Discovery BoxThe Song of Songs 3:4
Context3:4 Scarcely 1 had I passed them by
when I found my beloved!
I held onto him 2 tightly and would not let him go 3
until I brought him to my mother’s house, 4
to the bedroom chamber 5 of the one who conceived me.
Hosea 12:4
Context12:4 He struggled 6 with an angel and prevailed;
he wept and begged for his favor.
and there he spoke with him! 9
Luke 18:1-7
Context18:1 Then 10 Jesus 11 told them a parable to show them they should always 12 pray and not lose heart. 13 18:2 He said, 14 “In a certain city 15 there was a judge 16 who neither feared God nor respected people. 17 18:3 There was also a widow 18 in that city 19 who kept coming 20 to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 18:4 For 21 a while he refused, but later on 22 he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, 23 18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out 24 by her unending pleas.’” 25 18:6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! 26 18:7 Won’t 27 God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out 28 to him day and night? 29 Will he delay 30 long to help them?
Romans 8:37
Context8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory 31 through him 32 who loved us!
Romans 8:1
Context8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 33
Colossians 1:1-2
Context1:1 From Paul, 34 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful 35 brothers and sisters 36 in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you 37 from God our Father! 38
Colossians 1:8-9
Context1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, 39 have not ceased praying for you and asking God 40 to fill 41 you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Hebrews 5:7
Context5:7 During his earthly life 42 Christ 43 offered 44 both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion.
[3:4] 1 tn Heb “like a little.” The term כִּמְעַט (kim’at), which is composed of the comparative preposition כְּ (kÿ, “like”) prefixed to the noun מְעַט (mÿ’at, “the small, the little, the few”), is an idiom that means “within a little” or “scarcely” (BDB 590 s.v. מְעַט b.2.a).
[3:4] 2 tn Heb “I held him” (אֲחַזְתִּיו, ’akhaztiv). The term אָחַז (’akhaz, “grasp”) denotes to forcefully seize someone to avoid losing hold of him (BDB 28 s.v. אָחַז b).
[3:4] 3 tn The verb רָפָה (rafah, “to let go”) means to relax one’s grip on an object or a person (HALOT 1276-77 s.v. רפה; BDB 952 s.v. רָפָה 2). The Hiphil stem means “to let loose” (Job 7:19; 27:6; Song 3:4; Sir 6:27) or “to release from one’s hands” (Deut 9:14; Josh 10:6; Ps 37:8). The negative expression לֹא רָפָה (lo’ rafah, “to not let [someone or something] go”) denotes an intense desire or effort to not lose possession of someone or something (Job 27:6; Prov 4:13). Here the expression וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ (vÿlo’ ’arpennu, “I would not let him go”) pictures her determination to hold on to him so she would not lose him again. The shift from a suffix-conjugation (perfect) אֲחַזְתִּיו (’akhaztiv, “I grasped him”) to a prefix-conjugation (imperfect) אַרְפֶּנּוּ (’arpennu, “I would [not] let him go”) depicts a shift from a completed/consummative action (perfect: she took hold of his hand) to an ongoing/progressive action (imperfect: she would not let go of it). A basic distinction between the perfect and imperfect tenses is that of consummative versus progressive action. The literary/syntactical structure of אֲחַזְתִּיו וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ (“I grasped him and I would not let him go”) in 3:4 mirrors that of בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו (biqqashtiv vÿlo’ mÿtsa’tiv, “I searched for him but I could not find him”) in 3:1-2. This parallelism in the literary and syntactical structure emphasizes the fortunate reversal of situation.
[3:4] 4 sn There is debate about the reason why the woman brought her beloved to her mother’s house. Campbell notes that the mother’s house is sometimes referred to as the place where marital plans were made (Gen 24:28; Ruth 1:8). Some suggest, then, that the woman here was unusually bold and took the lead in proposing marriage plans with her beloved. This approach emphasizes that the marriage plans in 3:4 are followed by the royal wedding procession (3:6-11) and the wedding night (4:1-5:1). On the other hand, others suggest that the parallelism of “house of my mother” and “chamber of she who conceived me” focuses on the bedroom of her mother’s house. Fields suggests that her desire was to make love to her beloved in the very bedroom chambers where she herself was conceived, to complete the cycle of life/love. If this is the idea, it would provide a striking parallel to a similar picture in 8:5 in which the woman exults that they had made love in the very location where her beloved had been conceived: “Under the apple tree I aroused you; it was there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you conceived you.”
[3:4] 5 tn The term חֶדֶר (kheder, “chamber”) literally means “dark room” (HALOT s.v. חֶדֶר 293) and often refers to a bedroom (Gen 43:30; Exod 7:28; Judg 3:24; 15:1; 16:9, 12; 2 Sam 4:7; 13:10; 1Kgs 1:15; 2 Kgs 6:12; 9:2; Eccl 10:20; Isa 26:20; Joel 2:16; Prov 24:4; Song 1:4; 3:4).
[12:4] 6 tc The MT vocalizes the consonantal text וָיָּשַׂר (vayyasar, vav consecutive + Qal preterite 3rd person masculine singular from שׂוּר, sur, “to see”); however, parallelism with שָׂרַה (sarah, “he contended”) in 12:3 suggested that it be vocalized as ויּשׂר (vav consecutive + Qal preterite 3rd person masculine singular from שׂרה [“to strive, contend”]). The latter is followed by almost all English versions here.
[12:4] 7 tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:4] 8 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[12:4] 9 tc The Leningrad Codex and the Allepo Codex both read 1st person common plural עִמָּנוּ (’immanu, “with us”). The LXX and Peshitta both reflect an alternate Hebrew Vorlage of 3rd person masculine singular עִמוֹ (’imo, “with him”). The BHS editors suggest emending the MT in favor of the Greek and Syriac. The internal evidence of 12:4-5 favors the 3rd person masculine singular reading. It is likely that the 1st person common plural ־נוּ reading on עִמָּנוּ arose due to a misunderstanding of the 3rd person masculine singular ־נוּ suffix on יִמְצָאֶנּוּ (yimtsa’ennu, “he found him”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) which was probably misunderstood as the 1st person common plural suffix: “he found us.” Several English versions follow the LXX and Syriac: “there he spoke with him” (RSV, NAB, NEB, NIV, NJPS, TEV). Others follow the MT: “there he spoke with us” (KJV, NASB, CEV). The Hebrew University Old Testament Project, which tends to preserve the MT whenever possible, adopts the MT reading but gives it only a “C” rating. See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:262-63.
[18:1] 10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[18:1] 11 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:1] 12 tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).
[18:1] 13 sn This is one of the few parables that comes with an explanation at the start: …they should always pray and not lose heart. It is part of Luke’s goal in encouraging Theophilus (1:4).
[18:2] 14 tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”
[18:2] 16 sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.
[18:2] 17 tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.
[18:3] 18 sn This widow was not necessarily old, since many people lived only into their thirties in the 1st century.
[18:3] 20 tn This is an iterative imperfect; the widow did this on numerous occasions.
[18:4] 21 tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[18:4] 22 tn Grk “after these things.”
[18:4] 23 tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.
[18:5] 24 tn The term ὑπωπιάζω (Jupwpiazw) in this context means “to wear someone out by continual annoying” (L&N 25.245).
[18:5] 25 tn Grk “by her continual coming,” but the point of annoyance to the judge is her constant pleas for justice (v. 3).
[18:6] 26 sn Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! The point of the parable is that the judge’s lack of compassion was overcome by the widow’s persistence.
[18:7] 27 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[18:7] 28 sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.
[18:7] 29 tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.
[18:7] 30 sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.
[8:37] 31 tn BDAG 1034 s.v. ὑπερνικάω states, “as a heightened form of νικᾶν prevail completely ὑπερνικῶμεν we are winning a most glorious victory Ro 8:37.”
[8:37] 32 tn Here the referent could be either God or Christ, but in v. 39 it is God’s love that is mentioned.
[8:1] 33 tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D1 Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א2 D2 33vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.
[1:1] 34 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
[1:2] 35 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] 36 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] 37 tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”
[1:2] 38 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
[1:9] 39 tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.
[1:9] 40 tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.
[1:9] 41 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.
[5:7] 42 tn Grk “in the days of his flesh.”
[5:7] 43 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:7] 44 tn Grk “who…having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5-6.
