Mazmur 55:16-17

55:16 As for me, I will call out to God,

and the Lord will deliver me.

55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan, ¹ 

and he will hear ²  me. ³ 

Mazmur 69:12-13

69:12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;

drunkards mock me in their songs. ⁴ 

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ⁵ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ⁶ 

Mazmur 69:2

69:2 I sink into the deep mire

where there is no solid ground; ⁷ 

I am in ⁸  deep water,

and the current overpowers me.

1 Samuel 15:31-32

15:31 So Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

Samuel Puts Agag to Death

15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, ⁹  thinking to himself, ¹⁰  “Surely death is bitter!” ¹¹ 

Daniel 6:10

6:10 When Daniel realized ¹²  that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows ¹³  in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. ¹⁴  Three ¹⁵  times daily he was ¹⁶  kneeling ¹⁷  and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously.

Lukas 6:11-12

6:11 But they were filled with mindless rage ¹⁸  and began debating with one another what they would do ¹⁹  to Jesus.

Choosing the Twelve Apostles

6:12 Now ²⁰  it was during this time that Jesus ²¹  went out to the mountain ²²  to pray, and he spent all night ²³  in prayer to God. ²⁴ 

Lukas 23:34

23:34 [But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”] ²⁵  Then ²⁶  they threw dice ²⁷  to divide his clothes. ²⁸ 

[55:17]  ¹ tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here.

[55:17]  ² tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions.

[55:17]  ³ tn Heb “my voice.”

[69:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”

[69:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[69:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”

[69:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “have entered.”

[15:32]  ⁹ tn The MT reading מַעֲדַנֹּת (ma’adannot, literally, “bonds,” used here adverbially, “in bonds”) is difficult. The word is found only here and in Job 38:31. Part of the problem lies in determining the root of the word. Some scholars have taken it to be from the root ענד (’nd, “to bind around”), but this assumes a metathesis of two of the letters of the root. Others take it from the root עדן (’dn) with the meaning “voluptuously,” but this does not seem to fit the context. It seems better to understand the word to be from the root מעד (m’d, “to totter” or “shake”). In that case it describes the fear that Agag experienced in realizing the mortal danger that he faced as he approached Samuel. This is the way that the LXX translators understood the word, rendering it by the Greek participle τρέμον (tremon, “trembling”).

[15:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and Agag said.”

[15:32]  ¹¹ tc The text is difficult here. With the LXX, two Old Latin mss, and the Syriac Peshitta it is probably preferable to delete סָר (sar, “is past”) of the MT; it looks suspiciously like a dittograph of the following word מַר (mar, “bitter”). This further affects the interpretation of Agag’s comment. In the MT he comes to Samuel confidently assured that the danger is over (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV “Surely the bitterness of death is past,” along with NLT, CEV). However, it seems more likely that Agag realized that his fortunes had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and that the clemency he had enjoyed from Saul would not be his lot from Samuel. The present translation thus understands Agag to approach not confidently but in the stark realization that his death is imminent (“Surely death is bitter!”). Cf. NAB “So it is bitter death!”; NRSV “Surely this is the bitterness of death”; TEV “What a bitter thing it is to die!”

[6:10]  ¹² tn Aram “knew.”

[6:10]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tc Read with several medieval Hebrew MSS and printed editions הֲוָה (havah) rather than the MT הוּא (hu’).

[6:10]  ¹⁷ 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.

[6:11]  ¹⁸ tn The term ἄνοια (anoia) denotes a kind of insane or mindless fury; the opponents were beside themselves with rage. They could not rejoice in the healing, but could only react against Jesus.

[6:11]  ¹⁹ tn The use of the optative (ποιήσαιεν, poihsaien, “might do”) in an indirect question indicates that the formal opposition and planning of Jesus’ enemies started here (BDF §§385.1; 386.1).

[6:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Now it happened that in.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[6:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ²² tn Or “to a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

[6:12]  sn The expression to the mountain here may be idiomatic or generic, much like the English “he went to the hospital” (cf. 15:29), or even intentionally reminiscent of Exod 24:12 (LXX), since the genre of the Sermon on the Mount seems to be that of a new Moses giving a new law.

[6:12]  ²³ sn This is the only time all night prayer is mentioned in the NT.

[6:12]  ²⁴ tn This is an objective genitive, so prayer “to God.”

[23:34]  ²⁵ tc Many important mss (Ì⁷⁵ א¹ B D* W Θ 070 579 1241 pc sy^s sa) lack v. 34a. It is included in א*^,2 (A) C D² L Ψ 0250 Ë^1,(13) 33 Ï lat sy^c,p,h. It also fits a major Lukan theme of forgiving the enemies (6:27-36), and it has a parallel in Stephen’s response in Acts 7:60. The lack of parallels in the other Gospels argues also for inclusion here. On the other hand, the fact of the parallel in Acts 7:60 may well have prompted early scribes to insert the saying in Luke’s Gospel alone. Further, there is the great difficulty of explaining why early and diverse witnesses lack the saying. A decision is difficult, but even those who regard the verse as inauthentic literarily often consider it to be authentic historically. For this reason it has been placed in single brackets in the translation.

[23:34]  ²⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:34]  ²⁷ tn Grk “cast lots” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent “threw dice” was chosen here because of its association with gambling.

[23:34]  ²⁸ sn An allusion to Ps 22:18, which identifies Jesus as the suffering innocent one.