Psalms 68:17-18

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ¹ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ² 

68:18 You ascend on high, ³ 

you have taken many captives. ⁴ 

You receive tribute ⁵  from ⁶  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁷ 

Matthew 4:11

4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels ⁸  came and began ministering to his needs.

Matthew 28:2

28:2 Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord ⁹  descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it.

Mark 1:13

1:13 He was in the wilderness forty days, ¹⁰  enduring temptations from Satan. He ¹¹  was with wild animals, and angels were ministering to his needs. ¹² 

Mark 16:5

16:5 Then ¹³  as they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe ¹⁴  sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

Luke 2:10-14

2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, ¹⁵  for I proclaim to you good news ¹⁶  that brings great joy to all the people: 2:11 Today ¹⁷  your Savior is born in the city ¹⁸  of David. ¹⁹  He is Christ ²⁰  the Lord. 2:12 This ²¹  will be a sign ²²  for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ²³  2:13 Suddenly ²⁴  a vast, heavenly army ²⁵  appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

2:14 “Glory ²⁶  to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among people ²⁷  with whom he is pleased!” ²⁸ 

Luke 22:43

22:43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

Luke 24:4

24:4 While ²⁹  they were perplexed ³⁰  about this, suddenly ³¹  two men stood beside them in dazzling ³²  attire.

John 20:12

20:12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet.

Acts 1:10-11

1:10 As ³³  they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly ³⁴  two men in white clothing stood near them 1:11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here ³⁵  looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven ³⁶  will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

Ephesians 3:10

3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ³⁷  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ³⁸  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ³⁹  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 1:12

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ⁴⁰  on Christ, ⁴¹  would be to the praise of his glory.

[68:17]  ¹ tn Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”

[68:17]  ² tc The MT reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see BHS note b-b and Deut 33:2).

[68:18]  ³ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ⁵ tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ⁶ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “and behold, angels.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[28:2]  ⁹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.

[1:13]  ¹⁰ sn The forty days may allude to the experience of Moses (Exod 34:28), Elijah (1 Kgs 19:8, 15), or David and Goliath (1 Sam 17:16).

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And he.”

[1:13]  ¹² tn Grk “were serving him,” “were ministering to him.”

[16:5]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[16:5]  ¹⁴ sn Mark does not explicitly identify the young man dressed in a white robe as an angel (though the white robe suggests this), but Matthew does (Matt 28:2).

[2:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “I evangelize to you great joy.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.

[2:11]  ¹⁹ tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.

[2:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “And this.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:12]  ²² sn The sign functions for the shepherds like Elizabeth’s conception served for Mary in 1:36.

[2:12]  ²³ tn Or “a feeding trough,” see Luke 2:7.

[2:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And suddenly.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “a multitude of the armies of heaven.”

[2:14]  ²⁶ sn Glory here refers to giving honor to God.

[2:14]  ²⁷ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") referring to both males and females.

[2:14]  ²⁸ tc Most witnesses (א² B² L Θ Ξ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï sy bo) have ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία (en anqrwpoi" eudokia, “good will among people”) instead of ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας (en anqrwpoi" eudokia", “among people with whom he is pleased”), a reading attested by א* A B* D W pc (sa). Most of the Itala witnesses and some other versional witnesses reflect a Greek text which has the genitive εὐδοκίας but drops the preposition ἐν. Not only is the genitive reading better attested, but it is more difficult than the nominative. “The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure” (TCGNT 111).

[24:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[24:4]  ³⁰ tn Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.

[24:4]  ³¹ tn Grk “behold.”

[24:4]  ³² sn The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).

[1:10]  ³³ tn Grk “And as.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:10]  ³⁴ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:11]  ³⁵ tn The word “here” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[1:11]  ³⁶ tc Codex Bezae (D) and several other witnesses lack the words εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν (ei" ton ouranon, “into heaven”) here, most likely by way of accidental deletion. In any event, it is hardly correct to suppose that the Western text has intentionally suppressed references to the ascension of Christ here, for the phrase is solidly attested in the final clause of the verse.

[3:10]  ³⁷ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

[3:10]  ³⁸ tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”

[3:1]  ³⁹ tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.

[1:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ⁴¹ tn Or “the Messiah.”