Psalms 69:1-2

Psalm 69 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ²  by David.

69:1 Deliver me, O God,

for the water has reached my neck. ³ 

69:2 I sink into the deep mire

where there is no solid ground; ⁴ 

I am in ⁵  deep water,

and the current overpowers me.

Psalms 116:3-4

116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, ⁶ 

the snares ⁷  of Sheol confronted me.

I was confronted ⁸  with trouble and sorrow.

116:4 I called on the name of the Lord,

“Please Lord, rescue my life!”

Psalms 142:4-5

142:4 Look to the right and see!

No one cares about me. ⁹ 

I have nowhere to run; ¹⁰ 

no one is concerned about my life. ¹¹ 

142:5 I cry out to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my shelter,

my security ¹²  in the land of the living.”

Lamentations 3:54-56

3:54 The waters closed over my head;

I thought ¹³  I was about to die. ¹⁴ 

ק (Qof)

3:55 I have called on your name, O Lord,

from the deepest pit. ¹⁵ 

3:56 You heard ¹⁶  my plea: ¹⁷ 

“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!” ¹⁸ 

John 2:2-6

2:2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. ¹⁹  2:3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.” ²⁰  2:4 Jesus replied, ²¹  “Woman, ²²  why are you saying this to me? ²³  My time ²⁴  has not yet come.” 2:5 His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.” ²⁵ 

2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ²⁶  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ²⁷ 

Matthew 14:30

14:30 But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, ²⁸  “Lord, save me!”

Matthew 14:2

14:2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.”

Colossians 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²⁹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁰  to fill ³¹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ³²  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³³  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

[69:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.

[69:1]  ² tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.

[69:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.

[69:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”

[69:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “have entered.”

[116:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[116:3]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.

[116:3]  ⁸ tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.

[142:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”

[142:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”

[142:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”

[142:5]  ¹² tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[3:54]  ¹³ tn Heb “I said,” meaning “I said to myself” = “I thought.”

[3:54]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I was about to be cut off.” The verb נִגְזָרְתִּי (nigzarti), Niphal perfect 1st person common singular from גָּזַר (gazar, “to be cut off”), functions in an ingressive sense: “about to be cut off.” It is used in reference to the threat of death (e.g., Ezek 37:11). To be “cut off” from the hand of the living means to experience death (Ps 88:6).

[3:55]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from a pit of lowest places.”

[3:56]  ¹⁶ tn The verb could be understood as a precative, “hear my plea,” parallel to the following volitive verb, “do not close.”

[3:56]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my voice.”

[3:56]  ¹⁸ tn The preposition ל (lamed) continues syntactically from “my plea” in the previous line (e.g. Ex 5:2; Josh 22:2; 1 Sam 8:7; 12:1; Jer 43:4).

[2:2]  ¹⁹ sn There is no clue to the identity of the bride and groom, but in all probability either relatives or friends of Jesus’ family were involved, since Jesus’ mother and both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the celebration. The attitude of Mary in approaching Jesus and asking him to do something when the wine ran out also suggests that familial obligations were involved.

[2:3]  ²⁰ tn The word “left” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[2:4]  ²¹ tn Grk “and Jesus said to her.”

[2:4]  ²² sn The term Woman is Jesus’ normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus’ use here? It probably indicates that a new relationship existed between Jesus and his mother once he had embarked on his public ministry. He was no longer or primarily only her son, but the “Son of Man.” This is also suggested by the use of the same term in 19:26 in the scene at the cross, where the beloved disciple is “given” to Mary as her “new” son.

[2:4]  ²³ tn Grk “Woman, what to me and to you?” (an idiom). The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι (ti emoi kai soi, gunai) is Semitic in origin. The equivalent Hebrew expression in the Old Testament had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) implies merely disengagement. Mere disengagement is almost certainly to be understood here as better fitting the context (although some of the Greek Fathers took the remark as a rebuke to Mary, such a rebuke is unlikely).

[2:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “my hour” (referring to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and return to the Father).

[2:5]  ²⁵ tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[2:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”

[2:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrhtai). A μετρητῆς (metrhths) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18-27 gallons (80-120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108-162 gallons (480-720 liters).

[14:30]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ³⁰ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ³² tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ³³ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”