Numbers 16:28

16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how ¹  you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. ² 

Numbers 16:2

16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders ³  of the community, chosen from the assembly, ⁴  famous men. ⁵ 

Numbers 23:2

23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ⁶  altar a bull and a ram.

Micah 3:7

3:7 The prophets ⁷  will be ashamed;

the omen readers will be humiliated.

All of them will cover their mouths, ⁸ 

for they will receive no divine oracles.” ⁹ 

Luke 1:70

1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, ¹⁰ 

Luke 1:2

1:2 like the accounts ¹¹  passed on ¹²  to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word ¹³  from the beginning. ¹⁴ 

Luke 3:15-17

3:15 While the people were filled with anticipation ¹⁵  and they all wondered ¹⁶  whether perhaps John ¹⁷  could be the Christ, ¹⁸  3:16 John answered them all, ¹⁹  “I baptize you with water, ²⁰  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ²¹  to untie the strap ²²  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ²³  3:17 His winnowing fork ²⁴  is in his hand to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, ²⁵  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ²⁶ 

Luke 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ²⁷  when Pontius Pilate ²⁸  was governor of Judea, and Herod ²⁹  was tetrarch ³⁰  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ³¹  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ³²  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Luke 1:11

1:11 An ³³  angel of the Lord, ³⁴  standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared ³⁵  to him.

Revelation 19:10

19:10 So ³⁶  I threw myself down ³⁷  at his feet to worship him, but ³⁸  he said, “Do not do this! ³⁹  I am only ⁴⁰  a fellow servant ⁴¹  with you and your brothers ⁴²  who hold to the testimony about ⁴³  Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

[16:28]  ¹ tn Heb “in this.”

[16:28]  ² tn The Hebrew text simply has כִּי־לֹא מִלִּבִּי (ki-lo’ millibbi, “for not from my heart”). The heart is the center of the will, the place decisions are made (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament). Moses is saying that the things he has done have not come “from the will of man” so to speak – and certainly not from some secret desire on his part to seize power.

[16:2]  ³ tn Heb “princes” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:2]  ⁴ tn These men must have been counselors or judges of some kind.

[16:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “men of name,” or “men of renown.”

[23:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.

[3:7]  ⁷ tn Or “seers.”

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”

[3:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.”

[1:70]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “even as”; this compares the recorded tradition of 1:1 with the original eyewitness tradition of 1:2.

[1:2]  ¹² tn Or “delivered.”

[1:2]  ¹³ sn The phrase eyewitnesses and servants of the word refers to a single group of people who faithfully passed on the accounts about Jesus. The language about delivery (passed on) points to accounts faithfully passed on to the early church.

[1:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “like the accounts those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word passed on to us.” The location of “in the beginning” in the Greek shows that the tradition is rooted in those who were with Jesus from the start.

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “with expectation.” The participle προσδοκῶντος (prosdokwnto") is taken temporally.

[3:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “pondered in their hearts.”

[3:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in their hearts concerning John, (whether) perhaps he might be the Christ.” The translation simplifies the style here.

[3:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[3:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[3:16]  ²⁰ tc A few mss (C D 892 1424 pc it ) add εἰς μετάνοιαν (ei" metanoian, “for repentance”). Although two of the mss in support are early and important, it is an obviously motivated reading to add clarification, probably representing a copyist’s attempt to harmonize Luke’s version with Matt 3:11.

[3:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:16]  ²² tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[3:16]  ²³ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[3:17]  ²⁴ sn A winnowing fork is a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blows away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

[3:17]  ²⁵ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building for housing livestock).

[3:17]  ²⁶ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

[3:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  ²⁸ sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ²⁹ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ³⁰ sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ³¹ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ³² sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[1:11]  ³³ tn Grk “And an angel.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[1:11]  ³⁴ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[1:11]  ³⁵ sn This term is often used to describe a supernatural appearance (24:34; Acts 2:3; 7:2, 30, 35; 9:17; 13:31; 16:9; 26:16).

[19:10]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s announcement.

[19:10]  ³⁷ tn Grk “I fell down at his feet.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[19:10]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[19:10]  ³⁹ tn On the elliptical expression ὅρα μή (Jora mh) BDAG 720 s.v. ὁράω B.2 states: “Elliptically…ὅρα μή (sc. ποιήσῃς) watch out! don’t do that! Rv 19:10; 22:9.”

[19:10]  ⁴⁰ tn The lowliness of a slave is emphasized in the Greek text with the emphatic position of σύνδουλος (sundoulo"). The use of “only” helps to bring this nuance out in English.

[19:10]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “fellow slave.” See the note on the word “servants” in v. 2.

[19:10]  ⁴² tn The Greek term “brother” literally refers to family relationships, but here it is used in a broader sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[19:10]  ⁴³ tn The genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) has been translated as an objective genitive here. A subjective genitive, also possible, would produce the meaning “who hold to what Jesus testifies.”