¹ sn They probably refers to the Israelites or to the Davidic rulers of the future.

⁴ tn Heb “like an error that comes forth from the presence of a ruler.”

³ tn Heb “a man who understands [and] knows”; NRSV “an intelligent ruler”; NLT “wise and knowledgeable leaders.”

¹ sn Psalm 104. The psalmist praises God as the ruler of the world who sustains all life.

¹ tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

¹ tn Heb “and David consulted with the officers of thousands and hundreds, to every ruler.”

¹ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

² tn Grk “who was one of them”; the referent (the rulers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or perhaps “one of three rulers,” in the sense of becoming part of a triumvir; so also in v. 29.

⁴ tn Heb “her King.” But this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.

¹ sn Such a ruler would become known as one who could be lied to because he paid attention to lies.

¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the ruler mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn The word suggests “the ones lifted up” above others, and therefore the rulers or the chiefs of the people.

³ sn Verses 1-3 form the sixth saying about being cautious before rulers (cf. Instruction of Amememope, chap. 23, 23:13-18). One should not get too familiar with rulers, for they always have ulterior motives. The Mishnah cites Gamaliel as warning that a ruler only draws someone into his court for his purpose, but in their day of trouble he will not be there to help them (m. Avot 2:3).

⁶ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

³ sn They fulfilled the sayings. The people in Jerusalem and the Jewish rulers should have known better because they had the story read to them weekly in the synagogue.

² tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

² tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

⁴ sn See the study note on Jer 25:9 for the use of this epithet for foreign rulers. The term emphasizes God’s sovereignty over history.

¹ tn Heb “Many shepherds.” For the use of the term “shepherd” as a figure for rulers see the notes on 10:21.