Psalms 28:7-8

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; ¹ 

I trust in him with all my heart. ² 

I am rescued ³  and my heart is full of joy; ⁴ 

I will sing to him in gratitude. ⁵ 

28:8 The Lord strengthens his people; ⁶ 

he protects and delivers his chosen king. ⁷ 

Psalms 84:5

84:5 How blessed are those who ⁸  find their strength in you,

and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple! ⁹ 

Psalms 138:3

138:3 When ¹⁰  I cried out for help, you answered me.

You made me bold and energized me. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 40:29-31

40:29 He gives strength to those who are tired;

to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.

40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;

even strong young men clumsily stumble. ¹² 

40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help ¹³  find renewed strength;

they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, ¹⁴ 

they run without growing weary,

they walk without getting tired.

Isaiah 45:24

45:24 they will say about me,

“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” ¹⁵ 

All who are angry at him will cower before him. ¹⁶ 

Zechariah 10:12

10:12 Thus I will strengthen them by my power, ¹⁷  and they will walk about ¹⁸  in my name,” says the Lord.

Ephesians 3:16

3:16 I pray that ¹⁹  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

Ephesians 6:10

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Philippians 4:13

4:13 I am able to do all things ²⁰  through the one ²¹  who strengthens me.

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ²²  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

[28:7]  ¹ tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

[28:7]  ² tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

[28:7]  ³ tn Or “I am helped.”

[28:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

[28:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.

[28:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord [is] strength to them” (or perhaps, “to him”). The form לָמוֹ (lamo, “to them/him”) is probably a corruption of an original לְעַמוֹ (lÿ’amo, “to his people”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 236), perhaps due to quiescence of the letter ayin (ע; see P. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 55). Note the reference to the Lord’s “people” in the next verse.

[28:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “he [is] a refuge of help for his anointed one.” The noun מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh, “anointed one”) refers to the Davidic king, who perhaps speaks as representative of the nation in this psalm. See Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 84:9; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17.

[84:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle stated here was certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the plural “those.” The individual referred to in v. 5a is representative of followers of God, as the use of plural forms in vv. 5b-7 indicates.

[84:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “roads [are] in their heart[s].” The roads are here those that lead to Zion (see v. 7).

[138:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the day.”

[138:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”

[40:30]  ¹² tn Heb “stumbling they stumble.” The verbal idea is emphasized by the infinitive absolute.

[40:31]  ¹³ tn The words “for the Lord’s help” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they rise up [on] wings like eagles” (TEV similar).

[45:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “‘Yes, in the Lord,’ one says about me, ‘is deliverance and strength.’”

[45:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will come to him and be ashamed.”

[10:12]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “I will strengthen them in the Lord.” Because of the perceived problem of the Lord saying he will strengthen the people “in the Lord,” both BHK and BHS suggest emending גִּבַּרְתִּים (gibbartim, “I will strengthen them”) to גְּבֻרָתָם (gevuratam, “their strength”). This is unnecessary, however, for the Lord frequently refers to himself in that manner (see Zech 2:11).

[10:12]  ¹⁸ tc The LXX and Syriac presuppose יִתְהַלָּלוּ (yithallalu, “they will glory”) for יִתְהַלְּכוּ (yithallÿkhu, “they will walk about”). Since walking about is a common idiom in Zechariah (cf. 1:10, 11; 6:7 [3x]) to speak of dominion, and dominion is a major theme of the present passage, there is no reason to reject the MT reading, which is followed by most modern English versions.

[3:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[4:13]  ²⁰ tn The Greek word translated “all things” is in emphatic position at the beginning of the Greek sentence.

[4:13]  ²¹ tc Although some excellent witnesses lack explicit reference to the one strengthening Paul (so א* A B D* I 33 1739 lat co Cl), the majority of witnesses (א² D² [F G] Ψ 075 1881 Ï sy) add Χριστῷ (Cristw) here (thus, “through Christ who strengthens me”). But this kind of reading is patently secondary, and is a predictable variant. Further, the shorter reading is much harder, for it leaves the agent unspecified.

[1:11]  ²² tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.