Psalms 25:7

25:7 Do not hold against me ¹  the sins of my youth ²  or my rebellious acts!

Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! ³ 

Psalms 136:23

136:23 to the one who remembered us when we were down, ⁴ 

for his loyal love endures,

Genesis 8:1

8:1 But God remembered ⁵  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ⁶  the earth and the waters receded.

Exodus 2:24-25

2:24 God heard their groaning, ⁷  God remembered ⁸  his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, 2:25 God saw ⁹  the Israelites, and God understood…. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 44:21

44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,

O Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you to be my servant;

O Israel, I will not forget you! ¹¹ 

Isaiah 49:14-16

The Lord Remembers Zion

49:14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,

the sovereign master ¹²  has forgotten me.’

49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? ¹³ 

Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? ¹⁴ 

Even if mothers ¹⁵  were to forget,

I could never forget you! ¹⁶ 

49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name ¹⁷  on my palms;

your walls are constantly before me.

Acts 10:4

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ¹⁸  replied, ¹⁹  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ²⁰  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ²¹  have gone up as a memorial ²²  before God.

[25:7]  ¹ tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.

[25:7]  ² sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.

[25:7]  ³ tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”

[136:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “who, in our low condition, remembered us.”

[8:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

[8:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “to pass over.”

[2:24]  ⁷ sn The word for this painfully intense “groaning” appears elsewhere to describe a response to having two broken arms (Ezek 30:24).

[2:24]  ⁸ sn The two verbs “heard” and “remembered,” both preterites, say far more than they seem to say. The verb שָׁמַע (shama’, “to hear”) ordinarily includes responding to what is heard. It can even be found in idiomatic constructions meaning “to obey.” To say God heard their complaint means that God responded to it. Likewise, the verb זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) means to begin to act on the basis of what is remembered. A prayer to God that says, “Remember me,” is asking for more than mere recollection (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], 1-8). The structure of this section at the end of the chapter is powerful. There are four descriptions of the Israelites, with a fourfold reaction from God. On the Israelites’ side, they groaned (אָנַח [’anakh], נְאָקָה [nÿ’aqah]) and cried out (זָעַק [za’aq], שַׁוְעָה [shav’ah]) to God. On the divine side God heard (שָׁמָע, shama’) their groaning, remembered (זָכַר, zakhar) his covenant, looked (רָאָה, ra’ah) at the Israelites, and took notice (יָדַע, yada’) of them. These verbs emphasize God’s sympathy and compassion for the people. God is near to those in need; in fact, the deliverer had already been chosen. It is important to note at this point the repetition of the word “God.” The text is waiting to introduce the name “Yahweh” in a special way. Meanwhile, the fourfold repetition of “God” in vv. 24-25 is unusual and draws attention to the statements about his attention to Israel’s plight.

[2:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and God saw.”

[2:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and God knew” (יָדַע, yada’). The last clause contains a widely used verb for knowing, but it leaves the object unexpressed within the clause, so as to allow all that vv. 23-24 have described to serve as the compelling content of God’s knowing. (Many modern English versions supply an object for the verb following the LXX, which reads “knew them.”) The idea seems to be that God took personal knowledge of, noticed, or regarded them. In other passages the verb “know” is similar in meaning to “save” or “show pity.” See especially Gen 18:21, Ps 1:6; 31:7, and Amos 3:2. Exodus has already provided an example of the results of not knowing in 1:8 (cf. 5:2).

[44:21]  ¹¹ tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[49:14]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[49:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”

[49:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”

[49:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).

[49:15]  ¹⁶ sn The argument of v. 15 seems to develop as follows: The Lord has an innate attachment to Zion, just like a mother does for her infant child. But even if mothers were to suddenly abandon their children, the Lord would never forsake Zion. In other words, the Lord’s attachment to Zion is like a mother’s attachment to her infant child, but even stronger.

[49:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.

[10:4]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.

[10:4]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ²¹ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

[10:4]  ²² sn The language used in the expression gone up as a memorial before God parallels what one would say of acceptable sacrifices (Ps 141:2; Sir 35:6; 50:16).