondary.

[16:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of this phrase has been modified for clarity.

[16:17]  ¹⁰ tn The expression “flesh and blood” could refer to “any human being” (so TEV, NLT; cf. NIV “man”), but it could also refer to Peter himself (i.e., his own intuition; cf. CEV “You didn’t discover this on your own”). Because of the ambiguity of the referent, the phrase “flesh and blood” has been retained in the translation.

[2:29]  ¹¹ sn The phrase according to your word again emphasizes that God will perform his promise.

[2:29]  ¹² tn The Greek word translated here by “Sovereign Lord” is δεσπότης (despoth").

[2:29]  ¹³ sn This short prophetic declaration is sometimes called the Nunc dimittis, which comes from the opening phrase of the saying in Latin, “now dismiss,” a fairly literal translation of the Greek verb ἀπολύεις (apolueis, “now release”) in this verse.

[2:29]  ¹⁴ tn Here the Greek word δοῦλος (doulos, “slave”) has been translated “servant” since it acts almost as an honorific term for one specially chosen and appointed to carry out the Lord’s tasks.

[2:29]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “now release your servant.”

[2:30]  ¹⁶ sn To see Jesus, the Messiah, is to see God’s salvation.

[10:23]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “turning to the disciples, he said.” The participle στραφείς (strafei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[10:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[10:23]  ²¹ sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation, as v. 20 also noted. See also Luke 2:30.

[10:24]  ²² sn This is what past prophets and kings had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.

[20:29]  ²³ tn Grk “are those.”

[20:29]  ²⁴ tn Some translations treat πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") as a gnomic aorist (timeless statement) and thus equivalent to an English present tense: “and yet believe” (RSV). This may create an effective application of the passage to the modern reader, but the author is probably thinking of those people who had already believed without the benefit of seeing the risen Jesus, on the basis of reports by others or because of circumstantial evidence (see John 20:8).

[26:18]  ²⁵ sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.

[26:18]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)

[26:18]  ²⁷ tn Or “and an inheritance.”

[26:2]  ²⁸ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[1:17]  ²⁹ tn The words “I pray” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify the meaning; v. 17 is a subordinate clause to v. 16 (“I pray” in v. 17 is implied from v. 16). Eph 1:15-23 constitutes one sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation in light of contemporary English usage.

[1:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “glorious Father.” The genitive phrase “of glory” is most likely an attributive genitive. The literal translation “Father of glory” has been retained because of the parallelism with the first line of the verse: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.”

[1:17]  ³¹ tn Or “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” or “a spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Verse 17 involves a complex exegetical problem revolving around the Greek term πνεῦμα (pneuma). Some take it to mean “the Spirit,” others “a spirit,” and still others “spiritual.” (1) If “the Spirit” is meant, the idea must be a metonymy of cause for effect, because the author had just indicated in vv. 13-14 that the Spirit was already given (hence, there is no need for him to pray that he be given again). But the effect of the Spirit is wisdom and revelation. (2) If “a spirit” is meant, the idea may be that the readers will have the ability to gain wisdom and insight as they read Paul’s letters, but the exact meaning of “a spirit” remains ambiguous. (3) To take the genitives following πνεῦμα as attributed genitives (see ExSyn 89-91), in which the head noun (“S/spirit”) functions semantically like an adjective (“spiritual”) is both grammatically probable and exegetically consistent.

[1:17]  ³² tn Grk “in the knowledge of him.”

[1:18]  ³³ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially of the Byzantine and Western texttypes, though with a few important Alexandrian witnesses (א A D F G Ψ 0278 Ï latt sy), add ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) after καρδίας (kardias, “heart”), though it is clearly implied in the shorter (Alexandrian) reading (found in Ì⁴⁶ B 6 33 1175 1739 1881 pc). The longer reading thus looks to be a clarifying gloss, as is frequently found in the Byzantine and Western traditions. The translation above also uses “your” because of English requirements, not because of textual basis.

[1:18]  ³⁴ tn The perfect participle πεφωτισμένους (pefwtismenou") may either be part of the prayer (“that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened”) or part of the basis of the prayer (“since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened”). Although the participle follows the ἵνα (Jina) of v. 17, it is awkward grammatically in the clause. Further, perfect adverbial participles are usually causal in NT Greek. Finally, the context both here and throughout Ephesians seems to emphasize the motif of light as a property belonging to believers. Thus, it seems that the author is saying, “I know that you are saved, that you have had the blinders of the devil removed; because of this, I can now pray that you will fully understand and see the light of God’s glorious revelation.” Hence, the translation takes the participle to form a part of the basis for the prayer.

[1:18]  ³⁵ tn Or “the hope to which he has called you.”

[1:18]  ³⁶ tn Grk “of the glory of his inheritance.” Here “inheritance” is taken as an attributed genitive and the head noun, “glory,” is thus translated as an adjective, “glorious inheritance.”