Matius 11:25

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, ¹  “I praise ²  you, Father, Lord ³  of heaven and earth, because ⁴  you have hidden these things from the wise ⁵  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

Matius 18:1-3

Questions About the Greatest

18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 18:2 He called a child, had him stand among them, 18:3 and said, “I tell you the truth, ⁶  unless you turn around and become like little children, ⁷  you will never ⁸  enter the kingdom of heaven!

Imamat 26:41-42

26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and ⁹  then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for ¹⁰  their iniquity, 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, ¹¹  and I will remember the land.

Ulangan 8:2

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ¹²  has brought you these forty years through the desert ¹³  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Ulangan 8:2

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ¹⁴  has brought you these forty years through the desert ¹⁵  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Ulangan 7:14

7:14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness ¹⁶  among you or your livestock.

Ulangan 33:12

Blessing on Benjamin

33:12 Of Benjamin he said:

The beloved of the Lord will live safely by him;

he protects him all the time,

and the Lord ¹⁷  places him on his chest. ¹⁸ 

Ulangan 33:19

33:19 They will summon peoples to the mountain,

there they will sacrifice proper ¹⁹  sacrifices;

for they will enjoy ²⁰  the abundance of the seas,

and the hidden treasures of the shores. ²¹ 

Ulangan 33:23

Blessing on Naphtali

33:23 Of Naphtali he said:

O Naphtali, overflowing with favor,

and full of the Lord’s blessing,

possess the west and south.

Ulangan 34:1

The Death of Moses

34:1 Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. ²²  The Lord showed him the whole land – Gilead to Dan,

Ayub 42:6

42:6 Therefore I despise myself, ²³ 

and I repent in dust and ashes!

Mazmur 34:18

34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;

he delivers ²⁴  those who are discouraged. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 51:17

51:17 The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit ²⁶  –

O God, a humble and repentant heart ²⁷  you will not reject. ²⁸ 

Amsal 16:19

16:19 It is better to be lowly in spirit ²⁹  with the afflicted

than to share the spoils ³⁰  with the proud.

Amsal 29:23

29:23 A person’s pride ³¹  will bring him low, ³² 

but one who has a lowly spirit ³³  will gain honor.

Yesaya 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ³⁴  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ³⁵ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ³⁶ 

Yesaya 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ³⁷  me. ³⁸ 

He has commissioned ³⁹  me to encourage ⁴⁰  the poor,

to help ⁴¹  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Yesaya 66:2

66:2 My hand made them; ⁴² 

that is how they came to be,” ⁴³  says the Lord.

I show special favor ⁴⁴  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ⁴⁵ 

Yeremia 31:18-20

31:18 I have indeed ⁴⁶  heard the people of Israel ⁴⁷  say mournfully,

‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ⁴⁸ 

You disciplined us and we learned from it. ⁴⁹ 

Let us come back to you and we will do so, ⁵⁰ 

for you are the Lord our God.

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented.

After we came to our senses ⁵¹  we beat our breasts in sorrow. ⁵² 

We are ashamed and humiliated

because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ ⁵³ 

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ⁵⁴ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ⁵⁵ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵⁶ 

Daniel 5:21-22

5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ⁵⁷  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ⁵⁸  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

5:22 “But you, his son ⁵⁹  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ⁶⁰  although you knew all this.

Mikha 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ⁶¹ 

He wants you to ⁶²  promote ⁶³  justice, to be faithful, ⁶⁴ 

and to live obediently before ⁶⁵  your God.

Lukas 4:18

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ⁶⁶  me to proclaim good news ⁶⁷  to the poor. ⁶⁸ 

He has sent me ⁶⁹  to proclaim release ⁷⁰  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ⁷¹  to the blind,

to set free ⁷²  those who are oppressed, ⁷³ 

Lukas 6:20

6:20 Then ⁷⁴  he looked up ⁷⁵  at his disciples and said:

“Blessed ⁷⁶  are you who are poor, ⁷⁷  for the kingdom of God belongs ⁷⁸  to you.

Lukas 18:14

18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified ⁷⁹  rather than the Pharisee. ⁸⁰  For everyone who exalts ⁸¹  himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Yakobus 1:10

1:10 But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. ⁸² 

Yakobus 4:9-10

4:9 Grieve, mourn, ⁸³  and weep. Turn your laughter ⁸⁴  into mourning and your joy into despair. 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

[11:25]  ¹ tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:25]  ² tn Or “thank.”

[11:25]  ³ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

[11:25]  ⁴ tn Or “that.”

[11:25]  ⁵ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

[18:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:3]  ⁷ sn The point of the comparison become like little children has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit, as well as willingness to be dependent and receive from others, than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[18:3]  ⁸ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

[26:41]  ⁹ tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”

[26:41]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.

[26:42]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ¹² tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ¹³ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[8:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[7:14]  ¹⁶ sn One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here (עֲקָרָה, ’aqarah), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.

[33:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “between his shoulders.” This suggests the scene in John 13:23 with Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.

[33:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “acceptable”; Heb “righteous” (so NASB).

[33:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “suck.”

[33:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “of the sand” (so NRSV, NLT); CEV “the sandy beach.”

[34:1]  ²² sn For the geography involved, see note on the term “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.

[34:1]  map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[42:6]  ²³ tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).

[34:18]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the oppressed and needy.

[34:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the crushed in spirit.”

[51:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a broken spirit.”

[51:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a broken and crushed heart.”

[51:17]  ²⁸ tn Or “despise.”

[16:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “low of spirit”; KJV “of an humble spirit.” This expression describes the person who is humble and submissive before the Lord and therefore inoffensive. It is always necessary to have a humble spirit, whether there is wealth or not.

[16:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “than to divide plunder.” The word “plunder” implies that the wealth taken by the proud was taken violently and wrongfully – spoils are usually taken in warfare. R. N. Whybray translates it with “loot” (Proverbs [CBC], 95). The proud are in rebellion against God, overbearing and oppressive. One should never share the “loot” with them.

[29:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “pride of a man,” with “man” functioning as a possessive. There is no indication in the immediate context that this is restricted only to males.

[29:23]  ³² tn There is a wordplay here due to the repetition of the root שָׁפֵל (shafel). In the first line the verb תִּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ (tishpilennu) is the Hiphil imperfect of the root, rendered “will bring him low.” In the second line the word is used in the description of the “lowly of spirit,” שְׁפַל־רוּחַ (shÿfal-ruakh). The contrast works well: The proud will be brought “low,” but the one who is “lowly” will be honored. In this instance the wordplay can be preserved in the translation.

[29:23]  ³³ tn Heb “low in spirit”; KJV “humble in spirit.” This refers to an attitude of humility.

[29:23]  sn The Hebrew word translated “lowly” forms an implied comparison: To be humble is like being low, base, earthbound; whereas pride is often compared to being high, lofty – at least in one’s own eyes.

[57:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[61:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ³⁸ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ³⁹ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[66:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

[66:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

[66:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[66:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

[31:18]  ⁴⁶ tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).

[31:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.

[31:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).

[31:18]  sn Jer 2:20; 5:5 already referred to Israel’s refusal to bear the yoke of loyalty and obedience to the Lord’s demands. Here Israel expresses that she has learned from the discipline of exile and is ready to bear his yoke.

[31:18]  ⁴⁹ tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.

[31:18]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.

[31:18]  sn There is a wordplay on several different nuances of the same Hebrew verb in vv. 16-19. The Hebrew verb shub refers both to their turning away from God (v. 19) and to their turning back to him (v. 18). It is also the word that is used for their return to their homeland (vv. 16-17).

[31:19]  ⁵¹ tn For this meaning of the verb see HAL 374 s.v. יָדַע Nif 5 or W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 129. REB translates “Now that I am submissive” relating the verb to a second root meaning “be submissive.” (See HALOT 375 s.v. II יָדַע and J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 19-21, for evidence for this verb. Other passages cited with this nuance are Judg 8:16; Prov 10:9; Job 20:20.)

[31:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “I struck my thigh.” This was a gesture of grief and anguish (cf. Ezek 21:12 [21:17 HT]). The modern equivalent is “to beat the breast.”

[31:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “because I bear the reproach of my youth.” For the plural referents see the note at the beginning of v. 18.

[31:19]  sn The expression the disgraceful things we did in our earlier history refers to the disgrace that accompanied the sins that Israel did in her earlier years before she learned the painful lesson of submission to the Lord through the discipline of exile. For earlier references to the sins of her youth (i.e., in her earlier years as a nation) see 3:24-25; 22:21 and see also 32:29. At the time that these verses were written, neither northern Israel or Judah had expressed the kind of contrition voiced in vv. 18-19. As one commentator notes, the words here are both prophetic and instructive.

[31:20]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[5:21]  ⁵⁷ tn Aram “heart.”

[5:21]  ⁵⁸ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

[5:22]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

[5:22]  ⁶⁰ tn Aram “your heart.”

[6:8]  ⁶¹ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ⁶² tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ⁶³ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[4:18]  ⁶⁶ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

[4:18]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

[4:18]  ⁶⁸ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

[4:18]  ⁶⁹ tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

[4:18]  ⁷⁰ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

[4:18]  ⁷¹ sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:18]  ⁷² sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

[4:18]  ⁷³ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[6:20]  ⁷⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:20]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “lifting up his eyes” (an idiom). The participle ἐπάρας (epara") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[6:20]  ⁷⁶ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

[6:20]  ⁷⁷ sn You who are poor is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

[6:20]  ⁷⁸ sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized. Jesus was saying, in effect, “the kingdom belongs even now to people like you.”

[18:14]  ⁷⁹ sn The prayer that was heard and honored was the one given with humility; in a surprising reversal it was the tax collector who went down to his home justified.

[18:14]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “the other”; the referent (the Pharisee, v. 10) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:14]  ⁸¹ sn Everyone who exalts himself. See Luke 14:11. Jesus often called for humility and condemned those who sought honor.

[1:10]  ⁸² tn Grk “a flower of grass.”

[4:9]  ⁸³ tn This term and the following one are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.

[4:9]  ⁸⁴ tn Grk “let your laughter be turned.”