Discovery BoxPsalms 45:6-7
Context45:6 Your throne, 1 O God, is permanent. 2
The scepter 3 of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
45:7 You love 4 justice and hate evil. 5
For this reason God, your God 6 has anointed you 7
with the oil of joy, 8 elevating you above your companions. 9
Psalms 85:9-12
Context85:9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance; 10
then his splendor will again appear in our land. 11
85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; 12
deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. 13
85:11 Faithfulness grows from the ground,
and deliverance looks down from the sky. 14
85:12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings, 15
and our land will yield 16 its crops.
Isaiah 45:21
Context45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! 17
Let them consult with one another!
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the Lord?
I have no peer, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers; 18
there is none but me.
Matthew 1:21
Context1:21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him 19 Jesus, 20 because he will save his people from their sins.”
Romans 3:24-26
Context3:24 But they are justified 21 freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 3:25 God publicly displayed 22 him 23 at his death 24 as the mercy seat 25 accessible through faith. 26 This was to demonstrate 27 his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. 28 3:26 This was 29 also to demonstrate 30 his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just 31 and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness. 32
[45:6] 1 sn The king’s throne here symbolizes his rule.
[45:6] 2 tn Or “forever and ever.”
[45:6] 3 sn The king’s scepter symbolizes his royal authority.
[45:7] 4 sn To love justice means to actively promote it.
[45:7] 5 sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.
[45:7] 6 tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“
[45:7] 7 sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.
[45:7] 8 sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.
[45:7] 9 tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.
[85:9] 10 tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who fear him.”
[85:9] 11 tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive with -לְ (lÿ), “to dwell,” probably indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people and renews his relationship with them, he will once more reveal his royal splendor in the land.
[85:10] 12 tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.
[85:10] 13 sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.
[85:11] 14 sn The psalmist already sees undeniable signs of God’s faithfulness and expects deliverance to arrive soon.
[85:12] 15 tn Heb “what is good.”
[85:12] 16 tn Both “bestow” and “yield” translate the same Hebrew verb (נָתַן, natan). The repetition of the word emphasizes that agricultural prosperity is the direct result of divine blessing.
[45:21] 17 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
[45:21] 18 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”
[1:21] 19 tn Grk “you will call his name.”
[1:21] 20 sn The Greek form of the name Ihsous, which was translated into Latin as Jesus, is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), which means “Yahweh saves” (Yahweh is typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT). It was a fairly common name among Jews in 1st century Palestine, as references to a number of people by this name in the LXX and Josephus indicate.
[3:24] 21 tn Or “declared righteous.” Grk “being justified,” as a continuation of the preceding clause. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[3:25] 22 tn Or “purposed, intended.”
[3:25] 23 tn Grk “whom God publicly displayed.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[3:25] 24 tn Grk “in his blood.” The prepositional phrase ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι (ejn tw aujtou {aimati) is difficult to interpret. It is traditionally understood to refer to the atoning sacrifice Jesus made when he shed his blood on the cross, and as a modifier of ἱλαστήριον (Jilasthrion). This interpretation fits if ἱλαστήριον is taken to refer to a sacrifice. But if ἱλαστήριον is taken to refer to the place where atonement is made as this translation has done (see note on the phrase “mercy seat”), this interpretation of ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι creates a violent mixed metaphor. Within a few words Paul would switch from referring to Jesus as the place where atonement was made to referring to Jesus as the atoning sacrifice itself. A viable option which resolves this problem is to see ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι as modifying the verb προέθετο (proeqeto). If it modifies the verb, it would explain the time or place in which God publicly displayed Jesus as the mercy seat; the reference to blood would be a metaphorical way of speaking of Jesus’ death. This is supported by the placement of ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι in the Greek text (it follows the noun, separated from it by another prepositional phrase) and by stylistic parallels with Rom 1:4. This is the interpretation the translation has followed, although it is recognized that many interpreters favor different options and translations. The prepositional phrase has been moved forward in the sentence to emphasize its connection with the verb, and the referent of the metaphorical language has been specified in the translation. For a detailed discussion of this interpretation, see D. P. Bailey, “Jesus As the Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of Paul’s Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25” (Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1999).
[3:25] 25 tn The word ἱλαστήριον (Jilasthrion) may carry the general sense “place of satisfaction,” referring to the place where God’s wrath toward sin is satisfied. More likely, though, it refers specifically to the “mercy seat,” i.e., the covering of the ark where the blood was sprinkled in the OT ritual on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This term is used only one other time in the NT: Heb 9:5, where it is rendered “mercy seat.” There it describes the altar in the most holy place (holy of holies). Thus Paul is saying that God displayed Jesus as the “mercy seat,” the place where propitiation was accomplished. See N. S. L. Fryer, “The Meaning and Translation of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25,” EvQ 59 (1987): 99-116, who concludes the term is a neuter accusative substantive best translated “mercy seat” or “propitiatory covering,” and D. P. Bailey, “Jesus As the Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of Paul’s Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25” (Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1999), who argues that this is a direct reference to the mercy seat which covered the ark of the covenant.
[3:25] 26 tn The prepositional phrase διὰ πίστεως (dia pistew") here modifies the noun ἱλαστήριον (Jilasthrion). As such it forms a complete noun phrase and could be written as “mercy-seat-accessible-through-faith” to emphasize the singular idea. See Rom 1:4 for a similar construction. The word “accessible” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied to clarify the idea expressed by the prepositional phrase (cf. NRSV: “effective through faith”).
[3:25] 27 tn Grk “for a demonstration,” giving the purpose of God’s action in v. 25a. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[3:25] 28 tn Grk “because of the passing over of sins previously committed in the forbearance of God.”
[3:26] 29 tn The words “This was” have been repeated from the previous verse to clarify that this is a continuation of that thought. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[3:26] 30 tn Grk “toward a demonstration,” repeating and expanding the purpose of God’s action in v. 25a.
[3:26] 32 tn Or “of the one who has faith in Jesus.” See note on “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” in v. 22 for the rationale behind the translation “Jesus’ faithfulness.”
