Psalms 14:5

14:5 They are absolutely terrified, ¹ 

for God defends the godly. ² 

Psalms 24:6

24:6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,

Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. ³  (Selah)

Psalms 73:15

73:15 If I had publicized these thoughts, ⁴ 

I would have betrayed your loyal followers. ⁵ 

Psalms 87:6

87:6 The Lord writes in the census book of the nations, ⁶ 

“This one was born there.” ⁷  (Selah)

Matthew 3:9

3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Galatians 3:26-29

3:26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. ⁸  3:27 For all of you who ⁹  were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave ¹⁰  nor free, there is neither male nor female ¹¹  – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, ¹²  heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:1

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You ¹³  foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell ¹⁴  on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed ¹⁵  as crucified!

Galatians 2:9

2:9 and when James, Cephas, ¹⁶  and John, who had a reputation as ¹⁷  pillars, ¹⁸  recognized ¹⁹  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ²⁰  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ²¹  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ²² 

[14:5]  ¹ tn Heb “there they are afraid [with] fear.” The perfect verbal form is probably used in a rhetorical manner; the psalmist describes the future demise of the oppressors as if it were already occurring. The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is also used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the wicked standing in fear at a spot that is this vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.). The cognate accusative following the verb emphasizes the degree of their terror.

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “for God is with a godly generation.” The Hebrew noun דּוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the general class of people who are characterized by godliness. See BDB 190 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[24:6]  ³ tn Heb “this [is the] generation of the ones seeking him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 27:8; 105:4).

[73:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “If I had said, ‘I will speak out like this.’”

[73:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “look, the generation of your sons I would have betrayed.” The phrase “generation of your [i.e., God’s] sons” occurs only here in the OT. Some equate the phrase with “generation of the godly” (Ps 14:5), “generation of the ones seeking him” (Ps 24:6), and “generation of the upright” (Ps 112:2). In Deut 14:1 the Israelites are referred to as God’s “sons.” Perhaps the psalmist refers here to those who are “Israelites” in the true sense because of their loyalty to God (note the juxtaposition of “Israel” with “the pure in heart” in v. 1).

[87:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord records in the writing of the nations.”

[87:6]  ⁷ tn As noted in v. 4, the translation assumes a contrast between “there” (the various foreign lands) and “in her” (Zion). In contrast to foreigners, the citizens of Zion have special status because of their birthplace (v. 5). In this case vv. 4 and 6 form a structural frame around v. 5.

[3:26]  ⁸ tn Or “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

[3:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “For as many of you as.”

[3:28]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:10.

[3:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “male and female.”

[3:29]  ¹² tn Grk “seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.

[3:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainw) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).

[3:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).

[2:9]  ¹⁶ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.

[2:9]  ¹⁸ sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.

[2:9]  ¹⁹ tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.

[2:9]  ²⁰ tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”

[2:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “so,” with the ἵνα (Jina) indicating the result of the “pillars” extending the “right hand of fellowship,” but the translation “they gave…the right hand of fellowship so that we would go” could be misunderstood as purpose here. The implication of the scene is that an agreement, outlined at the end of v. 10, was reached between Paul and Barnabas on the one hand and the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church on the other.

[2:9]  ²² tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.