Numbers 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ¹  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ² 

Deuteronomy 9:5

9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, ³  that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he ⁴  made on oath to your ancestors, ⁵  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Joshua 23:14-15

23:14 “Look, today I am about to die. ⁶  You know with all your heart and being ⁷  that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized – not one promise is unfulfilled! ⁸  23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, ⁹  it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment ¹⁰  until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you.

Psalms 115:1

Psalm 115 ¹¹ 

115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us!

But to your name bring honor, ¹² 

for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness. ¹³ 

Psalms 138:2

138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,

and give thanks to your name,

because of your loyal love and faithfulness,

for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ¹⁵ 

Luke 1:54-55

1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering ¹⁶  his mercy, ¹⁷ 

1:55 as he promised ¹⁸  to our ancestors, ¹⁹  to Abraham and to his descendants ²⁰  forever.”

Luke 1:72

1:72 He has done this ²¹  to show mercy ²²  to our ancestors, ²³ 

and to remember his holy covenant ²⁴  –

[23:19]  ¹ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ² tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

[9:5]  ³ tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the Lord’s favor. As he states in both vv. 4-5, the main reason he allowed Israel to take this land was the sinfulness of the Canaanites who lived there (cf. Gen 15:16).

[9:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “fathers.”

[23:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “go the way of all the earth.”

[23:14]  ⁷ tn Or “soul.”

[23:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “one word from all these words which the Lord your God spoke to you has not fallen, the whole has come to pass for you, one word from it has not fallen.”

[23:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the Lord your God spoke to you has come to pass.”

[23:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so the Lord will bring every injurious [or “evil”] word [or “thing”] upon you.”

[115:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 115. The psalmist affirms that Israel’s God is superior to pagan idols and urges Israel to place their confidence in him.

[115:1]  ¹² tn Or “give glory.”

[115:1]  ¹³ sn The psalmist asks the Lord to demonstrate his loyal love and faithfulness, not simply so Israel may benefit, but primarily so that the Lord will receive honor among the nations, who will recognize, contrary to their present view (see v. 2), that Israel’s God is committed to his people.

[138:2]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God's mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.

[24:35]  ¹⁵ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.

[1:54]  ¹⁶ tn Or “because he remembered mercy,” understanding the infinitive as causal.

[1:54]  ¹⁷ tn Or “his [God’s] loyal love.”

[1:55]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “as he spoke.” Since this is a reference to the covenant to Abraham, ἐλάλησεν (elalhsen) can be translated in context “as he promised.” God keeps his word.

[1:55]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “fathers.”

[1:55]  ²⁰ tn Grk “his seed” (an idiom for offspring or descendants).

[1:72]  ²¹ tn The words “He has done this” (referring to the raising up of the horn of salvation from David’s house) are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to allow a new sentence to be started in the translation. The Greek sentence is lengthy and complex at this point, while contemporary English uses much shorter sentences.

[1:72]  ²² sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

[1:72]  ²³ tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.

[1:72]  ²⁴ sn The promises of God can be summarized as being found in the one promise (the oath that he swore) to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).