The Song of Songs 5:8

The Triumph of Love: The Beloved Praises Her Lover

The Beloved to the Maidens:

5:8 O maidens of Jerusalem, I command you –

If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?

Tell him that I am lovesick! ¹ 

Psalms 42:1-2

Book 2
(Psalms 42-72)

Psalm 42 ² 

For the music director; a well-written song ³  by the Korahites.

42:1 As a deer ⁴  longs ⁵  for streams of water,

so I long ⁶  for you, O God!

42:2 I thirst ⁷  for God,

for the living God.

I say, ⁸  “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” ⁹ 

Psalms 63:1

Psalm 63 ¹⁰ 

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ¹¹ 

63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! ¹² 

My soul thirsts ¹³  for you,

my flesh yearns for you,

in a dry and parched ¹⁴  land where there is no water.

Psalms 84:2

84:2 I desperately want to be ¹⁵ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁶ 

My heart and my entire being ¹⁷  shout for joy

to the living God.

John 21:15-19

Peter’s Restoration

21:15 Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, ¹⁸  do you love me more than these do?” ¹⁹  He replied, ²⁰  “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” ²¹  Jesus ²²  told him, “Feed my lambs.” 21:16 Jesus ²³  said ²⁴  a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, ²⁵  “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus ²⁶  told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 21:17 Jesus ²⁷  said ²⁸  a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed ²⁹  that Jesus ³⁰  asked ³¹  him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, ³²  “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus ³³  replied, ³⁴  “Feed my sheep. 21:18 I tell you the solemn truth, ³⁵  when you were young, you tied your clothes around you ³⁶  and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up ³⁷  and bring you where you do not want to go.” 21:19 (Now Jesus ³⁸  said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter ³⁹  was going to glorify God.) ⁴⁰  After he said this, Jesus told Peter, ⁴¹  “Follow me.”

Acts 20:24

20:24 But I do not consider my life ⁴²  worth anything ⁴³  to myself, so that ⁴⁴  I may finish my task ⁴⁵  and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news ⁴⁶  of God’s grace.

Acts 21:13

21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking ⁴⁷  my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, ⁴⁸  but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 21:2

21:2 We found ⁴⁹  a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, ⁵⁰  went aboard, ⁵¹  and put out to sea. ⁵² 

Colossians 1:14-15

1:14 in whom we have redemption, ⁵³  the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ⁵⁴ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ⁵⁵  over all creation, ⁵⁶ 

Philippians 1:20-23

1:20 My confident hope ⁵⁷  is that I will in no way be ashamed ⁵⁸  but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. ⁵⁹  1:21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 1:22 Now if I am to go on living in the body, ⁶⁰  this will mean productive work ⁶¹  for me, yet I don’t know which I prefer: ⁶²  1:23 I feel torn between the two, ⁶³  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

Revelation 12:11

12:11 But ⁶⁴  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ⁶⁵  so much that they were afraid to die.

[5:8]  ¹ tn The genitive construct חוֹלַת אַהֲבָה (kholat ’ahavah, “sick of love”) denotes “lovesick.” This is an example of a genitive of cause, that is, the Beloved was (physically/emotionally) sick because of her unrequited love for him. See study note on Song 2:5.

[42:1]  ² sn Psalm 42. The psalmist recalls how he once worshiped in the Lord’s temple, but laments that he is now oppressed by enemies in a foreign land. Some medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalms 42 and 43 into a single psalm.

[42:1]  ³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[42:1]  ⁴ tn Since the accompanying verb is feminine in form, the noun אָיִּל (’ayyil, “male deer”) should be emended to אַיֶּלֶת (’ayyelet, “female deer”). Haplography of the letter tav has occurred; note that the following verb begins with tav.

[42:1]  ⁵ tn Or “pants [with thirst].”

[42:1]  ⁶ tn Or “my soul pants [with thirst].” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[42:2]  ³ tn Or “my soul thirsts.”

[42:2]  ⁴ tn The words “I say” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[42:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “When will I go and appear [to] the face of God?” Some emend the Niphal verbal form אֵרָאֶה (’era’eh, “I will appear”) to a Qal אֶרְאֶה (’er’eh, “I will see”; see Gen 33:10), but the Niphal can be retained if one understands ellipsis of אֶת (’et) before “face” (see Exod 34:24; Deut 31:11).

[63:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.

[63:1]  ⁵ sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.

[63:1]  ⁶ tn Or “I will seek you.”

[63:1]  ⁷ tn Or “I thirst.”

[63:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.

[84:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[21:15]  ⁶ tc The majority of mss (A C² Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy) read “Simon, the son of Jonah” here and in vv. 16 and 17, but these are perhaps assimilations to Matt 16:17. The reading “Simon, son of John” is better attested, being found in א¹ (א* only has “Simon” without mention of his father) B C* D L W lat co.

[21:15]  ⁷ tn To whom (or what) does “these” (τούτων, toutwn) refer? Three possibilities are suggested: (1) τούτων should be understood as neuter, “these things,” referring to the boats, nets, and fishing gear nearby. In light of Peter’s statement in 21:3, “I am going fishing,” some have understood Peter to have renounced his commission in light of his denials of Jesus. Jesus, as he restores Peter and forgives him for his denials, is asking Peter if he really loves his previous vocation more than he loves Jesus. Three things may be said in evaluation of this view: (a) it is not at all necessary to understand Peter’s statement in 21:3 as a renouncement of his discipleship, as this view of the meaning of τούτων would imply; (b) it would probably be more likely that the verb would be repeated in such a construction (see 7:31 for an example where the verb is repeated); and (c) as R. E. Brown has observed (John [AB], 2:1103) by Johannine standards the choice being offered to Peter between material things and the risen Jesus would seem rather ridiculous, especially after the disciples had realized whom it was they were dealing with (the Lord, see v. 12). (2) τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than you love these other disciples?” The same objection mentioned as (c) under (1) would apply here: Could the author, in light of the realization of who Jesus is which has come to the disciples after the resurrection, and which he has just mentioned in 21:12, seriously present Peter as being offered a choice between the other disciples and the risen Jesus? This leaves option (3), that τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than these other disciples do?” It seems likely that there is some irony here: Peter had boasted in 13:37, “I will lay down my life for you,” and the synoptics present Peter as boasting even more explicitly of his loyalty to Jesus (“Even if they all fall away, I will not,” Matt 26:33; Mark 14:29). Thus the semantic force of what Jesus asks Peter here amounts to something like “Now, after you have denied me three times, as I told you you would, can you still affirm that you love me more than these other disciples do?” The addition of the auxiliary verb “do” in the translation is used to suggest to the English reader the third interpretation, which is the preferred one.

[21:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “He said to him.”

[21:15]  ⁹ tn Is there a significant difference in meaning between the two words for love used in the passage, ἀγαπάω and φιλέω (agapaw and filew)? Aside from Origen, who saw a distinction in the meaning of the two words, most of the Greek Fathers like Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria, saw no real difference of meaning. Neither did Augustine nor the translators of the Itala (Old Latin). This was also the view of the Reformation Greek scholars Erasmus and Grotius. The suggestion that a distinction in meaning should be seen comes primarily from a number of British scholars of the 19th century, especially Trench, Westcott, and Plummer. It has been picked up by others such as Spicq, Lenski, and Hendriksen. But most modern scholars decline to see a real difference in the meaning of the two words in this context, among them Bernard, Moffatt, Bonsirven, Bultmann, Barrett, Brown, Morris, Haenchen, and Beasley-Murray. There are three significant reasons for seeing no real difference in the meaning of ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in these verses: (1) the author has a habit of introducing slight stylistic variations in repeated material without any significant difference in meaning (compare, for example, 3:3 with 3:5, and 7:34 with 13:33). An examination of the uses of ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in the Fourth Gospel seems to indicate a general interchangeability between the two. Both terms are used of God’s love for man (3:16, 16:27); of the Father’s love for the Son (3:35, 5:20); of Jesus’ love for men (11:5, 11:3); of the love of men for men (13:34, 15:19); and of the love of men for Jesus (8:42, 16:27). (2) If (as seems probable) the original conversation took place in Aramaic (or possibly Hebrew), there would not have been any difference expressed because both Aramaic and Hebrew have only one basic word for love. In the LXX both ἀγαπάω and φιλέω are used to translate the same Hebrew word for love, although ἀγαπάω is more frequent. It is significant that in the Syriac version of the NT only one verb is used to translate vv. 15-17 (Syriac is very similar linguistically to Palestinian Aramaic). (3) Peter’s answers to the questions asked with ἀγαπάω are ‘yes’ even though he answers using the verb φιλέω. If he is being asked to love Jesus on a higher or more spiritual level his answers give no indication of this, and one would be forced to say (in order to maintain a consistent distinction between the two verbs) that Jesus finally concedes defeat and accepts only the lower form of love which is all that Peter is capable of offering. Thus it seems best to regard the interchange between ἀγαπάω and φιλέω in these verses as a minor stylistic variation of the author, consistent with his use of minor variations in repeated material elsewhere, and not indicative of any real difference in meaning. Thus no attempt has been made to distinguish between the two Greek words in the translation.

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “said again.” The word “again” (when used in connection with the phrase “a second time”) is redundant and has not been translated.

[21:16]  ⁹ tn Grk “He said to him.”

[21:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or “was sad.”

[21:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:17]  ¹² tn Grk “said to.”

[21:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.

[21:17]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W ˹ 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.

[21:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[21:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[21:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “you girded yourself.”

[21:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “others will gird you.”

[21:19]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ¹² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The phrase by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God almost certainly indicates martyrdom (cf. 1 Pet 4:16), and it may not predict anything more than that. But the parallelism of this phrase to similar phrases in John 12:33 and 18:32 which describe Jesus’ own death by crucifixion have led many to suggest that the picture Jesus is portraying for Peter looks not just at martyrdom but at death by crucifixion. This seems to be confirmed by the phrase you will stretch out your hands in the preceding verse. There is some evidence that the early church understood this and similar phrases (one of them in Isa 65:2) to refer to crucifixion (for a detailed discussion of the evidence see L. Morris, John [NICNT], 876, n. 52). Some have objected that if this phrase does indeed refer to crucifixion, the order within v. 18 is wrong, because the stretching out of the hands in crucifixion precedes the binding and leading where one does not wish to go. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:1108) sees this as a deliberate reversal of the normal order (hysteron proteron) intended to emphasize the stretching out of the hands. Another possible explanation for the unusual order is the Roman practice in crucifixions of tying the condemned prisoner’s arms to the crossbeam (patibulum) and forcing him to carry it to the place of execution (W. Bauer as cited by O. Cullmann in Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr [LHD], 88).

[21:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “After he said this, he said to him”; the referents (first Jesus, second Peter) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “soul.”

[20:24]  ¹² tn Or “I do not consider my life worth a single word.” According to BDAG 599 s.v. λόγος 1.a.α, “In the textually uncertain pass. Ac 20:24 the text as it stands in N., οὐδενὸς λόγου (v.l. λόγον) ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν, may well mean: I do not consider my life worth a single word (cp. λόγου ἄξιον [ἄξιος 1a] and our ‘worth mention’).”

[20:24]  ¹³ tn BDAG 1106 s.v. ὡς 9 describes this use as “a final particle, expressing intention/purpose, with a view to, in order to.”

[20:24]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “course.” See L&N 42.26, “(a figurative extension of meaning of δρόμος ‘race’) a task or function involving continuity, serious, effort, and possibly obligation – ‘task, mission’…Ac 20:24.” On this Pauline theme see also Phil 1:19-26; Col 1:24; 2 Tim 4:6-7.

[20:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “to the gospel.”

[21:13]  ¹² tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).

[21:13]  ¹³ tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.

[21:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “and finding.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeuronte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.

[21:2]  ¹⁴ sn Phoenicia was the name of an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.

[21:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “going aboard, we put out to sea.” The participle ἐπιβάντες (epibante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:2]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[1:14]  ¹⁴ tc διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ (dia tou {aimato" autou, “through his blood”) is read at this juncture by several minuscule mss (614 630 1505 2464 al) as well as a few, mostly secondary, versional and patristic witnesses. But the reading was prompted by the parallel in Eph 1:7 where the wording is solid. If these words had been in the original of Colossians, why would scribes omit them here but not in Eph 1:7? Further, the testimony on behalf of the shorter reading is quite overwhelming: {א A B C D F G Ψ 075 0150 6 33 1739 1881 Ï latt co as well as several other versions and fathers}. The conviction that “through his blood” is not authentic in Col 1:14 is as strong as the conviction that these words are authentic in Eph 1:7.

[1:15]  ¹⁵ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ¹⁷ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “according to my eager expectation and hope.” The κατά (kata) phrase is taken as governing the following ὅτι (Joti) clause (“that I will not be ashamed…”); the idea could be expressed more verbally as “I confidently hope that I will not be ashamed…”

[1:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or possibly, “be intimidated, be put to shame.”

[1:20]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “whether by life or by death.”

[1:22]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “flesh.”

[1:22]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “fruit of work”; the genitive ἔργου (ergou) is taken as an attributed genitive in which the head noun, καρπός (karpos), functions attributively (cf. ExSyn 89-91).

[1:22]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “what I shall prefer.” The Greek verb αἱρέω (Jairew) could also mean “choose,” but in this context such a translation is problematic for it suggests that Paul could perhaps choose suicide (cf. L&N 30.86).

[1:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.

[12:11]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[12:11]  ²⁰ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.