Numbers 3:12

3:12 “Look, ¹  I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of ²  every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me,

Numbers 3:15

3:15 “Number the Levites by their clans ³  and their families; every male from a month old and upward you are to number.” ⁴ 

Numbers 3:45

3:45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. And the Levites will be mine. I am the Lord.

Exodus 32:26-29

32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come ⁵  to me.” ⁶  All the Levites gathered around him, 32:27 and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Each man fasten ⁷  his sword on his side, and go back and forth ⁸  from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” ⁹ 

32:28 The Levites did what Moses ordered, ¹⁰  and that day about three thousand men of the people died. ¹¹  32:29 Moses said, “You have been consecrated ¹²  today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.” ¹³ 

Psalms 87:6

87:6 The Lord writes in the census book of the nations, ¹⁴ 

“This one was born there.” ¹⁵  (Selah)

Isaiah 4:3

4:3 Those remaining in Zion, ¹⁶  those left in Jerusalem, ¹⁷ 

will be called “holy,” ¹⁸ 

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. ¹⁹ 

Luke 10:20

10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that ²⁰  the spirits submit to you, but rejoice ²¹  that your names stand written ²²  in heaven.”

Philippians 4:3

4:3 Yes, I say also to you, true companion, ²³  help them. They have struggled together in the gospel ministry ²⁴  along with me and Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.

Philippians 4:2

4:2 I appeal to Euodia and to Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

Philippians 2:19

Models for Ministry

2:19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged by hearing news about you.

Hebrews 12:23

12:23 and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,

Revelation 3:5

3:5 The one who conquers ²⁵  will be dressed like them ²⁶  in white clothing, ²⁷  and I will never ²⁸  erase ²⁹  his name from the book of life, but ³⁰  will declare ³¹  his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 14:4

14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves ³²  with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,

[3:12]  ¹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here carries its deictic force, calling attention to the fact that is being declared. It is underscoring the fact that the Lord himself chose Levi.

[3:12]  ² tn Literally “in the place of.”

[3:15]  ³ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 20.

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “you are to/shall number them.”

[32:26]  ⁵ tn “come” is not in the text, but has been supplied.

[32:26]  ⁶ tn S. R. Driver suggests that the command was tersely put: “Who is for Yahweh? To me!” (Exodus, 354).

[32:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “put.”

[32:27]  ⁸ tn The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys: “pass over and return,” meaning, “go back and forth” throughout the camp.

[32:27]  ⁹ tn The phrases have “and kill a man his brother, and a man his companion, and a man his neighbor.” The instructions were probably intended to mean that they should kill leaders they knew to be guilty because they had been seen or because they failed the water test – whoever they were.

[32:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “did according to the word of Moses.”

[32:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fell.”

[32:29]  ¹² tn Heb “Your hand was filled.” The phrase “fill your hands” is a familiar expression having to do with commissioning and devotion to a task that is earlier used in 28:41; 29:9, 29, 33, 35. This has usually been explained as a Qal imperative. S. R. Driver explains it “Fill your hand today,” meaning, take a sacrifice to God and be installed in the priesthood (Exodus, 355). But it probably is a Piel perfect, meaning “they have filled your hands today,” or, “your hand was filled today.” This was an expression meant to say that they had been faithful to God even though it turned them against family and friends – but God would give them a blessing.

[32:29]  ¹³ tn The text simply has “and to give on you today a blessing.” Gesenius notes that the infinitive construct seems to be attached with a vav (ו; like the infinitive absolute) as the continuation of a previous finite verb. He reads the verb “fill” as an imperative: “fill your hand today…and that to bring a blessing on you, i.e., that you may be blessed” (see GKC 351 §114.p). If the preceding verb is taken as perfect tense, however, then this would also be perfect – “he has blessed you today.”

[87:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord records in the writing of the nations.”

[87:6]  ¹⁵ tn As noted in v. 4, the translation assumes a contrast between “there” (the various foreign lands) and “in her” (Zion). In contrast to foreigners, the citizens of Zion have special status because of their birthplace (v. 5). In this case vv. 4 and 6 form a structural frame around v. 5.

[4:3]  ¹⁶ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[4:3]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”

[4:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all who are written down for life in Jerusalem.” A city register is envisioned; everyone whose name appears on the roll will be spared. This group comprises the remnant of the city referred to earlier in the verse.

[10:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “do not rejoice in this, that.” This is awkward in contemporary English and has been simplified to “do not rejoice that.”

[10:20]  ²¹ tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.

[10:20]  ²² tn The verb here, a perfect tense, stresses a present reality of that which was a completed action, that is, their names were etched in the heavenly stone, as it were.

[4:3]  ²³ tn Or “faithful fellow worker.” This is more likely a descriptive noun, although some scholars interpret the word σύζυγος (suzugos) here as a proper name (“Syzygos”), L&N 42.45.

[4:3]  ²⁴ tn Grk “in the gospel,” a metonymy in which the gospel itself is substituted for the ministry of making the gospel known.

[3:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “who overcomes.”

[3:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “thus.”

[3:5]  ²⁷ tn Or “white robes.”

[3:5]  ²⁸ tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek.

[3:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “will never wipe out.”

[3:5]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:5]  ³¹ tn Grk “will confess.”

[14:4]  ³² tn The aorist passive verb is rendered as a reflexive (“defiled themselves”) by BDAG 657 s.v. μολύνω 2.