Psalms 32:1

Psalm 32 ¹ 

By David; a well-written song. ² 

32:1 How blessed ³  is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven, ⁴ 

whose sin is pardoned! ⁵ 

Isaiah 1:18

1:18 ⁶ Come, let’s consider your options,” ⁷  says the Lord.

“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,

you can become ⁸  white like snow;

though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,

you can become ⁹  white like wool. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹¹ 

and sinful people their plans. ¹² 

They should return ¹³  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ¹⁴ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 31:34

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ¹⁶  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ¹⁷  says the Lord. “For ¹⁸  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

Acts 13:38-39

13:38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this one ¹⁹  forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 13:39 and by this one ²⁰  everyone who believes is justified ²¹  from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify ²²  you. ²³ 

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ²⁴  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ²⁵  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Colossians 1:19

1:19 For God ²⁶  was pleased to have all his ²⁷  fullness dwell ²⁸  in the Son ²⁹ 

Hebrews 8:10-12

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ³⁰  my laws in their minds ³¹  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ³² 

8:11 “And there will be no need at all ³³  for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. ³⁴ 

8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.” ³⁵ 

Hebrews 8:1

The High Priest of a Better Covenant

8:1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: ³⁶  We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ³⁷ 

Hebrews 1:7-9

1:7 And he says ³⁸  of the angels, “He makes ³⁹  his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” ⁴⁰  1:8 but of ⁴¹  the Son he says, ⁴² 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁴³ 

and a righteous scepter ⁴⁴  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ⁴⁵  with the oil of rejoicing.” ⁴⁶ 

Hebrews 2:12

2:12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; ⁴⁷  in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” ⁴⁸ 

[32:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 32. The psalmist recalls the agony he experienced prior to confessing his sins and affirms that true happiness comes when one’s sins are forgiven. He then urges others not to be stubborn, but to turn to God while forgiveness is available, for God extends his mercy to the repentant, while the wicked experience nothing but sorrow.

[32:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[32:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15). Here it refers to the relief that one experiences when one’s sins are forgiven.

[32:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “lifted up.”

[32:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “covered over.”

[1:18]  ⁶ sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).

[1:18]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.

[1:18]  ⁸ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ⁹ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.

[55:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ¹⁵ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[31:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

[31:34]  ¹⁷ sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

[31:34]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[13:38]  ¹⁹ tn That is, Jesus. This pronoun is in emphatic position in the Greek text. Following this phrase in the Greek text is the pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”), so that the emphasis for the audience is that “through Jesus to you” these promises have come.

[13:39]  ²⁰ sn This one refers here to Jesus.

[13:39]  ²¹ tn Or “is freed.” The translation of δικαιωθῆναι (dikaiwqhnai) and δικαιοῦται (dikaioutai) in Acts 13:38-39 is difficult. BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 3 categorizes δικαιωθῆναι in 13:38 (Greek text) under the meaning “make free/pure” but categorizes δικαιοῦται in Acts 13:39 as “be found in the right, be free of charges” (BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 2.b.β). In the interest of consistency both verbs are rendered as “justified” in this translation.

[13:39]  ²² tn Or “could not free.”

[13:39]  ²³ tn Grk “from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation, with “by the law of Moses” becoming the subject of the final clause. The words “from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you” are part of v. 38 in the Greek text, but due to English style and word order must be placed in v. 39 in the translation.

[13:2]  ²⁴ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “Appoint.”

[1:19]  ²⁶ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ²⁷ tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ²⁸ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ²⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:10]  ³⁰ tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

[8:10]  ³¹ tn Grk “mind.”

[8:10]  ³² tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.

[8:11]  ³³ tn Grk “they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen…” The Greek makes this negation emphatic: “they will certainly not teach.”

[8:11]  ³⁴ tn Grk “from the small to the great.”

[8:12]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Jer 31:31-34.

[8:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “the main point of the things being said.”

[8:1]  ³⁷ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1; see Heb 1:3, 13.

[1:7]  ³⁸ sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).

[1:7]  ³⁹ tn Grk “He who makes.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.

[1:8]  ⁴¹ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁴² tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁴³ tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ⁴⁵ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.

[2:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Here, because of its occurrence in an OT quotation, τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς (tois adelfois) has been translated simply as “brothers” rather than “brothers and sisters” (see the note on the latter phrase in the previous verse).

[2:12]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 22:22.