Revelation 19:7-8

19:7 Let us rejoice ¹  and exult

and give him glory,

because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready.

19:8 She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen” ²  (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints). ³ 

Psalms 45:9-14

45:9 Princesses ⁴  are among your honored guests, ⁵ 

your bride ⁶  stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir. ⁷ 

45:10 Listen, O princess! ⁸ 

Observe and pay attention! ⁹ 

Forget your homeland ¹⁰  and your family! ¹¹ 

45:11 Then ¹²  the king will be attracted by ¹³  your beauty.

After all, he is your master! Submit ¹⁴  to him! ¹⁵ 

45:12 Rich people from Tyre ¹⁶ 

will seek your favor by bringing a gift. ¹⁷ 

45:13 The princess ¹⁸  looks absolutely magnificent, ¹⁹ 

decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold. ²⁰ 

45:14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.

Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,

are led before you. ²¹ 

Isaiah 54:5

54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –

the Lord who commands armies is his name.

He is your protector, ²²  the Holy One of Israel. ²³ 

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

Isaiah 61:10

61:10 I ²⁴  will greatly rejoice ²⁵  in the Lord;

I will be overjoyed because of my God. ²⁶ 

For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;

he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. ²⁷ 

I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;

I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 62:4

62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”

and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”

Indeed, ²⁹  you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” ³⁰ 

and your land “Married.” ³¹ 

For the Lord will take delight in you,

and your land will be married to him. ³² 

John 3:29

3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly ³³  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ³⁴ 

John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ³⁵  at night ³⁶  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ³⁷  that you do unless God is with him.”

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³⁸  brothers and sisters ³⁹  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴⁰  from God our Father! ⁴¹ 

Ephesians 5:25-27

5:25 Husbands, love your ⁴²  wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 5:26 to sanctify her by cleansing her ⁴³  with the washing of the water by the word, 5:27 so that he ⁴⁴  may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. ⁴⁵ 

Ephesians 5:30-32

5:30 for we are members of his body. ⁴⁶  5:31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become ⁴⁷  one flesh. ⁴⁸  5:32 This mystery is great – but I am actually ⁴⁹  speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

[19:7]  ¹ tn This verb and the next two verbs are hortatory subjunctives (giving exhortations).

[19:8]  ² tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12…16; 19:8, 14.”

[19:8]  ³ sn This phrase is treated as a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[45:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “daughters of kings.”

[45:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “valuable ones.” The form is feminine plural.

[45:9]  ⁶ tn This rare Hebrew noun apparently refers to the king’s bride, who will soon be queen (see Neh 2:6). The Aramaic cognate is used of royal wives in Dan 5:2-3, 23.

[45:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “a consort stands at your right hand, gold of Ophir.”

[45:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “daughter.” The Hebrew noun בת (“daughter”) can sometimes refer to a young woman in a general sense (see H. Haag, TDOT 2:334).

[45:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “see and turn your ear.” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “see”) is used here of mental observation.

[45:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your people.” This reference to the “people” of the princess suggests she was a foreigner. Perhaps the marriage was arranged as part of a political alliance between Israel (or Judah) and a neighboring state. The translation “your homeland” reflects such a situation.

[45:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the house of your father.”

[45:11]  ¹² tn After the preceding imperatives, the jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is best understood as introducing a purpose (“so that the king might desire your beauty”) or result clause (see the present translation and cf. also NASB). The point seems to be this: The bride might tend to be homesick, which in turn might cause her to mourn and diminish her attractiveness. She needs to overcome this temptation to unhappiness and enter into the marriage with joy. Then the king will be drawn to her natural beauty.

[45:11]  ¹³ tn Or “desire.”

[45:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “bow down.”

[45:11]  ¹⁵ sn Submit to him. The poet here makes the point that the young bride is obligated to bring pleasure to her new husband. Though a foreign concept to modern western culture, this was accepted as the cultural norm in the psalmist’s day.

[45:12]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[45:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and a daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face they will appease, the rich of people.” The phrase “daughter of Tyre” occurs only here in the OT. It could be understood as addressed to the bride, indicating she was a Phoenician (cf. NEB). However, often in the OT the word “daughter,” when collocated with the name of a city or country, is used to personify the referent (see, for example, “Daughter Zion” in Ps 9:14, and “Daughter Babylon” in Ps 137:8). If that is the case here, then “Daughter Tyre” identifies the city-state of Tyre as the place from which the rich people come (cf. NRSV). The idiom “appease the face” refers to seeking one’s favor (see Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9).

[45:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[the] daughter of a king.”

[45:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[is] completely glorious.”

[45:13]  ²⁰ tc Heb “within, from settings of gold, her clothing.” The Hebrew term פְּנִימָה (pÿnimah, “within”), if retained, would go with the preceding line and perhaps refer to the bride being “within” the palace or her bridal chamber (cf. NIV, NRSV). Since the next two lines refer to her attire (see also v. 9b), it is preferable to emend the form to פְּנִינִיהָּ (“her pearls”) or to פְּנִינִים (“pearls”). The mem (מ) prefixed to “settings” is probably dittographic.

[45:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.

[54:5]  ²² tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[54:5]  ²³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[61:10]  ²⁴ sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.

[61:10]  ²⁵ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[61:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”

[61:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”

[61:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[62:4]  ²⁹ tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”

[62:4]  ³⁰ tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ³¹ tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ³² tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.

[3:29]  ³³ tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).

[3:29]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  ³⁷ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

[1:2]  ³⁸ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³⁹ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁴¹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[5:25]  ⁴² tn The Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[5:26]  ⁴³ tn The direct object “her” is implied, but not found in the Greek text. It has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the passage.

[5:27]  ⁴⁴ tn The use of the pronoun αὐτός (autos) is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious.

[5:27]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “but in order that it may be holy and blameless.”

[5:30]  ⁴⁶ tc Most Western witnesses, as well as the majority of Byzantine mss and a few others (א² D F G Ψ 0278 0285^vid Ï lat), add the following words to the end of the verse: ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀστέων αὐτοῦ (ek th" sarko" autou kai ek twn ostewn autou, “of his body and of his bones”). This is a (slightly modified) quotation from Gen 2:23a (LXX). The Alexandrian text is solidly behind the shorter reading (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B 048 33 81 1739* 1881 pc). Although it is possible that an early scribe’s eye skipped over the final αὐτοῦ, there is a much greater likelihood that a scribe added the Genesis quotation in order to fill out and make explicit the author’s incomplete reference to Gen 2:23. Further, on intrinsic grounds, it seems unlikely that the author would refer to the physical nature of creation when speaking of the “body of Christ” which is spiritual or mystical. Hence, as is often the case with OT quotations, the scribal clarification missed the point the author was making; the shorter reading stands as original.

[5:31]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”

[5:31]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.

[5:32]  ⁴⁹ tn The term “actually” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to bring out the heightened sense of the statement.