Psalms 22:27-28

22:27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him! ¹ 

Let all the nations ²  worship you! ³ 

22:28 For the Lord is king ⁴ 

and rules over the nations.

Psalms 98:2-3

98:2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver; ⁵ 

in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.

98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. ⁶ 

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. ⁷ 

Isaiah 42:1-4

The Lord Commissions His Special Servant

42:1 ⁸ “Here is my servant whom I support,

my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.

I have placed my spirit on him;

he will make just decrees ⁹  for the nations. ¹⁰ 

42:2 He will not cry out or shout;

he will not publicize himself in the streets. ¹¹ 

42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,

a dim wick he will not extinguish; ¹² 

he will faithfully make just decrees. ¹³ 

42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed ¹⁴ 

before establishing justice on the earth;

the coastlands ¹⁵  will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 49:6

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant ¹⁷  of Israel? ¹⁸ 

I will make you a light to the nations, ¹⁹ 

so you can bring ²⁰  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

Isaiah 52:10

52:10 The Lord reveals ²¹  his royal power ²² 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ²³  earth sees

our God deliver. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 66:18-19

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ²⁵  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ²⁶  they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ²⁷  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ²⁸  Lud ²⁹  (known for its archers ³⁰ ), Tubal, Javan, ³¹  and to the distant coastlands ³²  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

Mark 16:15-16

16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16:16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned.

Luke 24:47-48

24:47 and repentance ³³  for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ³⁴  in his name to all nations, ³⁵  beginning from Jerusalem. ³⁶  24:48 You are witnesses ³⁷  of these things.

Acts 1:8

1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts ³⁸  of the earth.”

Acts 13:46-47

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ³⁹  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ⁴⁰  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ⁴¹  of eternal life, we ⁴²  are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴³  13:47 For this ⁴⁴  is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed ⁴⁵  you to be a light ⁴⁶  for the Gentiles, to bring salvation ⁴⁷  to the ends of the earth.’” ⁴⁸ 

Acts 28:28

28:28 “Therefore be advised ⁴⁹  that this salvation from God ⁵⁰  has been sent to the Gentiles; ⁵¹  they ⁵²  will listen!”

Romans 10:18

10:18 But I ask, have they ⁵³  not heard? ⁵⁴  Yes, they have: ⁵⁵  Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. ⁵⁶ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ⁵⁷  without shifting ⁵⁸  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

[22:27]  ¹ tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.

[22:27]  ² tn Heb “families of the nations.”

[22:27]  ³ tn Heb “before you.”

[22:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “for to the Lord [is] dominion.”

[98:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “makes known his deliverance.”

[98:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

[98:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

[42:1]  ⁸ sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.

[42:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[42:1]  ¹⁰ sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.

[42:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will not cause his voice to be heard in the street.”

[42:3]  ¹² sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.

[42:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[42:4]  ¹⁴ tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.

[42:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”

[42:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).

[49:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”

[49:6]  ¹⁸ sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

[49:6]  ¹⁹ tn See the note at 42:6.

[49:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”

[52:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

[52:10]  ²² tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

[52:10]  ²³ tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

[52:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.

[66:18]  ²⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[66:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”

[66:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

[66:19]  ²⁸ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ²⁹ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ³¹ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ³² tn Or “islands” (NIV).

[24:47]  ³³ sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.

[24:47]  ³⁴ tn Or “preached,” “announced.”

[24:47]  ³⁵ sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.

[24:47]  ³⁶ sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.

[24:48]  ³⁷ sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.

[1:8]  ³⁸ tn Or “to the ends.”

[13:46]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ⁴¹ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ⁴² tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ⁴³ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[13:47]  ⁴⁴ tn Here οὕτως (Joutws) is taken to refer to what follows, the content of the quotation, as given for this verse by BDAG 742 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως 2.

[13:47]  ⁴⁵ tn BDAG 1004 s.v. τίθημι 3.a has “τιθέναι τινὰ εἴς τι place/appoint someone to or for (to function as) someth….Ac 13:47.” This is a double accusative construction of object (“you”) and complement (“a light”).

[13:47]  ⁴⁶ sn Paul alludes here to the language of the Servant in Isaiah, pointing to Isa 42:6; 49:6. He and Barnabas do the work of the Servant in Isaiah.

[13:47]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “that you should be for salvation,” but more simply “to bring salvation.”

[13:47]  ⁴⁸ sn An allusion to Isa 42:6 and 49:6. The expression the ends of the earth recalls Luke 3:6 and Acts 1:8. Paul sees himself and Barnabas as carrying out the commission of Luke 24:27. (See 2 Cor 6:2, where servant imagery also appears concerning Paul’s message.)

[28:28]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “Therefore let it be known to you.”

[28:28]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “of God.”

[28:28]  ⁵¹ sn The term Gentiles is in emphatic position in the Greek text of this clause. Once again there is the pattern: Jewish rejection of the gospel leads to an emphasis on Gentile inclusion (Acts 13:44-47).

[28:28]  ⁵² tn Grk “they also.”

[10:18]  ⁵³ tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).

[10:18]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mh) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.

[10:18]  ⁵⁵ tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.

[10:18]  ⁵⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.

[1:23]  ⁵⁷ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ⁵⁸ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.