Discovery Box| (0.25) | (Act 5:4) | 5 tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women. |
| (0.25) | (Joh 18:5) | 1 sn The author does not state precisely who from the group of soldiers and temple police replied to Jesus at this point. It may have been the commander of the Roman soldiers, although his presence is not explicitly mentioned until 18:12. It may also have been one of the officers of the chief priests. To the answer given, “Jesus the Nazarene,” Jesus replies “I am [he].” |
| (0.25) | (Joh 12:20) | 1 sn These Greeks (῞Ελληνές τινες, hellēnes tines) who had come up to worship at the feast were probably “God-fearers” rather than proselytes in the strict sense. Had they been true proselytes, they would probably not have been referred to as Greeks any longer. Many came to worship at the major Jewish festivals without being proselytes to Judaism, for example, the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27, who could not have been a proselyte if he were physically a eunuch. |
| (0.25) | (Joh 9:35) | 2 tc Although most witnesses (A L Θ Ψ 070 0250 ƒ1,13 33 M lat) have θεοῦ (theou, “of God”) instead of ἀνθρώπου (anthrōpou, “of man”) here, the better witnesses (P66,75 א B D W sys) have ἀνθρώπου. Not only is the external evidence decidedly on the side of ἀνθρώπου, but it is difficult to see such early and diverse witnesses changing θεοῦ to ἀνθρώπου. The wording “Son of Man” is thus virtually certain. |
| (0.25) | (Joh 1:44) | 1 sn Although the author thought of the town as in Galilee (12:21), Bethsaida technically was in Gaulanitis (Philip the Tetrarch’s territory) across from Herod’s Galilee. There may have been two places called Bethsaida, or this may merely reflect popular imprecision—locally it was considered part of Galilee, even though it was just east of the Jordan river. This territory was heavily Gentile (which may explain why Andrew and Philip both have Gentile names). |
| (0.25) | (Luk 1:9) | 3 tn Or “temple.” Such sacrifices, which included the burning of incense, would have occurred in the holy place according to the Mishnah (m. Tamid 1.2; 3.1; 5-7). A priest would have given this sacrifice, which was offered for the nation, once in one’s career. It would be offered either at 9 a.m. or 3 p.m., since it was made twice a day. |
| (0.25) | (Mat 15:2) | 1 tc ‡ Although most witnesses read the genitive plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autōn, “their”), it may have been motivated by clarification (as it is in the translation above). Several other authorities do not have the pronoun, however (א B Δ 073 ƒ1 579 700 892 1424 f g1); the lack of an unintentional oversight as the reason for omission strengthens their combined testimony in this shorter reading. NA28 has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity. |
| (0.25) | (Mat 6:1) | 1 tc ‡ Several mss (א L Z Θ ƒ1 33 892 1241 1424) have δέ (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse; the reading without δέ is supported by B D W 0250 ƒ13 565 579 700 M lat. A decision is difficult, but the conjunction seems to have been added by later scribes to indicate a transition in the thought-flow of the Sermon on the Mount. NA28 has δέ in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity. |
| (0.25) | (Mat 5:43) | 2 sn The phrase hate your enemy does not occur explicitly in the OT, but was commonly inferred from passages like Deut 7:2; 30:7; Ps 26:5; Ps 139:21-22. Jesus’ hearers (and Matthew’s readers) would not have been surprised by the statement. It is the antithesis Jesus gives in the following verses that would have shocked them. |
| (0.25) | (Dan 8:2) | 2 sn Susa (Heb. שׁוּשַׁן, shushan), located some 230 miles (380 km) east of Babylon, was a winter residence for Persian kings during the Achaemenid period. The language of v. 2 seems to suggest that Daniel may not have been physically present at Susa, but only saw himself there in the vision. However, the Hebrew is difficult, and some have concluded that the first four words of v. 2 in the MT are a later addition (cf. Theodotion). |
| (0.25) | (Lam 5:13) | 2 tc Heb “boys trip over wood.” This phrase makes little sense. The translation adopts D. R. Hillers’ suggestion (Lamentations [AB], 99) of בְּעֶצֶב כָּשָׁלוּ (beʿetsev kashalu). Due to letter confusion and haplography the final ב (bet) of בְּעֶצֶב (beʿetsev), which looks like the כ (kaf) beginning the next word, may have been dropped. This verb can have an abstract noun after the preposition ב (bet), meaning “from, due to,” rather than “over.” |
| (0.25) | (Lam 1:15) | 5 tc The MT reads the preposition בּ (bet, “in”) prefixed to קִרְבִּי (qirbi, “my midst”): בְּקִרְבִּי (beqirbi, “in my midst”); however, the LXX reads ἐκ μέσου μου (ek mesou mou) which may reflect a Vorlage of the preposition מִן (min, “from”): מִקִּרְבִּי (miqqirbi, “from my midst”). The LXX may have chosen ἐκ to accommodate understanding סִלָּה (sillah) as ἐξῆρεν (exēren, “to remove, lead away”). The textual deviation may have been caused by an unusual orthographic confusion. |
| (0.25) | (Jer 44:19) | 2 sn According to Jer 7:18-19, it was not only with the full knowledge and approval of their husbands but also with their active participation. Most commentaries find an allusion here to the fact that a woman’s vow had to have her husband’s conscious approval to have any validity (cf. Num 30:7-16 and see the reference to the vow in v. 17). |
| (0.25) | (Jer 44:10) | 1 tn Heb “they,” but, as H. Freedman (Jeremiah [SoBB], 284) notes, the third person is used here to include the people just referred to as well as the current addressees, hence “your people” or “the people of Judah.” It is possible that the third person again reflects the rhetorical distancing that was referred to earlier in 35:16 (see the translator’s note there for explanation), in which case one might translate, “you have shown,” and “you have not revered.” |
| (0.25) | (Jer 41:10) | 1 tn Heb “the daughters of the king.” Most commentators do not feel that this refers to the actual daughters of Zedekiah, since they would have been too politically important to have escaped exile with their father. As noted in the translator’s note on 36:26, this need not refer to the actual daughters of the king but may refer to other royal daughters, i.e., the daughters of other royal princes. |
| (0.25) | (Jer 39:16) | 1 sn Even though Jeremiah was confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse, he was still free to entertain visitors (32:2, 8). Moreover, Ebed Melech was an official attached to the royal court and would have had access to the courtyard of the guardhouse (38:7, 13). Jeremiah would not have had to leave the courtyard of the guardhouse to “go and tell” him something. |
| (0.25) | (Jer 35:8) | 1 tn Heb “We have not drunk wine all our days.” Actually, vv. 8b-9a are a series of infinitive constructs plus the negative לְבִלְתִּי (levilti) that explain the particulars of how they have obeyed, i.e., by not drinking wine…and by not building….” The more direct declarative statement is used here to shorten the sentence and is more in keeping with contemporary style. |
| (0.25) | (Jer 29:3) | 2 sn This individual is not the same as the Gemariah mentioned in 36:10, 11, 12, 25, who was one of the officials who sought to have the first scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies preserved. He may, however, have been a son or grandson of the high priest during the reign of Josiah who discovered the book of the law (cf., e.g., 2 Kgs 22:8, 10) that was so instrumental in Josiah’s reforms. |
| (0.25) | (Jer 17:2) | 1 tn It is difficult to convey in good English style the connection between this verse and the preceding. The text does not have a finite verb but a temporal preposition with an infinitive: Heb “while their children remember their altars…” It is also difficult to translate the verb “literally” (i.e., what does “remember” their altars mean?). Hence it has been rendered “always think about.” Another possibility would be “have their altars…on their minds.” |
| (0.25) | (Jer 8:10) | 1 sn See Jer 6:12-15 for parallels to 8:10-12. The words of Jeremiah to the people may have been repeated on more than one occasion or have been found appropriate to more than one of his collections of messages in written and edited form. See Jer 36:4 and Jer 36:28 for reference to at least two of these collections. |
