Numbers 22:18

22:18 Balaam replied ¹  to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment ²  of the Lord my God ³  to do less or more.

Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ⁴  to speak ⁵  just anything? I must speak ⁶  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

John 10:27-29

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give ⁷  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ⁸  no one will snatch ⁹  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ¹⁰  and no one can snatch ¹¹  them from my Father’s hand.

Romans 8:38-39

8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, ¹²  nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:1

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ¹³ 

Romans 1:5

1:5 Through him ¹⁴  we have received grace and our apostleship ¹⁵  to bring about the obedience ¹⁶  of faith ¹⁷  among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

[22:18]  ¹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[22:18]  ² tn Heb “mouth.”

[22:18]  ³ sn In the light of subsequent events one should not take too seriously that Balaam referred to Yahweh as his God. He is referring properly to the deity for which he is acting as the agent.

[22:38]  ⁴ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ⁵ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[10:28]  ⁷ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ⁸ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ⁹ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ¹⁰ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ¹¹ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[8:38]  ¹² tn BDAG 138 s.v. ἀρχή 6 takes this term as a reference to angelic or transcendent powers (as opposed to merely human rulers). To clarify this, the adjective “heavenly” has been supplied in the translation. Some interpreters see this as a reference to fallen angels or demonic powers, and this view is reflected in some recent translations (NIV, NLT).

[8:1]  ¹³ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “through whom.”

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn Some interpreters understand the phrase “grace and apostleship” as a hendiadys, translating “grace [i.e., gift] of apostleship.” The pronoun “our” is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense of the statement.

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and apostleship for obedience.”

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase ὑπακοὴν πίστεως has been variously understood as (1) an objective genitive (a reference to the Christian faith, “obedience to [the] faith”); (2) a subjective genitive (“the obedience faith produces [or requires]”); (3) an attributive genitive (“believing obedience”); or (4) as a genitive of apposition (“obedience, [namely] faith”) in which “faith” further defines “obedience.” These options are discussed by C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 1:66. Others take the phrase as deliberately ambiguous; see D. B. Garlington, “The Obedience of Faith in the Letter to the Romans: Part I: The Meaning of ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (Rom 1:5; 16:26),” WTJ 52 (1990): 201-24.