Psalms 139:1-3

Psalm 139 ¹ 

For the music director, a psalm of David.

139:1 O Lord, you examine me ²  and know.

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; ³ 

you are aware of everything I do. ⁴ 

Ezekiel 16:6

16:6 “‘I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” ⁵ 

John 1:48

1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, ⁶  “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, ⁷  I saw you.”

John 4:7-10

4:7 A Samaritan woman ⁸  came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water ⁹  to drink.” 4:8 (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies. ¹⁰ ) ¹¹  4:9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew ¹²  – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water ¹³  to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common ¹⁴  with Samaritans.) ¹⁵ 

4:10 Jesus answered ¹⁶  her, “If you had known ¹⁷  the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water ¹⁸  to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹⁹ 

[139:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.

[139:1]  ² tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.

[139:3]  ³ tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).

[139:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “all my ways.”

[16:6]  ⁵ tc The translation reflects the Hebrew text, which repeats the statement, perhaps for emphasis. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Old Greek, and the Syriac do not include the repetition. The statement could have been accidentally repeated or the second occurrence could have been accidentally omitted. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to know which is more likely.

[1:48]  ⁶ tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”

[1:48]  ⁷ sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)

[4:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “a woman from Samaria.” According to BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, the prepositional phrase is to be translated as a simple attributive: “γυνὴ ἐκ τῆς Σαμαρείας a Samaritan woman J 4:7.”

[4:7]  ⁹ tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “buy food.”

[4:8]  ¹¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author, indicating why Jesus asked the woman for a drink (for presumably his disciples also took the water bucket with them).

[4:9]  ¹² tn Or “a Judean.” Here BDAG 478 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαίος 2.a states, “Judean (with respect to birth, nationality, or cult).” The same term occurs in the plural later in this verse. In one sense “Judean” would work very well in the translation here, since the contrast is between residents of the two geographical regions. However, since in the context of this chapter the discussion soon becomes a religious rather than a territorial one (cf. vv. 19-26), the translation “Jew” has been retained here and in v. 22.

[4:9]  ¹³ tn “Water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:9]  ¹⁴ tn D. Daube (“Jesus and the Samaritan Woman: the Meaning of συγχράομαι [Jn 4:7ff],” JBL 69 [1950]: 137-47) suggests this meaning.

[4:9]  ¹⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[4:10]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “answered and said to her.”

[4:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “if you knew.”

[4:10]  ¹⁸ tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:10]  ¹⁹ tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.