Ibrani 13:6

13:6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and ¹  I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” ² 

Mazmur 56:4

56:4 In God – I boast in his promise ³  –

in God I trust, I am not afraid.

What can mere men ⁴  do to me? ⁵ 

Mazmur 118:6

118:6 The Lord is on my side, ⁶  I am not afraid!

What can people do to me? ⁷ 

Yesaya 8:12-13

8:12 “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word. ⁸ 

Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.

8:13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. ⁹ 

He is the one you must respect;

he is the one you must fear. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 41:10

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ¹¹ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ¹² 

Yesaya 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹³ 

men of ¹⁴  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ¹⁵  the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹⁷ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Yesaya 51:12

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ¹⁸ 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ¹⁹ 

Daniel 3:16-18

3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ²⁰  “We do not need to give you a reply ²¹  concerning this. 3:17 If ²²  our God whom we are serving exists, ²³  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. 3:18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Daniel 6:10

6:10 When Daniel realized ²⁴  that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows ²⁵  in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. ²⁶  Three ²⁷  times daily he was ²⁸  kneeling ²⁹  and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously.

Matius 10:28

10:28 Do ³⁰  not be afraid of those who kill the body ³¹  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ³² 

Lukas 12:4-5

12:4 “I ³³  tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, ³⁴  and after that have nothing more they can do. 12:5 But I will warn ³⁵  you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, ³⁶  has authority to throw you ³⁷  into hell. ³⁸  Yes, I tell you, fear him!

[13:6]  ¹ tc Some important mss (א* C* P 0285^vid 33 1175 1739 pc lat) lack καί (kai), but because the omission conforms to the wording of Ps 118:6 (117:6 LXX), it is suspect.

[13:6]  ² sn A quotation from Ps 118:6.

[56:4]  ³ tn Heb “in God I boast, his word.” The syntax in the Hebrew text is difficult. (1) The line could be translated, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” Such a translation assumes that the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and that “his word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. Another option (2) is to translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” is a song of praise. (In this view the pronominal suffix “his” must be omitted as in v. 10.) The present translation reflects yet another option (3): In this case “I praise his word” is a parenthetical statement, with “his word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in the next line, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.

[56:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “flesh,” which refers by metonymy to human beings (see v. 11, where “man” is used in this same question), envisioned here as mortal and powerless before God.

[56:4]  ⁵ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.

[118:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “for me.”

[118:6]  ⁷ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential. See Ps 56:11.

[8:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ with respect to all which these people say, ‘Conspiracy.’” The verb translated “do not say” is second masculine plural, indicating that this exhortation is directed to Isaiah and other followers of the Lord (see v. 16).

[8:12]  sn The background of this command is uncertain. Perhaps the “conspiracy” in view is the alliance between Israel and Syria. Some of the people may even have thought that individuals in Judah were plotting with Israel and Syria to overthrow the king.

[8:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], him you must set apart.” The word order is emphatic, with the object being placed first.

[8:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he is your [object of] fear, he is your [object of] terror.” The roots יָרֵא (yare’) and עָרַץ (’arats) are repeated from v. 12b.

[41:10]  ¹¹ tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).

[41:10]  ¹² tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).

[41:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ¹⁴ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[51:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[51:12]  ¹⁸ tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.

[51:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.

[3:16]  ²⁰ tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”

[3:16]  ²¹ tn Aram “to return a word to you.”

[3:17]  ²² tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.

[3:17]  ²³ tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.

[6:10]  ²⁴ tn Aram “knew.”

[6:10]  ²⁵ sn In later rabbinic thought this verse was sometimes cited as a proof text for the notion that one should pray only in a house with windows. See b. Berakhot 34b.

[6:10]  ²⁶ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:10]  ²⁷ sn This is apparently the only specific mention in the OT of prayer being regularly offered three times a day. The practice was probably not unique to Daniel, however.

[6:10]  ²⁸ tc Read with several medieval Hebrew MSS and printed editions הֲוָה (havah) rather than the MT הוּא (hu’).

[6:10]  ²⁹ tn Aram “kneeling on his knees” (so NASB).

[6:10]  sn No specific posture for offering prayers is prescribed in the OT. Kneeling, as here, and standing were both practiced.

[10:28]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ³¹ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ³² sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[12:4]  ³³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:4]  ³⁴ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[12:5]  ³⁵ tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.

[12:5]  ³⁶ sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.

[12:5]  ³⁷ tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.

[12:5]  ³⁸ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).