Psalms 34:19-20

34:19 The godly ¹  face many dangers, ² 

but the Lord saves ³  them ⁴  from each one of them.

34:20 He protects ⁵  all his bones; ⁶ 

not one of them is broken. ⁷ 

Psalms 40:2

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, ⁸ 

out of the slimy mud. ⁹ 

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 91:12

91:12 They will lift you up in their hands,

so you will not slip and fall on a stone. ¹¹ 

Psalms 94:18

94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”

your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.

Psalms 145:14

145:14 ¹² The Lord supports all who fall,

and lifts up all who are bent over. ¹³ 

Proverbs 24:16

24:16 Although ¹⁴  a righteous person may fall seven times, he gets up again,

but the wicked will be brought down ¹⁵  by calamity.

Micah 7:7-8

7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;

I will wait for the God who delivers me.

My God will hear my lament. ¹⁶ 

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ¹⁷  do not gloat ¹⁸  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ¹⁹ 

Luke 2:34

2:34 Then ²⁰  Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: ²¹  This child ²²  is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising ²³  of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. ²⁴ 

Luke 22:31-32

22:31 “Simon, ²⁵  Simon, pay attention! ²⁶  Satan has demanded to have you all, ²⁷  to sift you like wheat, ²⁸  22:32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, ²⁹  that your faith may not fail. ³⁰  When ³¹  you have turned back, ³²  strengthen ³³  your brothers.”

Luke 22:60-62

22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, ³⁴  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ³⁵  22:61 Then ³⁶  the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, ³⁷  how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 22:62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. ³⁸ 

[34:19]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.

[34:19]  ² tn Or “trials.”

[34:19]  ³ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.

[34:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.

[34:20]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.

[34:20]  ⁶ tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.

[34:20]  ⁷ sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).

[40:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

[40:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[40:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

[91:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so your foot will not strike a stone.”

[145:14]  ¹² tc Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, with each successive verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Psalm 145 there is no verse beginning with the letter nun. One would expect such a verse to appear as the fourteenth verse, between the mem (מ) and samek (ס) verses. Several ancient witnesses, including one medieval Hebrew manuscript, the Qumran scroll from cave 11, the LXX, and the Syriac, supply the missing nun (נ) verse, which reads as follows: “The Lord is reliable in all his words, and faithful in all his deeds.” One might paraphrase this as follows: “The Lord’s words are always reliable; his actions are always faithful.” Scholars are divided as to the originality of this verse. L. C. Allen argues for its inclusion on the basis of structural considerations (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 294-95), but there is no apparent explanation for why, if original, it would have been accidentally omitted. The psalm may be a partial acrostic, as in Pss 25 and 34 (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:335). The glaring omission of the nun line would have invited a later redactor to add such a line.

[145:14]  ¹³ tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).

[24:16]  ¹⁴ tn The clause beginning with כִּי (ki) could be interpreted as causal or conditional; but in view of the significance of the next clause it seems better to take it as a concessive clause (“although”). Its verb then receives a modal nuance of possibility. The apodosis is then “and he rises up,” which could be a participle or a perfect tense; although he may fall, he gets up (or, will get up).

[24:16]  ¹⁵ tn The verb could be translated with an English present tense (“are brought down,” so NIV) to express what happens to the wicked in this life; but since the saying warns against being like the wicked, their destruction is more likely directed to the future.

[7:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ¹⁹ sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[2:34]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:34]  ²¹ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:34]  ²² tn Grk “this one”; the referent (the child) is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:34]  ²³ sn The phrase the falling and rising of many emphasizes that Jesus will bring division in the nation, as some will be judged (falling) and others blessed (rising) because of how they respond to him. The language is like Isa 8:14-15 and conceptually like Isa 28:13-16. Here is the first hint that Jesus’ coming will be accompanied with some difficulties.

[2:34]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and for a sign of contradiction.”

[22:31]  ²⁵ tc The majority of mss (א A D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï as well as several versional witnesses) begin this verse with an introductory comment, “and the Lord said,” indicating a change in the subject of discussion. But this is apparently a reading motivated by the need for clarity. Some of the best witnesses, along with a few others (Ì⁷⁵ B L T 1241 2542^c sy^s co), do not contain these words. The abrupt shift is the more difficult reading and thus more likely to be original.

[22:31]  ²⁶ tn Grk “behold” (for “pay attention” see L&N 91.13).

[22:31]  ²⁷ sn This pronoun is plural in the Greek text, so it refers to all the disciples of which Peter is the representative.

[22:31]  ²⁸ sn Satan has demanded permission to put them to the test. The idiom “sift (someone) like wheat” is similar to the English idiom “to pick (someone) apart.” The pronoun you is implied.

[22:32]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:32]  ³² tn Or “turned around.”

[22:32]  ³³ 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.

[22:60]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:60]  ³⁵ tn A real rooster crowing is probably in view here (rather than the Roman trumpet call known as gallicinium), in part due to the fact that Mark 14:72 mentions the rooster crowing twice. See the discussion at Matt 26:74.

[22:61]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:61]  ³⁷ tn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Because of its technical nature the expression has been retained in the translation in preference to a smoother rendering like “remembered what the Lord had said” (cf. TEV, NLT).

[22:62]  ³⁸ sn When Peter went out and wept bitterly it shows he really did not want to fail here and was deeply grieved that he had.