Proverbs 20:28

20:28 Loyal love and truth ¹  preserve a king,

and his throne is upheld by loyal love. ² 

Psalms 85:10

85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; ³ 

deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. ⁴ 

Daniel 4:27

4:27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ⁵ 

Micah 7:18-20

7:18 There is no other God like you! ⁶ 

You ⁷  forgive sin

and pardon ⁸  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ⁹ 

You do not remain angry forever, ¹⁰ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

7:19 You will once again ¹¹  have mercy on us;

you will conquer ¹²  our evil deeds;

you will hurl our ¹³  sins into the depths of the sea. ¹⁴ 

7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob

and extend your loyal love to Abraham, ¹⁵ 

which you promised on oath to our ancestors ¹⁶ 

in ancient times. ¹⁷ 

Luke 11:41

11:41 But give from your heart to those in need, ¹⁸  and ¹⁹  then everything will be clean for you. ²⁰ 

John 15:2

15:2 He takes away ²¹  every branch that does not bear ²²  fruit in me. He ²³  prunes ²⁴  every branch that bears ²⁵  fruit so that it will bear more fruit.

Acts 15:9

15:9 and he made no distinction ²⁶  between them and us, cleansing ²⁷  their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:1

The Jerusalem Council

15:1 Now some men came down from Judea ²⁸  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ²⁹  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 1:22

1:22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he ³⁰  was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.”

[20:28]  ¹ tn The first line uses two Hebrew words, חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “loyal love and truth”), to tell where security lies. The first word is the covenant term for “loyal love; loving-kindness; mercy”; and the second is “truth” in the sense of what is reliable and dependable. The two words often are joined together to form a hendiadys: “faithful love.” That a hendiadys is intended here is confirmed by the fact that the second line uses only the critical word חֶסֶד.

[20:28]  ² sn The emphasis is on the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:11-16; Ps 89:19-37). It is the Lord and his faithful love for his covenant that ultimately makes the empire secure. But the enjoyment of divine protection requires the king to show loyal love as well.

[85:10]  ³ tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.

[85:10]  ⁴ sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.

[4:27]  ⁵ tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”

[7:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

[7:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[7:19]  ¹¹ tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.

[7:19]  ¹² tn Some prefer to read יִכְבֹּס (yikhbos, “he will cleanse”; see HALOT 459 s.v. כבס pi). If the MT is taken as it stands, sin is personified as an enemy that the Lord subdues.

[7:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “their sins,” but the final mem (ם) may be enclitic rather than a pronominal suffix. In this case the suffix from the preceding line (“our”) may be understood as doing double duty.

[7:19]  ¹⁴ sn In this metaphor the Lord disposes of Israel’s sins by throwing them into the waters of the sea (here symbolic of chaos).

[7:20]  ¹⁵ tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.

[7:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.

[7:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”

[11:41]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Give the things inside as alms.” Three different approaches have been taken to the syntax and meaning of this phrase: (1) τὰ ἐνόντα (ta enonta, “the things inside”) is an accusative of respect (“give alms with respect to the things inside”); (2) τὰ ἐνόντα is an adverbial accusative (“give alms inwardly,” i.e., from the heart); (3) the word translated “alms” represents a mistranslation of the original Aramaic term “cleanse,” so the statement urges the hearers to “cleanse the things inside.” According to D. L. Bock (Luke [BECNT], 2:1115) the latter meaning is unlikely because the present verse is independent of Matt 23:26, not parallel to it, and makes good sense as it stands.

[11:41]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this clause has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[11:41]  ²⁰ sn The expression everything will be clean for you refers to the agreement that should exist between the overt practice of one’s religious duties, such as almsgiving, and the inner condition of one’s heart, including true love for God and the poor; one is not only to wash the outside of the cup and plate, but the inside as well, since as Jesus said, God created the inside too. Religious duties are not to be performed hypocritically, i.e., for the applause and esteem of people, but rather they are to be done out of a deep love for God and a sensitivity to and concern for the needs of others. Then, everything will be clean, both hearts and lives.

[15:2]  ²¹ tn Or “He cuts off.”

[15:2]  ²² tn Or “does not yield.”

[15:2]  ²³ tn Grk “And he”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[15:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “trims”; Grk “cleanses” (a wordplay with “clean” in v. 3). Καθαίρει (kaqairei) is not the word one would have expected here, but it provides the transition from the vine imagery to the disciples – there is a wordplay (not reproducible in English) between αἴρει (airei) and καθαίρει in this verse. While the purpose of the Father in cleansing his people is clear, the precise means by which he does so is not immediately obvious. This will become clearer, however, in the following verse.

[15:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “that yields.”

[15:9]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 231 s.v. διακρίνω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “to conclude that there is a difference, make a distinction, differentiate.”

[15:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “purifying.”

[15:1]  ²⁸ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

[15:1]  ²⁹ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.

[1:22]  ³⁰ tn Here the pronoun “he” refers to Jesus.