Psalms 40:4

40:4 How blessed ¹  is the one ²  who trusts in the Lord ³ 

and does not seek help from ⁴  the proud or from liars! ⁵ 

Psalms 84:12

84:12 O Lord who rules over all, ⁶ 

how blessed are those who trust in you! ⁷ 

Psalms 146:3-5

146:3 Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver! ⁸ 

146:4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground;

on that day their plans die. ⁹ 

146:5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Proverbs 16:20

16:20 The one who deals wisely ¹⁰  in a matter ¹¹  will find success, ¹² 

and blessed ¹³  is the one who trusts in the Lord. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 26:3-4

26:3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,

for they trust in you. ¹⁵ 

26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, ¹⁶ 

even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 30:18

The Lord Will Not Abandon His People

30:18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;

he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. ¹⁸ 

Indeed, the Lord is a just God;

all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 17:7

17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,

who put their confidence in me. ²⁰ 

Romans 9:33

9:33 just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall, ²¹ 

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ²² 

Romans 10:11

10:11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ²³ 

Ephesians 1:12

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ²⁴  on Christ, ²⁵  would be to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], ²⁷  the faithful ²⁸  in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:21

1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Ephesians 2:6

2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

[40:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[40:4]  ² tn Heb “man.” See the note on the word “one” in Ps 1:1.

[40:4]  ³ tn Heb “who has made the Lord his [object of] trust.”

[40:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and does not turn toward.”

[40:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “those falling away toward a lie.”

[84:12]  ⁶ tn Traditionally “Lord of hosts.”

[84:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man [who] trusts in you.” Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle stated here is 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 here is representative of all followers of God, as the use of the plural form in v. 12b indicates.

[146:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”

[146:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.

[16:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he who is prudent” or “he who deals wisely” (cf. KJV). The proverb seems to be referring to wise business concerns and the reward for the righteous. One who deals wisely in a matter will find good results. R. N. Whybray sees a contrast here: “The shrewd man of business will succeed well, but the happy man is he who trusts the Lord” (Proverbs [CBC], 92). Synonymous parallelism is more appropriate.

[16:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “he who gives heed to a word,” that is, “who listens to instruction” (cf. NIV, NLT).

[16:20]  ¹² tn Heb “good” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:20]  ¹³ tn Although traditionally this word is translated “happy” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NRSV, NLT), such a translation can be misleading because the word means far more than that. It describes the heavenly bliss that comes from knowing one is right with God and following God’s precepts. The “blessed” could be at odds with the world (Ps 1:1-3).

[16:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the one who trusts in the Lord – blessed is he.”

[26:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[one of] firm purpose you will keep [in] peace, peace, for in you he possesses trust.” The Hebrew term יֵצֶר (yetser) refers to what one devises in the mind; סָמוּךְ (samukh) probably functions here like an attributive adjective and carries the nuance “firm.” So the phrase literally means, “a firm purpose,” but as the object of the verb “keep, guard,” it must stand by metonymy for the one(s) who possess a firm purpose. In this context the “righteous nation” (v. 2) is probably in view and the “firm purpose” refers to their unwavering faith in God’s vindication (see 25:9). In this context שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”), which is repeated for emphasis, likely refers to national security, not emotional or psychological composure (see vv. 1-2). The passive participle בָּטוּחַ (batuakh) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action.

[26:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.

[26:4]  ¹⁷ tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsa^a) confirms the MT reading as well.

[30:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Therefore the Lord waits to show you mercy, and therefore he is exalted to have compassion on you.” The logical connection between this verse and what precedes is problematic. The point seems to be that Judah’s impending doom does not bring God joy. Rather the prospect of their suffering stirs within him a willingness to show mercy and compassion, if they are willing to seek him on his terms.

[30:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Blessed are all who wait for him.”

[17:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in the Lord.” However, because this is a statement of the Lord and the translation chooses to show that the blessing comes from him, the first person is substituted for the divine name.

[9:33]  ²¹ tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

[9:33]  ²² sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.

[10:11]  ²³ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.

[1:12]  ²⁴ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ²⁵ tn Or “the Messiah.”

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²⁷ tc The earliest and most important mss omit “in Ephesus” (Ì⁴⁶ א* B* 6 1739 [Mcion^T,E]), yet the opening line of this epistle makes little sense without the phrase (“to the saints who are and are faithful…”? or perhaps “to the saints who are also faithful,” though with this sense the οὖσιν [ousin] is redundant and the καί [kai] is treated somewhat unnaturally). What is interesting is Marcion’s canon list which speaks of the letter to the Laodiceans among Paul’s authentic epistles. This, coupled with some internal evidence that the writer did not know his audience personally (cf. 1:15; 3:2; absence of personal names throughout), suggests that Ephesians was an encyclical letter, intended for more than one audience. Does this mean that the shorter reading is to be preferred? Yes and no. A plausible scenario is as follows, assuming Pauline authorship (though this is strongly contested today; for arguments on behalf of Pauline authorship, see M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:36-50; P. T. O’Brien, Ephesians, 4-47; and H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 2-61): Paul sent the letter from Rome, intending it first to go to Ephesus. At the same time, Colossians was dispatched. Going counterclockwise through Asia Minor, this letter would first come to Ephesus, the port of entry, then to Laodicea, then Colossae. Tychicus’ instructions may well have been for each church to “fill in the blank” on the address line. The church at Ephesus would have certainly made the most copies, being Paul’s home base for nearly three years. Hence, most of the surviving copies have “in Ephesus” in v. 1 (so א² A B² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1881 Ï latt sy co). But one might expect a hint of evidence that Laodicea also made a few copies: Both Marcion’s list and Col 4:16 may well imply this. What is to account for the early Alexandrian evidence, then? These mss were perhaps made from a very early copy, one reflecting the blank line before each church filled it in. Although it is of course only speculation (as is necessary in a historical investigation lacking some of the pieces to the puzzle), this scenario accounts for all of the data: (1) “in Ephesus” in most mss; (2) Laodicea in Marcion’s list and Col 4:16; (3) the lack of an addressee in the earliest witnesses; (4) why the earliest witnesses’ reading must be rejected as too hard; and (5) why the author seems not to know the readership. In sum, is “in Ephesus” original? Yes and no. Some address belongs there; ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ (en Efesw) is the predominant address, but several other churches also received this circular letter as their own. For this reason the phrase has been placed in single brackets in the translation. NA²⁷ also lists the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[1:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style [and even if this letter is not by Paul it follows the general style of Paul’s letters, with some modifications]) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated. See M. Barth, Ephesians (AB 34), 1:68 and ExSyn 282.