⁵ sn Peter’s wondering was not a lack of faith, but struggling in an attempt to understand what could have happened.

⁵ sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.

¹ sn The call to be alert at all times is a call to remain faithful in looking for the Lord’s return.

¹ sn Everyone who has will be given more. Again, faithfulness yields great reward (see Luke 8:18; also Matt 13:12; Mark 4:25).

² sn Will he find faith on earth? The Son of Man is looking for those who continue to believe in him, despite the wait.

⁷ tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.

¹ sn The point of the statement faithful in a very little is that character is shown in how little things are treated.

³ sn The rebuke for lack of faith has OT roots: Num 14:27; Deut 32:5, 20; Isa 59:8.

⁴ tn Traditionally, “temptation.” Such a translation puts the emphasis on temptation to sin rather than testing of faith, which is what the context seems to indicate.

² sn On faith see Luke 5:20; 7:9; 8:25; 12:28; 17:6; 18:8; 22:32.

³ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

² sn God’s mercy refers to his “loyal love” or “steadfast love,” expressed in faithful actions, as the rest of the psalm illustrates.

² tn This ὅτι (hoti) clause, technically indirect discourse after πιστεύω (pisteuō), explains the content of the faith, a belief in God’s promise coming to pass.

³ sn The rebuke for lack of faith has OT roots: Num 14:27; Deut 32:5, 20; Isa 59:8.

¹ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

³ sn The rebuke for lack of faith has OT roots: Num 14:27; Deut 32:5, 20; Isa 59:8.

⁴ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

¹ sn The speaker (Zechariah) represents the Lord, who here is asking what his service as faithful shepherd has been worth in the opinion of his people Israel.

¹ tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”

⁴ tn Heb “an envoy of faithfulness.” The genitive אֱמוּנִים (ʾemunim, “faithfulness”) functions as an attributive adjective: “faithful envoy.” The plural form אמונים (literally, “faithfulnesses”) is characteristic of abstract nouns. The term “envoy” (צִיר, tsir) suggests that the person is in some kind of government service (e.g., Isa 18:2; Jer 49:14; cf. KJV, ASV “ambassador”). This individual can be trusted to “bring healing”—be successful in the mission. The wisdom literature of the ancient Near East has much to say about messengers.