Psalms 37:26

37:26 All day long he shows compassion and lends to others, ¹ 

and his children ²  are blessed.

Psalms 112:4

112:4 In the darkness a light ³  shines for the godly,

for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just. ⁴ 

Psalms 112:9

112:9 He generously gives ⁵  to the needy;

his integrity endures. ⁶ 

He will be vindicated and honored. ⁷ 

Isaiah 57:1-2

57:1 The godly ⁸  perish,

but no one cares. ⁹ 

Honest people disappear, ¹⁰ 

when no one ¹¹  minds ¹² 

that the godly ¹³  disappear ¹⁴  because of ¹⁵  evil. ¹⁶ 

57:2 Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace;

they rest on their beds. ¹⁷ 

Matthew 5:7

5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 18:32-35

18:32 Then his lord called the first slave ¹⁸  and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! 18:33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ 18:34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him ¹⁹  until he repaid all he owed. 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your ²⁰  brother ²¹  from your heart.”

Luke 6:36

6:36 Be merciful, ²²  just as your Father is merciful.

Ephesians 4:32

4:32 Instead, ²³  be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. ²⁴ 

Colossians 3:12

Exhortation to Unity and Love

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, ²⁵  kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:8

3:8 But now, put off all such things ²⁶  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

[37:26]  ¹ tn The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

[37:26]  ² tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[112:4]  ³ tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability.

[112:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.

[112:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”

[112:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “stands forever.”

[112:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

[57:1]  ⁸ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”

[57:1]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”

[57:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.

[57:1]  ¹² tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:1]  ¹³ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”

[57:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ¹⁵ tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).

[57:1]  ¹⁶ tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.

[57:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he enters peace, they rest on their beds, the one who walks straight ahead of himself.” The tomb is here viewed in a fairly positive way as a place where the dead are at peace and sleep undisturbed.

[18:32]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:34]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to L&N 37.126, it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matthew about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.

[18:35]  ²⁰ tn Grk “his.” The pronoun has been translated to follow English idiom (the last pronoun of the verse [“from your heart”] is second person plural in the original).

[18:35]  ²¹ tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.

[6:36]  ²² sn Merciful is a characteristic of God often noted in the OT: Exod 34:6; Deut 4:31; Joel 2:31; Jonah 4:2; 2 Sam 24:14. This remark also echoes the more common OT statements like Lev 19:2 or Deut 18:13: “you must be holy as I am holy.”

[4:32]  ²³ tc ‡ Although most witnesses have either δέ (de; Ì⁴⁹ א A D² Ψ 33 1739^mg Ï lat) or οὖν (oun; D* F G 1175) here, a few important mss lack a conjunction (Ì⁴⁶ B 0278 6 1739* 1881). If either conjunction were originally in the text, it is difficult to explain how the asyndetic construction could have arisen (although the dropping of δέ could have occurred via homoioteleuton). Further, although Hellenistic Greek rarely joined sentences without a conjunction, such does occur in the corpus Paulinum on occasion, especially to underscore a somber point. “Instead” has been supplied in the translation because of stylistic requirements, not textual basis. NA²⁷ places δέ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[4:32]  ²⁴ tn Or “forgiving.”

[3:12]  ²⁵ tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.

[3:8]  ²⁶ tn The Greek article with τὰ πάντα (ta panta) is anaphoric, referring to the previous list of vices, and has been translated here as “all such things.”