Yeremia 3:4

3:4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father! ¹ 

You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

Yeremia 3:19

3:19 “I thought to myself, ² 

‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ³ 

What a joy it would be for me to give ⁴  you a pleasant land,

the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ⁵ 

I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ⁶ 

and would never cease being loyal to me. ⁷ 

Hosea 1:10

The Restoration of Israel

1:10 (2:1) ⁸  However, ⁹  in the future the number of the people ¹⁰  of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which can be neither measured nor numbered. Although ¹¹  it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are ¹²  children ¹³  of the living God!”

Yohanes 1:12

1:12 But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name ¹⁴  – he has given the right to become God’s children

Yohanes 11:52

11:52 and not for the Jewish nation ¹⁵  only, ¹⁶  but to gather together ¹⁷  into one the children of God who are scattered.) ¹⁸ 

Roma 8:14-17

8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are ¹⁹  the sons of God. 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, ²⁰  but you received the Spirit of adoption, ²¹  by whom ²²  we cry, “Abba, Father.” 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness to ²³  our spirit that we are God’s children. 8:17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) ²⁴  – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Roma 8:23

8:23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, ²⁵  groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, ²⁶  the redemption of our bodies. ²⁷ 

Roma 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ²⁸  in Christ Jesus has set you ²⁹  free from the law of sin and death.

Kolose 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ³⁰  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ³¹ 

Galatia 4:5-6

4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. ³²  4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls ³³  “Abba! ³⁴  Father!”

Ibrani 12:5-9

12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?

“My son, do not scorn ³⁵  the Lord’s discipline

or give up when he corrects ³⁶  you.

12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” ³⁷ 

12:7 Endure your suffering ³⁸  as discipline; ³⁹  God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 12:8 But if you do not experience discipline, ⁴⁰  something all sons ⁴¹  have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from ⁴²  our earthly fathers ⁴³  and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? ⁴⁴ 

Ibrani 12:1

The Lord’s Discipline

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ⁴⁵  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

Yohanes 3:1

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ⁴⁶  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ⁴⁷ 

Wahyu 21:7

21:7 The one who conquers ⁴⁸  will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

[3:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[you are] my father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.

[3:19]  ² tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.

[3:19]  ³ tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the Lord’s wife (see the next verse). The pronouns of address in the first two lines are second feminine singular as are the readings of the two verbs preferred by the Masoretes (the Qere readings) in the third and fourth lines. The verbs that are written in the text in the third and fourth lines (the Kethib readings) are second masculine plural as is the verb describing Israel’s treachery in the next verse.

[3:19]  sn The imagery here appears to be that of treating the wife as an equal heir with the sons and of giving her the best piece of property.

[3:19]  ⁴ tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.

[3:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”

[3:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “my father.”

[3:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”

[1:10]  ⁸ sn Beginning with 1:10, the verse numbers through 2:23 in the English Bible differ by two from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:10 ET = 2:1 HT, 1:11 ET = 2:2 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:3 HT, etc., through 2:23 ET = 2:25 HT. Beginning with 3:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[1:10]  ⁹ tn The vav prefixed to וְהָיָה (véhaya) functions in an adversative sense: “however” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §432).

[1:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV “the children”; NAB, NIV “the Israelites.”

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the place” (בִּמְקוֹם, bimqom). BDB 880 s.v. מָקוֹם 7.b suggests that בִּמְקוֹם (preposition בְּ, bet, + noun מָקוֹם, maqom) is an idiom carrying a concessive sense: “instead of” (e.g., Isa 33:21; Hos 2:1). However, HALOT suggests that it functions in a locative sense: “in the same place” (HALOT 626 s.v. מָקוֹם 2b; e.g., 1 Kgs 21:19; Isa 33:21; Hos 2:1).

[1:10]  ¹² tn The predicate nominative, “You are…,” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “sons” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

[1:12]  ¹⁴ tn On the use of the πιστεύω + εἰς (pisteuw + ei") construction in John: The verb πιστεύω occurs 98 times in John (compared to 11 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark [including the longer ending], and 9 times in Luke). One of the unsolved mysteries is why the corresponding noun form πίστις (pistis) is never used at all. Many have held the noun was in use in some pre-Gnostic sects and this rendered it suspect for John. It might also be that for John, faith was an activity, something that men do (cf. W. Turner, “Believing and Everlasting Life – A Johannine Inquiry,” ExpTim 64 [1952/53]: 50-52). John uses πιστεύω in 4 major ways: (1) of believing facts, reports, etc., 12 times; (2) of believing people (or the scriptures), 19 times; (3) of believing “in” Christ” (πιστεύω + εἰς + acc.), 36 times; (4) used absolutely without any person or object specified, 30 times (the one remaining passage is 2:24, where Jesus refused to “trust” himself to certain individuals). Of these, the most significant is the use of πιστεύω with εἰς + accusative. It is not unlike the Pauline ἐν Χριστῷ (en Cristw) formula. Some have argued that this points to a Hebrew (more likely Aramaic) original behind the Fourth Gospel. But it probably indicates something else, as C. H. Dodd observed: “πιστεύειν with the dative so inevitably connoted simple credence, in the sense of an intellectual judgment, that the moral element of personal trust or reliance inherent in the Hebrew or Aramaic phrase – an element integral to the primitive Christian conception of faith in Christ – needed to be otherwise expressed” (The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 183).

[11:52]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “nation” in the previous verse.

[11:52]  ¹⁶ sn The author in his comment expands the prophecy to include the Gentiles (not for the Jewish nation only), a confirmation that the Fourth Gospel was directed, at least partly, to a Gentile audience. There are echoes of Pauline concepts here (particularly Eph 2:11-22) in the stress on the unity of Jew and Gentile.

[11:52]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “that he might gather together.”

[11:52]  ¹⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[8:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are.”

[8:15]  ²⁰ tn Grk “slavery again to fear.”

[8:15]  ²¹ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).”

[8:15]  ²² tn Or “in that.”

[8:16]  ²³ tn Or possibly “with.” ExSyn 160-61, however, notes the following: “At issue, grammatically, is whether the Spirit testifies alongside of our spirit (dat. of association), or whether he testifies to our spirit (indirect object) that we are God’s children. If the former, the one receiving this testimony is unstated (is it God? or believers?). If the latter, the believer receives the testimony and hence is assured of salvation via the inner witness of the Spirit. The first view has the advantage of a σύν- (sun-) prefixed verb, which might be expected to take an accompanying dat. of association (and is supported by NEB, JB, etc.). But there are three reasons why πνεύματι (pneumati) should not be taken as association: (1) Grammatically, a dat. with a σύν- prefixed verb does not necessarily indicate association. This, of course, does not preclude such here, but this fact at least opens up the alternatives in this text. (2) Lexically, though συμμαρτυρέω (summarturew) originally bore an associative idea, it developed in the direction of merely intensifying μαρτυρέω (marturew). This is surely the case in the only other NT text with a dat. (Rom 9:1). (3) Contextually, a dat. of association does not seem to support Paul’s argument: ‘What standing has our spirit in this matter? Of itself it surely has no right at all to testify to our being sons of God’ [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:403]. In sum, Rom 8:16 seems to be secure as a text in which the believer’s assurance of salvation is based on the inner witness of the Spirit. The implications of this for one’s soteriology are profound: The objective data, as helpful as they are, cannot by themselves provide assurance of salvation; the believer also needs (and receives) an existential, ongoing encounter with God’s Spirit in order to gain that familial comfort.”

[8:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs – that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.

[8:23]  ²⁵ tn Or “who have the Spirit as firstfruits.” The genitive πνεύματος (pneumatos) can be understood here as possessive (“the firstfruits belonging to the Spirit”) although it is much more likely that this is a genitive of apposition (“the firstfruits, namely, the Spirit”); cf. TEV, NLT.

[8:23]  ²⁶ tn See the note on “adoption” in v. 15.

[8:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “body.”

[8:2]  ²⁸ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ²⁹ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[1:18]  ³⁰ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ³¹ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[4:5]  ³² tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”

[4:6]  ³³ tn Grk “calling.” The participle is neuter indicating that the Spirit is the one who calls.

[4:6]  ³⁴ tn The term “Abba” is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic אַבָּא (’abba’), literally meaning “my father” but taken over simply as “father,” used in prayer and in the family circle, and later taken over by the early Greek-speaking Christians (BDAG 1 s.v. ἀββα).

[12:5]  ³⁵ tn Or “disregard,” “think little of.”

[12:5]  ³⁶ tn Or “reproves,” “rebukes.” The Greek verb ἐλέγχω (elencw) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

[12:6]  ³⁷ sn A quotation from Prov 3:11-12.

[12:7]  ³⁸ tn Grk “endure,” with the object (“your suffering”) understood from the context.

[12:7]  ³⁹ tn Or “in order to become disciplined.”

[12:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “you are without discipline.”

[12:8]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “all”; “sons” is implied by the context.

[12:9]  ⁴² tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”

[12:9]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the fathers of our flesh.” In Hebrews, “flesh” is a characteristic way of speaking about outward, physical, earthly life (cf. Heb 5:7; 9:10, 13), as opposed to the inward or spiritual dimensions of life.

[12:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “and live.”

[12:9]  sn Submit ourselves…to the Father of spirits and receive life. This idea is drawn from Proverbs, where the Lord’s discipline brings life, while resistance to it leads to death (cf. Prov 4:13; 6:23; 10:17; 16:17).

[12:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “having such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”

[3:1]  ⁴⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[21:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”