Wahyu 22:2

22:2 flowing down the middle of the city’s ¹  main street. ²  On each side ³  of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds ⁴  of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. ⁵  Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

Ulangan 32:43

32:43 Cry out, O nations, with his people,

for he will avenge his servants’ blood;

he will take vengeance against his enemies,

and make atonement for his land and people.

Mazmur 22:27

22:27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him! ⁶ 

Let all the nations ⁷  worship you! ⁸ 

Yesaya 2:2

2:2 In the future ⁹ 

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ¹⁰ 

as the most important of mountains,

and will be the most prominent of hills. ¹¹ 

All the nations will stream to it,

Yesaya 52:15

52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human ¹²  –

so now ¹³  he will startle ¹⁴  many nations.

Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, ¹⁵ 

for they will witness something unannounced to them,

and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Yesaya 55:5

55:5 Look, you will summon nations ¹⁶  you did not previously know;

nations ¹⁷  that did not previously know you will run to you,

because of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹⁸ 

for he bestows honor on you.

Yesaya 55:10

55:10 ¹⁹ The rain and snow fall from the sky

and do not return,

but instead water the earth

and make it produce and yield crops,

and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.

Yesaya 66:12

66:12 For this is what the Lord says:

“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,

the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. ²⁰ 

You will nurse from her breast ²¹  and be carried at her side;

you will play on her knees.

Yesaya 66:18

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ²²  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ²³  they will come and witness my splendor.

Yeremia 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ²⁴ 

If you do, ²⁵  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ²⁶ 

Zakharia 2:11

2:11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, ²⁷  and they will also be my ²⁸  people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Zakharia 8:22-23

8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor. 8:23 The Lord who rules over all says, ‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will grasp hold of – indeed, grab – the robe of one Jew and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’” ²⁹ 

Roma 15:10-12

15:10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” ³⁰  15:11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” ³¹  15:12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.” ³² 

Roma 15:16

15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve ³³  the gospel of God ³⁴  like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, ³⁵  sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Roma 15:26

15:26 For Macedonia and Achaia are pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

[22:2]  ¹ tn Grk “its”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ² tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[22:2]  ³ tn Grk “From here and from there.”

[22:2]  ⁴ tn Or “twelve crops” (one for each month of the year).

[22:2]  ⁵ tn The words “of the year” are implied.

[22:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.

[22:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “families of the nations.”

[22:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “before you.”

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.

[52:15]  ¹² tn Heb “and his form from the sons of men.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.”

[52:15]  ¹³ tn This statement completes the sentence begun in v. 14a. The introductory כֵּן (ken) answers to the introductory כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher) of v. 14a. Verses 14b-15a are parenthetical, explaining why many were horrified.

[52:15]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally the verb יַזֶּה (yazzeh, a Hiphil stem) has been understood as a causative of נָזָה (nazah, “spurt, spatter”) and translated “sprinkle.” In this case the passage pictures the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (or spiritually cleanses) the nations. Though the verb נָזָה does occur in the Hiphil with the meaning “sprinkle,” the usual interpretation is problematic. In all other instances where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is combined with a preposition. This is not the case in Isaiah 52:15, unless one takes the following עָלָיו (’alayv, “on him”) with the preceding line. But then one would have to emend the verb to a plural, make the nations the subject of the verb “sprinkle,” and take the servant as the object. Consequently some interpreters doubt the cultic idea of “sprinkling” is present here. Some emend the text; others propose a homonymic root meaning “spring, leap,” which in the Hiphil could mean “cause to leap, startle” and would fit the parallelism of the verse nicely.

[52:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Because of him kings will shut their mouths,” i.e., be speechless.

[55:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs in the next line indicate (note that both “know” and “run” are third plural forms).

[55:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs that follow indicate.

[55:5]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[55:10]  ¹⁹ tn This verse begins in the Hebrew text with כִּי כַּאֲשֶׁר (ki ka’asher, “for, just as”), which is completed by כֵּן (ken, “so, in the same way”) at the beginning of v. 11. For stylistic reasons, this lengthy sentence is divided up into separate sentences in the translation.

[66:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”

[66:12]  ²¹ tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).

[66:18]  ²² tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[66:18]  ²³ tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”

[4:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, justice, and righteousness…”

[4:2]  ²⁵ tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.

[4:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

[2:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “on that day.” The descriptive phrase “of salvation” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:11]  ²⁸ tc The LXX and Syriac have the 3rd person masculine singular suffix in both places (“his people” and “he will settle”; cf. NAB, TEV) in order to avoid the Lord’s speaking of himself in the third person. Such resort is unnecessary, however, in light of the common shifting of person in Hebrew narrative (cf. 3:2).

[8:23]  ²⁹ sn This scene of universal and overwhelming attraction of the nations to Israel’s God finds initial fulfillment in the establishment of the church (Acts 2:5-11) but ultimate completion in the messianic age (Isa 45:14, 24; 60:14; Zech 14:16-21).

[15:10]  ³⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 32:43.

[15:11]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Ps 117:1.

[15:12]  ³² sn A quotation from Isa 11:10.

[15:16]  ³³ tn Grk “serving.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but in keeping with contemporary English style, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:16]  ³⁴ tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself.

[15:16]  ³⁵ tn Grk “so that the offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable.” This could be understood to refer to an offering belonging to the Gentiles (a possessive genitive) or made by the Gentiles (subjective genitive), but more likely the phrase should be understood as an appositive genitive, with the Gentiles themselves consisting of the offering (so J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC 38], 2:860). The latter view is reflected in the translation “so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering.”