Psalms 45:4

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ¹ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ² 

on behalf of justice! ³ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ⁴ 

Isaiah 42:3-4

42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,

a dim wick he will not extinguish; ⁵ 

he will faithfully make just decrees. ⁶ 

42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed ⁷ 

before establishing justice on the earth;

the coastlands ⁸  will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” ⁹ 

Zechariah 9:9

9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!

Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!

Look! Your king is coming to you:

he is legitimate ¹⁰  and victorious, ¹¹ 

humble and riding on a donkey ¹²  –

on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.

Matthew 11:29

11:29 Take my yoke ¹³  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 12:19-20

12:19 He will not quarrel or cry out,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

12:20 He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick,

until he brings justice to victory.

Matthew 21:5

21:5 “Tell the people of Zion, ¹⁴ 

‘Look, your king is coming to you,

unassuming and seated on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” ¹⁵ 

Acts 8:32

8:32 Now the passage of scripture the man ¹⁶  was reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he did ¹⁷  not open his mouth.

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ¹⁸  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ¹⁹  persecution began ²⁰  against the church in Jerusalem, ²¹  and all ²²  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ²³  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 2:22-23

2:22 “Men of Israel, ²⁴  listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, ²⁵  wonders, and miraculous signs ²⁶  that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know – 2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ²⁷  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ²⁸ 

[45:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ² tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ³ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[42:3]  ⁵ sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.

[42:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[42:4]  ⁷ tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.

[42:4]  ⁸ tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”

[42:4]  ⁹ tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).

[9:9]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term צַדִּיק (tsadiq) ordinarily translated “righteous,” frequently occurs, as here, with the idea of conforming to a standard or meeting certain criteria. The Messianic king riding into Jerusalem is fully qualified to take the Davidic throne (cf. 1 Sam 23:3; Isa 9:5-6; 11:4; 16:5; Jer 22:1-5; 23:5-6).

[9:9]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term נוֹשָׁע (nosha’) a Niphal participle of יָשַׁע (yasha’, “to save”) could mean “one delivered” or, if viewed as active, “one bringing salvation” (similar KJV, NIV, NKJV). It is preferable to take the normal passive use of the Niphal and understand that the king, having been delivered, is as a result “victorious” (so also NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[9:9]  ¹² sn The NT understands this verse to be a prophecy of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and properly so (cf. Matt 21:5; John 12:15), but reference to the universal rule of the king in v. 10 reveals that this is a “split prophecy,” that is, it has a two-stage fulfillment. Verse 9 was fulfilled in Jesus’ earthly ministry but v. 10 awaits a millennial consummation (cf. Rev 19:11-16).

[11:29]  ¹³ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.

[21:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Tell the daughter of Zion” (the phrase “daughter of Zion” is an idiom for the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “people of Zion”). The idiom “daughter of Zion” has been translated as “people of Zion” because the original idiom, while firmly embedded in the Christian tradition, is not understandable to most modern English readers.

[21:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the foal of an animal under the yoke,” i.e., a hard-working animal. This is a quotation from Zech 9:9.

[8:32]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:32]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “does.” The present tense here was translated as a past tense to maintain consistency with the first line of the quotation (“he was led like a sheep to slaughter”), which has an aorist passive verb normally translated as a past tense in English.

[8:1]  ¹⁸ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ²² sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ²³ tn Or “countryside.”

[2:22]  ²⁴ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage, although it can also be argued that Peter’s remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[2:22]  ²⁵ tn Or “miraculous deeds.”

[2:22]  ²⁶ tn Again, the context indicates the miraculous nature of these signs, and this is specified in the translation.

[2:23]  ²⁷ tn Or “you killed.”

[2:23]  ²⁸ tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.