² sn The statement that Jesus knew their thoughts adds a prophetic note to his response; see Luke 5:22.

² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) has a deictic force here, calling attention to the thought that is now presented.

² tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.” Cf. TEV “The king thought this was good advice.”

¹ tc Because there is no parallel line, some have thought that it dropped out (see de Vaulx, Les Nombres, 296).

² tn Heb “in every work of thought,” meaning, every work that required the implementation of design or plan.

³ tn The related verb חָשָׁב (khashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.

¹ tn The word is “your thoughts.” The word for “thoughts” (from חָצַב [khatsav, “to think; to reckon; to plan”]) has more to do with their intent than their general thoughts. He knows that when they talked about the fate of the wicked they really were talking about him.

¹ tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”

³ tn The conjunction καί (kai) is not introducing a coordinate thought, but one that is logically subordinate to the main verb ἐγενόμην (egenomēn).

¹ sn In Johannine thought it is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

⁵ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

¹ sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plēroō) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).

⁴ sn The alternatives presented are only two (again, it is typical of Johannine thought for this to be presented in terms of polar opposites): perish or have eternal life.

¹ sn The disciples were still not comfortable at this point thinking that this could be Jesus raised from the dead. Instead they thought they saw a spirit.

² sn Jesus answered him. Note that as the Pharisee is denying to himself that Jesus is a prophet, Jesus is reading his thoughts.

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the connection with the preceding statement recording the Pharisee’s thoughts.

³ tn Grk “their reasonings.” The implication is that Jesus knew his opponents’ plans and motives, so the translation “thoughts” was used here.

² sn The remark the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed shows that how people respond to Jesus indicates where their hearts really are before God.

¹ sn Perhaps the crowd thought Jesus was calling for Elijah because the exclamation “my God, my God” (i.e., in Aramaic, Eloi, Eloi) sounds like the name Elijah.

¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the shift from the thoughts of the experts in the law to Jesus’ response.