Psalms 40:11

40:11 O Lord, you do not withhold ¹  your compassion from me.

May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me! ² 

Psalms 69:13

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ³ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ⁴ 

Psalms 69:16

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ⁵ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

Psalms 103:4

103:4 who delivers ⁶  your life from the Pit, ⁷ 

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

Psalms 119:77

119:77 May I experience your compassion, ⁸  so I might live!

For I find delight in your law.

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ⁹ 

and sinful people their plans. ¹⁰ 

They should return ¹¹  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ¹² 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ¹³ 

Isaiah 63:15

63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,

from your holy, majestic palace!

Where are your zeal ¹⁴  and power?

Do not hold back your tender compassion! ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 31:20

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ¹⁶ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ¹⁷ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁸ 

Luke 1:78

1:78 Because of ¹⁹  our God’s tender mercy ²⁰ 

the dawn ²¹  will break ²²  upon us from on high

Luke 1:2

1:2 like the accounts ²³  passed on ²⁴  to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word ²⁵  from the beginning. ²⁶ 

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ²⁷  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Philippians 1:8

1:8 For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:1

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ²⁸  any affection or mercy, ²⁹ 

Colossians 3:12

Exhortation to Unity and Love

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, ³⁰  kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:17

3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

[40:11]  ¹ tn Some (cf. NIV, NRSV) translate the verb as a request (“do not withhold”), but elsewhere in the psalms the second masculine singular prefixed form, when addressed to God and preceded by לֹא (lo’), is always indicative in mood and never has the force of a prayer (see Pss 16:10; 22:2; 44:9 51:16-17; 60:10; 108:11; cf. NEB, NASB).

[40:11]  ² tn In this line the psalmist makes the transition from confidence to petition (see v. 13). Since the prefixed verbal form in the preceding line is imperfect/indicative, one could take the verb in this line as imperfect as well and translate, “your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me” (cf. NEB). However, the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the next verse, if causal (“because”), is best understood as introducing a motivating argument in support of a petition. For this reason v. 11b is best taken as a prayer with the prefixed form being understood as jussive (cf. NIV, NRSV). For parallels to the proposed construction (jussive followed by כִּי + perfect introducing motivating argument), see Ps 25:21, as well as Pss 10:2-3; 22:8.

[69:13]  ³ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[69:16]  ⁵ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[103:4]  ⁶ tn Or “redeems.”

[103:4]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.

[119:77]  ⁸ tn Heb “and may your compassion come to me.”

[55:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ¹² tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ¹³ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[63:15]  ¹⁴ tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.

[63:15]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.

[31:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[1:78]  ¹⁹ tn For reasons of style, a new sentence has been started in the translation at this point. God’s mercy is ultimately seen in the deliverance John points to, so v. 78a is placed with the reference to Jesus as the light of dawning day.

[1:78]  ²⁰ sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

[1:78]  ²¹ sn The Greek term translated dawn (ἀνατολή, anatolh) can be a reference to the morning star or to the sun. The Messiah is pictured as a saving light that shows the way. The Greek term was also used to translate the Hebrew word for “branch” or “sprout,” so some see a double entendre here with messianic overtones (see Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).

[1:78]  ²² tn Grk “shall visit us.”

[1:2]  ²³ tn Grk “even as”; this compares the recorded tradition of 1:1 with the original eyewitness tradition of 1:2.

[1:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “delivered.”

[1:2]  ²⁵ sn The phrase eyewitnesses and servants of the word refers to a single group of people who faithfully passed on the accounts about Jesus. The language about delivery (passed on) points to accounts faithfully passed on to the early church.

[1:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “like the accounts those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word passed on to us.” The location of “in the beginning” in the Greek shows that the tradition is rooted in those who were with Jesus from the start.

[1:3]  ²⁷ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[3:12]  ³⁰ tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.