Psalms 44:3

44:3 For they did not conquer ¹  the land by their swords,

and they did not prevail by their strength, ² 

but rather by your power, ³  strength ⁴  and good favor, ⁵ 

for you were partial to ⁶  them.

Psalms 44:6

44:6 For I do not trust in my bow,

and I do not prevail by my sword.

Isaiah 40:29

40:29 He gives strength to those who are tired;

to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.

Romans 5:6

5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Ephesians 2:4-9

2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ⁷  – 2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ⁸  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ⁹  us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved ¹⁰  through faith, ¹¹  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from ¹²  works, so that no one can boast. ¹³ 

[44:3]  ¹ tn Or “take possession of.”

[44:3]  ² tn Heb “and their arm did not save them.” The “arm” here symbolizes military strength.

[44:3]  ³ tn Heb “your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Pss 17:7; 20:6; 21:8).

[44:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “your arm.”

[44:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “light of your face.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[44:3]  ⁶ tn Or “favorable toward.”

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[2:7]  ⁸ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ⁹ tn Or “upon.”

[2:8]  ¹⁰ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ¹¹ tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1881 pc. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia th" pistew") is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1739 al bo) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning of the text here is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” Regarding the textual problem, the lack of the article is the preferred reading.

[2:9]  ¹² tn Or “not as a result of.”

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”