Mazmur 81:11

81:11 But my people did not obey me; ¹ 

Israel did not submit to me. ² 

Mazmur 81:13

81:13 If only my people would obey me! ³ 

If only Israel would keep my commands! ⁴ 

Yesaya 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ⁵ 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ⁶  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ⁷ 

Matius 17:5

17:5 While he was still speaking, a ⁸  bright cloud ⁹  overshadowed ¹⁰  them, and a voice from the cloud said, ¹¹  “This is my one dear Son, ¹²  in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” ¹³ 

Yohanes 5:25

5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁴  a time ¹⁵  is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Yohanes 10:3

10:3 The doorkeeper ¹⁶  opens the door ¹⁷  for him, ¹⁸  and the sheep hear his voice. He ¹⁹  calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ²⁰ 

Yohanes 10:16

10:16 I have ²¹  other sheep that do not come from ²²  this sheepfold. ²³  I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, ²⁴  so that ²⁵  there will be one flock and ²⁶  one shepherd.

Yohanes 10:27

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Wahyu 3:20

3:20 Listen! ²⁷  I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home ²⁸  and share a meal with him, and he with me.

[81:11]  ¹ tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”

[81:11]  ² tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).

[81:13]  ³ tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).

[81:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”

[55:3]  ⁵ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  sn To live here refers to covenantal blessing, primarily material prosperity and national security (see vv. 4-5, 13, and Deut 30:6, 15, 19-20).

[55:3]  ⁶ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[17:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ⁹ sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[17:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “surrounded.”

[17:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.

[17:5]  ¹² tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ¹³ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.

[5:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “an hour.”

[10:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “porter” (British English).

[10:3]  sn There have been many attempts to identify who the doorkeeper represents, none of which are convincing. More likely there are some details in this parable that are included for the sake of the story, necessary as parts of the overall picture but without symbolic significance.

[10:3]  ¹⁷ tn The words “the door” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[10:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “For this one.”

[10:3]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:3]  ²⁰ sn He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Some interpreters have suggested that there was more than one flock in the fold, and there would be a process of separation where each shepherd called out his own flock. This may also be suggested by the mention of a doorkeeper in v. 3 since only the larger sheepfolds would have such a guard. But the Gospel of John never mentions a distinction among the sheep in this fold; in fact (10:16) there are other sheep which are to be brought in, but they are to be one flock and one shepherd.

[10:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “And I have.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:16]  ²² tn Or “that do not belong to”; Grk “that are not of.”

[10:16]  ²³ sn The statement I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold almost certainly refers to Gentiles. Jesus has sheep in the fold who are Jewish; there are other sheep which, while not of the same fold, belong to him also. This recalls the mission of the Son in 3:16-17, which was to save the world – not just the nation of Israel. Such an emphasis would be particularly appropriate to the author if he were writing to a non-Palestinian and primarily non-Jewish audience.

[10:16]  ²⁴ tn Grk “they will hear my voice.”

[10:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “voice, and.”

[10:16]  ²⁶ tn The word “and” is not in the Greek text, but must be supplied to conform to English style. In Greek it is an instance of asyndeton (omission of a connective), usually somewhat emphatic.

[3:20]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Behold.”

[3:20]  ²⁸ tn Grk “come in to him.”

[3:20]  sn The expression in Greek does not mean entrance into the person, as is popularly taken, but entrance into a room or building toward the person. See ExSyn 380-82. Some interpreters understand the door here to be the door to the Laodicean church, and thus a collective or corporate image rather than an individual one.