Mazmur 27:1-3

Psalm 27 ¹ 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ² 

I fear no one! ³ 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ⁴ 

27:2 When evil men attack me ⁵ 

to devour my flesh, ⁶ 

when my adversaries and enemies attack me, ⁷ 

they stumble and fall. ⁸ 

27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,

I do not fear. ⁹ 

Even when war is imminent, ¹⁰ 

I remain confident. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 35:3-4

35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,

steady the knees that shake! ¹² 

35:4 Tell those who panic, ¹³ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 41:10-14

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

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ¹⁵ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ¹⁶ 

41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;

your adversaries ¹⁷  will be reduced to nothing ¹⁸  and perish.

41:12 When you will look for your opponents, ¹⁹  you will not find them;

your enemies ²⁰  will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

41:13 For I am the Lord your God,

the one who takes hold of your right hand,

who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ²¹ 

men of ²²  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ²³  the Holy One of Israel. ²⁴ 

Matius 10:16

Persecution of Disciples

10:16 “I ²⁵  am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, ²⁶  so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Matius 10:28

10:28 Do ²⁷  not be afraid of those who kill the body ²⁸  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ 

Matius 10:31

10:31 So do not be afraid; ³⁰  you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Efesus 6:11-18

6:11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes ³¹  of the devil. 6:12 For our struggle ³²  is not against flesh and blood, ³³  but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, ³⁴  against the spiritual forces ³⁵  of evil in the heavens. ³⁶  6:13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground ³⁷  on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. 6:14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening ³⁸  the belt of truth around your waist, ³⁹  by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, 6:15 by fitting your ⁴⁰  feet with the preparation that comes from the good news ⁴¹  of peace, ⁴²  6:16 and in all of this, ⁴³  by taking up the shield ⁴⁴  of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation ⁴⁵  and the sword ⁴⁶  of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ⁴⁷  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ⁴⁸  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Efesus 6:1

6:1 Children, ⁴⁹  obey your parents in the Lord ⁵⁰  for this is right.

Efesus 5:15

Live Wisely

5:15 Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise,

Ibrani 12:12-13

12:12 Therefore, strengthen ⁵¹  your listless hands and your weak knees, ⁵²  12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, ⁵³  so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

Wahyu 2:10

2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ⁵⁴  into prison so you may be tested, ⁵⁵  and you will experience suffering ⁵⁶  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ⁵⁷ 

[27:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

[27:1]  ² tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).

[27:1]  ³ tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “draw near to me.”

[27:2]  ⁶ sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).

[27:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.

[27:2]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”

[27:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”

[27:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”

[27:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”

[35:3]  ¹² tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”

[35:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ¹⁴ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[41:10]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.).

[41:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”

[41:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”

[41:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”

[41:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”

[41:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ²⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[10:16]  ²⁶ sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.

[10:28]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

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

[10:28]  ²⁹ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[10:31]  ³⁰ sn Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God, but need not fear his tender care.

[6:11]  ³¹ tn Or “craftiness.” See BDAG 625 s.v. μεθοδεία.

[6:12]  ³² tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”

[6:12]  ³³ tn Grk “blood and flesh.”

[6:12]  ³⁴ tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.

[6:12]  sn The phrase world-rulers of this darkness does not refer to human rulers but the evil spirits that rule over the world. The phrase thus stands in apposition to what follows (the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens); see note on heavens at the end of this verse.

[6:12]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.

[6:12]  ³⁶ sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.

[6:13]  ³⁷ tn The term ἀνθίστημι (anqisthmi) carries the idea of resisting or opposing something or someone (BDAG 80 s.v.). In Eph 6:13, when used in combination with στῆναι (sthnai; cf. also στῆτε [sthte] in v. 14) and in a context of battle imagery, it seems to have the idea of resisting, standing firm, and being able to stand your ground.

[6:14]  ³⁸ sn The four participles fastening… putting on…fitting…taking up… indicate the means by which believers can take their stand against the devil and his schemes. The imperative take in v. 17 communicates another means by which to accomplish the standing, i.e., by the word of God.

[6:14]  ³⁹ tn Grk “girding your waist with truth.” In this entire section the author is painting a metaphor for his readers based on the attire of a Roman soldier prepared for battle and its similarity to the Christian prepared to do battle against spiritually evil forces. Behind the expression “with truth” is probably the genitive idea “belt of truth.” Since this is an appositional genitive (i.e., belt which is truth), the author simply left unsaid the idea of the belt and mentioned only his real focus, namely, the truth. (The analogy would have been completely understandable to his 1st century readers.) The idea of the belt is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense in English.

[6:15]  ⁴⁰ tn The definite article τοῖς (tois) was taken as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “your,” since it refers to a part of the physical body.

[6:15]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “gospel.” However, this is not a technical term here.

[6:15]  ⁴² tn Grk “in preparation of the gospel of peace.” The genitive τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (tou euangeliou) was taken as a genitive of source, i.e., “that comes from….”

[6:16]  ⁴³ tn Grk “in everything.”

[6:16]  ⁴⁴ sn The Greek word translated shield (θυρεός, qureos) refers to the Roman soldier’s large rectangular wooden shield, called in Latin scutum, about 4 ft (1.2 m) high, covered with leather on the outside. Before a battle in which flaming arrows might be shot at them, the soldiers wet the leather covering with water to extinguish the arrows. The Roman legionaries could close ranks with these shields, the first row holding theirs edge to edge in front, and the rows behind holding the shields above their heads. In this formation they were practically invulnerable to arrows, rocks, and even spears.

[6:17]  ⁴⁵ sn An allusion to Isa 59:17.

[6:17]  ⁴⁶ sn The Greek term translated sword (μάχαιρα, macaira) refers to the Roman gladius, a short sword about 2 ft (60 cm) long, used for close hand-to-hand combat. This is the only clearly offensive weapon in the list of armor mentioned by the author (he does not, for example, mention the lance [Latin pilum]).

[6:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

[6:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “and toward it.”

[6:1]  ⁴⁹ tn The use of the article τά (ta) with τέκνα (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with γύναῖκες (gunaikes) in 5:22, ἄνδρες (andres) in 5:25, δοῦλοι (douloi) in 6:5, and κύριοι (kurioi) in 6:9.

[6:1]  ⁵⁰ tc B D* F G as well as a few versional and patristic representatives lack “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ, en kuriw), while the phrase is well represented in Ì⁴⁶ א A D¹ I^vid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï sy co. Scribes may have thought that the phrase could be regarded a qualifier on the kind of parents a child should obey (viz., only Christian parents), and would thus be tempted to delete the phrase to counter such an interpretation. It is unlikely that the phrase would have been added, since the form used to express such sentiment in this Haustafel is ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ/Χριστῷ (Jw" tw kuriw/Cristw, “as to the Lord/Christ”; see 5:22; 6:5). Even though the witnesses for the omission are impressive, it is more likely that the phrase was deleted than added by scribal activity.

[12:12]  ⁵¹ tn Or “straighten.”

[12:12]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ sn A quotation from Prov 4:26. The phrase make straight paths for your feet is figurative for “stay on God’s paths.”

[2:10]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

[2:10]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “tempted.”

[2:10]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

[2:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”