1 Samuel 15:11

15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not done what I told him to do.” Samuel became angry and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

Mazmur 55:17

55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan, ¹ 

and he will hear ²  me. ³ 

Mazmur 88:1

Psalm 88 ⁴ 

A song, a psalm written by the Korahites; for the music director; according to the machalath-leannoth style; ⁵  a well-written song ⁶  by Heman the Ezrachite.

88:1 O Lord God who delivers me! ⁷ 

By day I cry out

and at night I pray before you. ⁸ 

Lukas 2:37

2:37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ⁹  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ¹⁰ 

Lukas 18:7

18:7 Won’t ¹¹  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ¹²  to him day and night? ¹³  Will he delay ¹⁴  long to help them?

Lukas 18:1

Prayer and the Parable of the Persistent Widow

18:1 Then ¹⁵  Jesus ¹⁶  told them a parable to show them they should always ¹⁷  pray and not lose heart. ¹⁸ 

Titus 1:5

Titus’ Task on Crete

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

Titus 1:2-3

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ¹⁹  1:3 But now in his own time ²⁰  he has made his message evident through the preaching I was entrusted with according to the command of God our Savior.

[55:17]  ¹ tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here.

[55:17]  ² tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions.

[55:17]  ³ tn Heb “my voice.”

[88:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 88. The psalmist cries out in pain to the Lord, begging him for relief from his intense and constant suffering. The psalmist regards God as the ultimate cause of his distress, but nevertheless clings to God in hope.

[88:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew phrase מָחֲלַת לְעַנּוֹת (makhalat lÿ’annot) may mean “illness to afflict.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term מָחֲלַת also appears in the superscription of Ps 53.

[88:1]  ⁶ 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.

[88:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “O Lord God of my deliverance.” In light of the content of the psalm, this reference to God as the one who delivers seems overly positive. For this reason some emend the text to אַלֹהַי שִׁוַּעְתִּי (’alohay shivva’tiy, “[O Lord] my God, I cry out”). See v. 13.

[88:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “[by] day I cry out, in the night before you.”

[2:37]  ⁹ tn Grk “living with her husband for seven years from her virginity and she was a widow for eighty four years.” The chronology of the eighty-four years is unclear, since the final phrase could mean “she was widowed until the age of eighty-four” (so BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.α). However, the more natural way to take the syntax is as a reference to the length of her widowhood, the subject of the clause, in which case Anna was about 105 years old (so D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:251-52; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 123-24).

[2:37]  ¹⁰ sn The statements about Anna worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day make her extreme piety clear.

[18:7]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:7]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

[18:7]  ¹⁴ 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.

[18:1]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[18:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).

[18:1]  ¹⁸ 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).

[1:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”

[1:3]  ²⁰ tn The Greek text emphasizes the contrast between vv. 2b and 3a: God promised this long ago but now has revealed it in his own time.