Zechariah 14:5

14:5 Then you will escape ¹  through my mountain valley, for the mountains will extend to Azal. ²  Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah ³  of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him.

Isaiah 49:4-5

49:4 But I thought, ⁴  “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” ⁵ 

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me. ⁶ 

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth ⁷  to be his servant –

he did this ⁸  to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored ⁹  in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength ¹⁰  –

John 20:17

20:17 Jesus replied, ¹¹  “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Ephesians 1:3

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

1:3 Blessed ¹²  is ¹³  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed ¹⁴  us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.

[14:5]  ¹ tc For the MT reading נַסְתֶּם (nastem, “you will escape”) the LXX presupposes נִסְתַּם (nistam, “will be stopped up”; this reading is followed by NAB). This appears to derive from a perceived need to eliminate the unexpected “you” as subject. This not only is unnecessary to Hebrew discourse (see “you” in the next clause), but it contradicts the statement in the previous verse that the mountain will be split open, not stopped up.

[14:5]  ² sn Azal is a place otherwise unknown.

[14:5]  ³ sn The earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, also mentioned in Amos 1:1, is apparently the one attested to at Hazor in 760 b.c.

[49:4]  ⁴ tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”

[49:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.

[49:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”

[49:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:5]  ⁸ tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.

[49:5]  ⁹ tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”

[49:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.

[20:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[1:3]  ¹² sn Eph 1:3-14 comprises one long sentence in Greek, with three major sections. Each section ends with a note of praise for God (vv. 6, 12, 14), focusing on a different member of the Trinity. After an opening summary of all the saints’ spiritual blessings (v. 3), the first section (vv. 4-6) offers up praise that the Father has chosen us in eternity past; the second section (vv. 7-12) offers up praise that the Son has redeemed us in the historical past (i.e., at the cross); the third section (vv. 13-14) offers up praise that the Holy Spirit has sealed us in our personal past, at the point of conversion.

[1:3]  ¹³ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (euloghtos), the author’s intention at this point in the epistle, and the literary genre of this material must all come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. The meaning “blessed” would be more naturally paired with an indicative verb here and would suggest that blessedness is an intrinsic part of God’s character. The meaning “praised” would be more naturally paired with an optative verb here and would suggest that God ought to be praised. Pauline style in the epistles generally moves from statements to obligations, expressing the reality first and then the believer’s necessary response, which would favor the indicative. However, many scholars regard Eph 1:3-14 as a berakah psalm (cf. A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 10-11). Rooted in the OT and Jewish worship, berakah psalms were songs of praise in which the worshiper gave praise to God; this would favor the optative (although not all scholars are agreed on this genre classification here; see H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 153-59, for discussion and an alternate conclusion). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the indicative seems to fit all the factors better. The author seems to be pointing to who God is and what he has done for believers in this section; the indicative more naturally fits that emphasis. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “enriched,” “conferred blessing.”