Psalms 17:5

17:5 I carefully obey your commands; ¹ 

I do not deviate from them. ² 

Psalms 37:23-24

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ³ 

37:24 Even if ⁴  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ⁵ 

for the Lord holds ⁶  his hand.

Psalms 38:16

38:16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; ⁷ 

when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. ⁸ 

Psalms 119:116-117

119:116 Sustain me as you promised, ⁹  so that I will live. ¹⁰ 

Do not disappoint me! ¹¹ 

119:117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.

Then I will focus ¹²  on your statutes continually.

Psalms 121:3

121:3 May he not allow your foot to slip!

May your protector ¹³  not sleep! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 121:1

Psalm 121 ¹⁵ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁶ 

121:1 I look up ¹⁷  toward the hills.

From where ¹⁸  does my help come?

Psalms 2:9

2:9 You will break them ¹⁹  with an iron scepter; ²⁰ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ²¹ 

John 12:5

12:5 “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins ²²  and the money ²³  given to the poor?”

Isaiah 41:10

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ²⁴ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ²⁵ 

Luke 22:32

22:32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, ²⁶  that your faith may not fail. ²⁷  When ²⁸  you have turned back, ²⁹  strengthen ³⁰  your brothers.”

Luke 22:1

Judas’ Decision to Betray Jesus

22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, ³¹  which is called the Passover, was approaching.

Luke 1:5

Birth Announcement of John the Baptist

1:5 During the reign ³²  of Herod ³³  king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to ³⁴  the priestly division of Abijah, ³⁵  and he had a wife named Elizabeth, ³⁶  who was a descendant of Aaron. ³⁷ 

[17:5]  ¹ tn Heb “my steps stay firm in your tracks.” The infinitive absolute functions here as a finite verb (see GKC 347 §113.gg). God’s “tracks” are his commands, i.e., the moral pathways he has prescribed for the psalmist.

[17:5]  ² tn Heb “my footsteps do not stagger.”

[37:23]  ³ tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

[37:24]  ⁴ tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ⁶ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[38:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).

[38:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.

[119:116]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to your word.”

[119:116]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:116]  ¹¹ tn Heb “do not make me ashamed of my hope.” After the Hebrew verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “to be ashamed”) the preposition מִן (min, “from”) often introduces the reason for shame.

[119:117]  ¹² tn Or “and that I might focus.” The two cohortatives with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the imperative at the beginning of the verse.

[121:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the one who guards you.”

[121:3]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle אל appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 §109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one should probably translate, “he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,” and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.

[121:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 121. The psalm affirms that the Lord protects his people Israel. Unless the psalmist addresses an observer (note the second person singular forms in vv. 3-8), it appears there are two or three speakers represented in the psalm, depending on how one takes v. 3. The translation assumes that speaker one talks in vv. 1-2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in v. 3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in vv. 4-8. If the verbs in v. 3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Verses 3-8 are speaker two’s response to the words of speaker one. See the note on the word “sleep” at the end of v. 3.

[121:1]  ¹⁶ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[121:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”

[121:1]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term מֵאַיִן (me’ayin) is interrogative, not relative, in function. Rather than directly stating that his source of help descends from the hills, the psalmist is asking, “From where does my help come?” Nevertheless, the first line does indicate that he is looking toward the hills for help, probably indicating that he is looking up toward the sky in anticipation of supernatural intervention. The psalmist assumes the dramatic role of one needing help. He answers his own question in v. 2.

[2:9]  ¹⁹ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

[2:9]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

[2:9]  ²¹ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

[12:5]  ²² tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth a standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking into account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).

[12:5]  ²³ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).

[41:10]  ²⁴ tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).

[41:10]  ²⁵ tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).

[22:32]  ²⁶ sn Here and in the remainder of the verse the second person pronouns are singular, so only Peter is in view. The name “Simon” has been supplied as a form of direct address to make this clear in English.

[22:32]  ²⁷ sn That your faith may not fail. Note that Peter’s denials are pictured here as lapses, not as a total absence of faith.

[22:32]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:32]  ²⁹ tn Or “turned around.”

[22:32]  ³⁰ sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.

[22:1]  ³¹ sn The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week long celebration that followed the day of Passover, so one name was used for both feasts (Exod 12:1-20; 23:15; 34:18; Deut 16:1-8).

[1:5]  ³² tn Grk “It happened that in the days.” 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.

[1:5]  ³³ sn Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 b.c. until he died in 4 b.c. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.

[1:5]  ³⁴ tn Grk “of”; but the meaning of the preposition ἐκ (ek) is more accurately expressed in contemporary English by the relative clause “who belonged to.”

[1:5]  ³⁵ sn There were twenty-four divisions of priesthood and the priestly division of Abijah was eighth on the list according to 1 Chr 24:10.

[1:5]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and her name was Elizabeth.”

[1:5]  ³⁷ tn Grk “a wife of the daughters of Aaron.”