Psalms 41:9

41:9 Even my close friend ¹  whom I trusted,

he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. ² 

Psalms 55:13-14

55:13 But it is you, ³  a man like me, ⁴ 

my close friend in whom I confided. ⁵ 

55:14 We would share personal thoughts with each other; ⁶ 

in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.

John 6:70

6:70 Jesus replied, ⁷  “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?” ⁸ 

John 13:21

13:21 When he had said these things, Jesus was greatly distressed ⁹  in spirit, and testified, ¹⁰  “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹¹  one of you will betray me.” ¹² 

[41:9]  ¹ tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).

[41:9]  ² tn Heb “has made a heel great against me.” The precise meaning of this phrase, which appears only here, is uncertain.

[55:13]  ³ sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.

[55:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.”

[55:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “my close friend, one known by me.”

[55:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “who together we would make counsel sweet.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the ongoing nature of the actions (the so-called customary use of the imperfect). Their relationship was characterized by such intimacy and friendship. See IBHS 502-3 §31.2b.

[6:70]  ⁷ tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”

[6:70]  ⁸ tn Although most translations render this last phrase as “one of you is a devil,” such a translation presupposes that there is more than one devil. This finds roots in the KJV in which the Greek word for demon was often translated “devil.” In fact, the KJV never uses the word “demon.” (Sixty-two of the 63 NT instances of δαιμόνιον [daimonion] are translated “devil” [in Acts 17:18 the plural has been translated “gods”]. This can get confusing in places where the singular “devil” is used: Is Satan or one of the demons in view [cf. Matt 9:33 (demon); 13:39 (devil); 17:18 (demon); Mark 7:26 (demon); Luke 4:2 (devil); etc.]?) Now regarding John 6:70, both the construction in Greek and the technical use of διάβολος (diabolos) indicate that the one devil is in view. To object to the translation “the devil” because it thus equates Judas with Satan does not take into consideration that Jesus often spoke figuratively (e.g., “destroy this temple” [John 2:19]; “he [John the Baptist] is Elijah” [Matt 11:14]), even equating Peter with the devil on one occasion (Mark 8:33). According to ExSyn 249, “A curious phenomenon has occurred in the English Bible with reference to one particular monadic noun, διάβολος. The KJV translates both διάβολος and δαιμόνιον as ‘devil.’ Thus in the AV translators’ minds, ‘devil’ was not a monadic noun. Modern translations have correctly rendered δαιμόνιον as ‘demon’ and have, for the most part, recognized that διάβολος is monadic (cf., e.g., 1 Pet 5:8; Rev 20:2). But in John 6:70 modern translations have fallen into the error of the King James translators. The KJV has ‘one of you is a devil.’ So does the RSV, NRSV, ASV, NIV, NKJV, and the JB [Jerusalem Bible]. Yet there is only one devil…The legacy of the KJV still lives on, then, even in places where it ought not.”

[13:21]  ⁹ tn Or “greatly troubled.”

[13:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and testified and said.”

[13:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[13:21]  ¹² tn Or “will hand me over.”