Mazmur 31:3

31:3 For you are my high ridge ¹  and my stronghold;

for the sake of your own reputation ²  you lead me and guide me. ³ 

Mazmur 79:9

79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!

For the sake of your glorious reputation, ⁴  rescue us!

Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! ⁵ 

Mazmur 109:21

109:21 O sovereign Lord,

intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation! ⁶ 

Because your loyal love is good, deliver me!

Mazmur 143:11

143:11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, ⁷  revive me! ⁸ 

Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble! ⁹ 

Yesaya 43:25

43:25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;

your sins I do not remember.

Yesaya 48:9

48:9 For the sake of my reputation ¹⁰  I hold back my anger;

for the sake of my prestige ¹¹  I restrain myself from destroying you. ¹² 

Yehezkiel 20:9

20:9 I acted for the sake of my reputation, ¹³  so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, ¹⁴  before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁵ 

Yehezkiel 36:22

36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation ¹⁶  which you profaned among the nations where you went.

Yehezkiel 36:1

Blessings on the Mountains of Israel

36:1 “As for you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord!

Yohanes 2:12

Cleansing the Temple

2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum ¹⁷  with his mother and brothers ¹⁸  and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

[31:3]  ¹ sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[31:3]  ² tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

[31:3]  ³ tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[79:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[79:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “your name.”

[109:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “but you, Lord, Master, do with me for the sake of your name.” Here “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[143:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[143:11]  ⁸ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

[143:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”

[48:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”

[48:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[48:9]  ¹² tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”

[20:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the sake of my name.”

[20:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were.”

[20:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to whom I made myself known before their eyes to bring them out from the land of Egypt.” The translation understands the infinitive construct (“to bring them out”) as indicating manner. God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt was an act of self-revelation in that it displayed his power and his commitment to his promises.

[36:22]  ¹⁶ sn In Ezek 20:22 God refrained from punishment for the sake of his holy name. Here God’s reputation is the basis for Israel’s restoration.

[2:12]  ¹⁷ sn Verse 12 is merely a transitional note in the narrative (although Capernaum does not lie on the direct route to Jerusalem from Cana). Nothing is mentioned in John’s Gospel at this point about anything Jesus said or did there (although later his teaching is mentioned, see 6:59). From the synoptics it is clear that Capernaum was a center of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and might even be called “his own town” (Matt 9:1). The royal official whose son Jesus healed (John 4:46-54) was from Capernaum. He may have heard Jesus speak there, or picked up the story about the miracle at Cana from one of Jesus’ disciples.

[2:12]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[2:12]  ¹⁸ sn With respect to Jesus’ brothers, the so-called Helvidian view is to be preferred (named after Helvidius, a 4th-century theologian). This view holds that the most natural way to understand the phrase is as a reference to children of Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus. Other views are that of Epiphanius (they were children of Joseph by a former marriage) or Jerome (they were cousins). The tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity appeared in the 2nd century and is difficult to explain (as J. H. Bernard, St. John [ICC], 1:85, points out) if some of her other children were prominent members of the early church (e.g., James of Jerusalem). But this is outweighed by the natural sense of the words.