Ulangan 3:28

3:28 Commission ¹  Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see.”

Nehemia 2:18

2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what ²  the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” ³  So they readied themselves ⁴  for this good project.

Ayub 4:3-4

4:3 Look, ⁵  you have instructed ⁶  many;

you have strengthened ⁷  feeble hands. ⁸ 

4:4 Your words have supported ⁹  those

who stumbled, ¹⁰ 

and you have strengthened the knees

that gave way. ¹¹ 

Ayub 16:5

16:5 But ¹²  I would strengthen ¹³  you with my words; ¹⁴ 

comfort from my lips would bring ¹⁵  you relief.

Amsal 27:9

27:9 Ointment and incense make the heart rejoice, ¹⁶ 

likewise the sweetness of one’s friend from sincere counsel. ¹⁷ 

Amsal 27:17

27:17 As ¹⁸  iron sharpens ¹⁹  iron,

so a person ²⁰  sharpens his friend. ²¹ 

Pengkhotbah 4:9-12

Labor is Beneficial When Its Rewards Are Shared

4:9 Two people are better than one,

because they can reap ²²  more benefit ²³  from their labor.

4:10 For if they fall, one will help his companion up,

but pity ²⁴  the person who falls down and has no one to help him up.

4:11 Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm,

but how can one person keep warm by himself?

4:12 Although an assailant may overpower ²⁵  one person,

two can withstand him.

Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.

Yesaya 35:3-4

35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,

steady the knees that shake! ²⁶ 

35:4 Tell those who panic, ²⁷ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ²⁸ 

Yehezkiel 13:22

13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

Lukas 22:32

22:32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, ²⁹  that your faith may not fail. ³⁰  When ³¹  you have turned back, ³²  strengthen ³³  your brothers.”

Lukas 22:43

22:43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

Efesus 6:10

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Efesus 6:2

6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” ³⁴  which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

Titus 2:1

Conduct Consistent with Sound Teaching

2:1 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with ³⁵  sound teaching.

Ibrani 12:12-13

12:12 Therefore, strengthen ³⁶  your listless hands and your weak knees, ³⁷  12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, ³⁸  so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

[3:28]  ¹ tn Heb “command”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “charge Joshua.”

[2:18]  ² tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”

[2:18]  ³ tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”

[2:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”

[4:3]  ⁵ tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) summons attention; it has the sense of “consider, look.”

[4:3]  ⁶ tn The verb יָסַר (yasar) in the Piel means “to correct,” whether by words with the sense of teach, or by chastening with the sense of punish, discipline. The double meaning of “teach” and “discipline” is also found with the noun מוּסָר (musar).

[4:3]  ⁷ tn The parallelism again uses a perfect verb in the first colon and an imperfect in the second; but since the sense of the line is clearly what Job has done in the past, the second verb may be treated as a preterite, or a customary imperfect – what Job repeatedly did in the past (GKC 315 §107.e). The words in this verse may have double meanings. The word יָסַר (yasar, “teach, discipline”) may have the idea of instruction and correction, but also the connotation of strength (see Y. Hoffmann, “The Use of Equivocal Words in the First Speech of Eliphaz [Job IV–V],” VT 30 [1980]: 114-19).

[4:3]  ⁸ tn The “feeble hands” are literally “hands hanging down.” This is a sign of weakness, helplessness, or despondency (see 2 Sam 4:1; Isa 13:7).

[4:4]  ⁹ tn Both verbs in this line are imperfects, and probably carry the same nuance as the last verb in v. 3, namely, either customary imperfect or preterite. The customary has the aspect of stressing that this was what Job used to do.

[4:4]  ¹⁰ tn The form is the singular active participle, interpreted here collectively. The verb is used of knees that give way (Isa 35:3; Ps 109:24).

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn The expression is often translated as “feeble knees,” but it literally says “the bowing [or “tottering”] knees.” The figure is one who may be under a heavy load whose knees begin to shake and buckle (see also Heb 12:12).

[4:4]  sn Job had been successful at helping others not be crushed by the weight of trouble and misfortune. It is easier to help others than to preserve a proper perspective when one’s self is afflicted (E. Dhorme, Job, 44).

[16:5]  ¹² tn “But” has been added in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

[16:5]  ¹³ tn The Piel of אָמַץ (’amats) means “to strengthen, fortify.”

[16:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my mouth.”

[16:5]  ¹⁵ tn The verb יַחְשֹׂךְ (yakhsokh) means “to restrain; to withhold.” There is no object, so many make it first person subject, “I will not restrain.” The LXX and the Syriac have a different person – “I would not restrain.” G. R. Driver, arguing that the verb is intransitive here, made it “the solace of my lips would not [added] be withheld” (see JTS 34 [1933]: 380). D. J. A. Clines says that what is definitive is the use of the verb in the next line, where it clearly means “soothed, assuaged.”

[27:9]  ¹⁶ sn The first line of the proverb provides the emblem to the parallel point. The emblem is the joy that anointing oil (ointment) and incense bring, and the point is the value of the advice of a friend.

[27:9]  ¹⁷ tn Some think the MT is unintelligible as it stands: “The sweetness of his friend from the counsel of the soul.” The Latin version has “the soul is sweetened by the good counsels of a friend.” D. W. Thomas suggests, “counsels of a friend make sweet the soul” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VT 15 [1965]: 275). G. R. Driver suggests, “the counsel of a friend is sweeter than one’s own advice” (literally, “more than the counsel of the soul”). He also suggests “more than of fragrant wood.” See G. R. Driver, “Hebrew Notes,” ZAW 52 (1934): 54; idem, “Suggestions and Objections,” ZAW 55 (1937): 69-70. The LXX reads “and the soul is rent by misfortunes.” The MT, for want of better or more convincing readings, may be interpreted to mean something like “[Just as] ointment and incense brings joy to the heart, [so] the sweetness of one’s friend [comes] from his sincere counsel.”

[27:17]  ¹⁸ tn The term “as” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to clarify the comparison.

[27:17]  ¹⁹ tn BDB classifies the verb in the first colon as a Qal apocopated jussive of I חָדָה (khadah, “to grow sharp”; BDB 292 s.v.), and the verb in the second half of the verse (יַחַד, yakhad) as a Hiphil apocopated jussive. The difference would be: “let iron by means of iron grow sharp, and let a man sharpen the countenance of his friend.” But it makes more sense to take them both as Hiphil forms, the first being in pause. Other suggestions have been put forward for the meaning of the word, but the verb “sharpens” fits the context the best, and is followed by most English versions. The verb may be a shortened form of the imperfect rather than a jussive.

[27:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and a man,” although the context does not indicate this should be limited to males only.

[27:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “sharpens the face of his friend.” The use of the word “face” (cf. KJV, ASV “countenance”) would here emphasize that it is the personality or character that is being sharpened. Constructive criticism sharpens character. Use of the wits in interaction that makes two people sharp as a razor (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 615); another example, from the Talmud, is that of two students sharpening each other in the study of the Torah (b. Ta’anit 7a).

[4:9]  ²² tn Heb “they have.”

[4:9]  ²³ tn Heb “a good reward.”

[4:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “woe to him.”

[4:12]  ²⁵ tn The verbal root תקף means “to overpower; to prevail over” e.g., Job 14:20; 15:24; Eccl 4:12; 6:10 (HALOT 1786 s.v. תקף).

[35:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”

[35:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ²⁸ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[22:32]  ²⁹ sn Here and in the remainder of the verse the second person pronouns are singular, so only Peter is in view. The name “Simon” has been supplied as a form of direct address to make this clear in English.

[22:32]  ³⁰ sn That your faith may not fail. Note that Peter’s denials are pictured here as lapses, not as a total absence of faith.

[22:32]  ³¹ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:32]  ³² tn Or “turned around.”

[22:32]  ³³ sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.

[6:2]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.

[2:1]  ³⁵ tn Grk “say what is fitting for sound teaching” (introducing the behavior called for in this chapter.).

[12:12]  ³⁶ tn Or “straighten.”

[12:12]  ³⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 35:3. Strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees refers to the readers’ need for renewed resolve and fresh strength in their struggles (cf. Heb 10:36-39; 12:1-3).

[12:13]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Prov 4:26. The phrase make straight paths for your feet is figurative for “stay on God’s paths.”