Amsal 4:19

4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; ¹ 

they do not know what causes them to stumble. ² 

Ayub 24:13-16

24:13 There are those ³  who rebel against the light;

they do not know its ways

and they do not stay on its paths.

24:14 Before daybreak ⁴  the murderer rises up;

he kills the poor and the needy;

in the night he is ⁵  like a thief. ⁶ 

24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,

thinking, ⁷  ‘No eye can see me,’

and covers his face with a mask.

24:16 In the dark the robber ⁸  breaks into houses, ⁹ 

but by day they shut themselves in; ¹⁰ 

they do not know the light. ¹¹ 

Yohanes 3:19-20

3:19 Now this is the basis for judging: ¹²  that the light has come into the world and people ¹³  loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 3:20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

Yohanes 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ¹⁴  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ¹⁵  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ¹⁶  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

Roma 1:21

1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ¹⁷  were darkened.

Roma 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁸  a slave ¹⁹  of Christ Jesus, ²⁰  called to be an apostle, ²¹  set apart for the gospel of God. ²² 

Roma 5:5-7

5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God ²³  has been poured out ²⁴  in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 5:7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) ²⁵ 

Yohanes 1:6

1:6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. ²⁶ 

Yohanes 2:9-11

2:9 When ²⁷  the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from ²⁸  (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he ²⁹  called the bridegroom 2:10 and said to him, “Everyone ³⁰  serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper ³¹  wine when the guests ³²  are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” 2:11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, ³³  in Cana ³⁴  of Galilee. In this way he revealed ³⁵  his glory, and his disciples believed in him. ³⁶ 

[4:19]  ¹ sn The simile describes ignorance or spiritual blindness, sinfulness, calamity, despair.

[4:19]  ² tn Heb “in what they stumble.”

[24:13]  ³ tn Heb “They are among those who.”

[24:14]  ⁴ tn The text simply has לָאוֹר (la’or, “at light” or “at daylight”), probably meaning just at the time of dawn.

[24:14]  ⁵ tn In a few cases the jussive is used without any real sense of the jussive being present (see GKC 323 §109.k).

[24:14]  ⁶ sn The point is that he is like a thief in that he works during the night, just before the daylight, when the advantage is all his and the victim is most vulnerable.

[24:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[24:16]  ⁸ tn The phrase “the robber” has been supplied in the English translation for clarification.

[24:16]  ⁹ tc This is not the idea of the adulterer, but of the thief. So some commentators reverse the order and put this verse after v. 14.

[24:16]  ¹⁰ tc The verb חִתְּמוּ (khittÿmu) is the Piel from the verb חָתַם (khatam, “to seal”). The verb is now in the plural, covering all the groups mentioned that work under the cover of darkness. The suggestion that they “seal,” i.e., “mark” the house they will rob, goes against the meaning of the word “seal.”

[24:16]  ¹¹ tc Some commentators join this very short colon to the beginning of v. 17: “they do not know the light. For together…” becomes “for together they have not known the light.”

[3:19]  ¹² tn Or “this is the reason for God judging,” or “this is how judgment works.”

[3:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “and men,” but in a generic sense, referring to people of both genders (as “everyone” in v. 20 makes clear).

[12:35]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ¹⁶ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[1:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s “slave” or “servant” is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For someone who was Jewish this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ²⁰ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

[1:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ²² tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

[5:5]  ²³ tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ (Jh agaph tou qeou, “the love of God”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“our love for God”), subjective genitive (“God’s love for us”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). The immediate context, which discusses what God has done for believers, favors a subjective genitive, but the fact that this love is poured out within the hearts of believers implies that it may be the source for believers’ love for God; consequently an objective genitive cannot be ruled out. It is possible that both these ideas are meant in the text and that this is a plenary genitive: “The love that comes from God and that produces our love for God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (ExSyn 121).

[5:5]  ²⁴ sn On the OT background of the Spirit being poured out, see Isa 32:15; Joel 2:28-29.

[5:7]  ²⁵ sn Verse 7 forms something of a parenthetical comment in Paul’s argument.

[1:6]  ²⁶ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[2:9]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[2:9]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and he did not know where it came from.”

[2:9]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the head steward”; here the repetition of the phrase is somewhat redundant in English and the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[2:10]  ³⁰ tn Grk “every man” (in a generic sense).

[2:10]  ³¹ tn Or “poorer.”

[2:10]  ³² tn Grk “when they”; the referent (the guests) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:11]  ³³ tn This sentence in Greek involves an object-complement construction. The force can be either “Jesus did this as,” or possibly “Jesus made this to be.” The latter translation accents not only Jesus’ power but his sovereignty too. Cf. also 4:54 where the same construction occurs.

[2:11]  ³⁴ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:11]  ³⁵ tn Grk “in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed.”

[2:11]  ³⁶ tn Or “his disciples trusted in him,” or “his disciples put their faith in him.”