Tag Archives: 1 Peter 2:17

Son of God – 1 John, Part 3

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Dear friends, John wrote to fellow believers, let us love (ἀγαπῶμεν, a form of ἀγαπάω)[1] one another, because love (ἀγάπη)[2] is from God, and everyone who loves (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω)[3] by God and knows (γινώσκει, a form of γινώσκω)[4] God.[5]  John used the word ἀγαπῶμεν over and over again in his letters to describe this love (ἀγάπη).

For this is the gospel message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love (ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους) one another…[6]  We know that we have crossed over from death to life because we love (ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τοὺς ἀδελφούς) our fellow Christians.[7]  Little children, let us not love (μὴ ἀγαπῶμεν λόγῳ μηδὲ τῇ γλώσσῃ) with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.[8]  Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love (καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους) one another, just as he gave us the commandment.[9]  No one has seen God at any time.  If we love (ἐὰν ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους) one another, God resides in us, and his love (ἀγάπη) is perfected in us.[10]  We love (ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν) because he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us first.[11]  By this we know that we love (ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ) the children of God: whenever we love (ὅταν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπῶμεν καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ ποιῶμεν) God and obey his commandments.[12]  But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love (ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους)[13] one another.[14]

This love (ἀγάπη) is from God,[15] not from us.  It is the love (ἀγάπη) that does no wrong to a neighbor, and the love (ἀγάπη) that is the fulfillment of the law.[16]  It is the love (ἀγάπη) that is patient, the love (ἀγάπη) that is kind, and the love (ἀγάπη) that does not brag.[17]  It is the love (ἀγάπη) that never ends as opposed to prophecies, tongues and knowledge that will be set aside.[18]  It is one of the three that remain along with faith and hope, but the greatest of these is love (ἀγάπη).[19]  It is the love (ἀγάπη) of Christ[20] that controls (συνέχει, a form of συνέχω)[21] us,[22] and it is the love that holds the preeminent place in the fruit of his Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love (ἀγάπη), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.[23]

John emphasized, everyone who loves has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God and knows (γινώσκει, a form of γινώσκω) God.[24]  The person who does not love (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) me, Jesus said, does not obey (τηρεῖ, a form of τηρέω)[25] my words.  And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.[26]  And Paul wrote, the one who loves (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) his neighbor has fulfilled the law.[27]

This love is the natural (e.g., super-natural) state of those born (γεννηθῇ, another form of  γεννάω) from above,[28] born (γεννηθῇ) of water and spirit,[29] not born (ἐγεννήθησαν, another form of  γεννάω) by human parents (οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων, literally, “not out of blood”) or by human desire (οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς, literally, “neither out from the will of the flesh”) or a husband’s decision (οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς, literally, “neither out from the will of a husband”), but by God (ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν, literally, “but out from God born”).[30]

If you know (εἰδῆτε, a form of εἴδω)[31] that he is righteous, John wrote, you also know (γινώσκετε, another form of γινώσκω) that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered (γεγέννηται) by him.[32]  Everyone who has been fathered (γεγεννημένος, another form of γεννάω) by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered (γεγέννηται) by God.[33]  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God…[34]

I am the good shepherd, Jesus said.  I know (γινώσκω) my own and my own know (γινώσκουσι, another form of γινώσκω) me – just as the Father knows (γινώσκει, another form of γινώσκω) me and I know (γινώσκω) the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.[35]  And John added, The person who does not love (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) does not know (ἔγνω, another form of γινώσκω) God, because God is love (ἀγάπη).[36]  The point here is not for me to act like a hypocrite and turn Paul’s definition of  ἀγάπη into a list of rules I strive to obey to con people into believing that I have been fathered by God.  The point is for me to believe Him and receive all that He has given to me in Christ.

By this the love (ἀγάπη) of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him.  In this is love (ἀγάπη): not that we have loved (ἠγαπήκαμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) God, but that he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.[37]

Dear friends (Ἀγαπητοί, a form of ἀγαπητός),[38] John continued, if God so loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us, then we also ought to love (ἀγαπᾶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another.  No one has seen God at any time.  If we love (ἀγαπῶμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another, God resides in us, and his love (ἀγάπη) is perfected in us.[39]  Once again, lest I stray into hypocrisy believing that this ἀγάπη originates with me so that I may prove that God resides in me, John made it plain.  By this we know (γινώσκομεν, another form of γινώσκω) that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit,[40] both gifts and fruit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world,[41] i.e., through his ἀγάπη (God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him).

Then John connected knowing and believing this ἀγάπη with confessing that Jesus is the Son of God:  If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.  And we have come to know (ἐγνώκαμεν, another form of γινώσκω) and to believe (πεπιστεύκαμεν, a form of πιστεύω)[42] the love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us [Table].[43]  I began this study of the Son of God because I was curious[44] how Peter, James and John followed through on Jesus’ command to tell (after his resurrection)[45] about the vision when a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight.  Listen to him!”[46]

Peter obeyed Jesus’ command to the letter.  He recounted the story of the transfiguration.[47]  But John wrote more in the spirit of Jesus’ command about the Son of God and all that meant.  From the very beginning of his ministry Paul proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God: For several days [Paul][48] was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This man is the Son of God.”[49]  And the writings of John and Paul most vividly portray the truth, And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us.  I can’t say much about Peter’s knowledge or faith, but his writing did not convey this same knowledge and faith in God’s love.

You have not seen him, Peter wrote, but you love (ἀγαπᾶτε, a form of ἀγαπάω) him.  You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls.[50]  This sounds like my feeling for Jesus rather than his ἀγάπη in us.  You have purified your souls by obeying the truth, Peter continued, in order to show sincere mutual love (φιλαδελφίαν, a form of φιλαδελφία).  So love (ἀγαπήσατε, a form of ἀγαπάω) one another earnestly from a pure heart.[51]  This sounds like our love for each other.  Perhaps brotherly affection and ἀγάπη were essentially interchangeable in the Greek language when Peter wrote.  But this usage doesn’t indicate any appreciation for the meaning that Paul ascribed to the ἀγάπη from God, or that John carried forward in his Gospel and letters.

Peter continued to make brotherly affection equivalent to ἀγάπη.  Honor all people, love (ἀγαπᾶτε, a form of ἀγαπάω) the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.[52]  Above all keep your love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη) for one another fervent, because love (ἀγάπη) covers a multitude of sins.[53]  The love in this quotation of Proverbs 10:12 was φιλία[54] in the Septuagint not ἀγάπη.  And Peter used ἀγάπη to describe a religious rite: Greet one another with a loving (ἀγάπης, a form of ἀγάπη) kiss.[55]

He did grant some ascendency to ἀγάπη over φιλαδελφίᾳ (brotherly affection) when he wrote, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection (φιλαδελφίαν, a form of φιλαδελφίᾳ); to brotherly affection (φιλαδελφίᾳ), unselfish love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη).[56]  But while I was busy adding all of these things to my faith I failed to understand that God’s divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.[57]  Or I thought the rich knowledge of the one who called us and the key to this life and godliness was the law.  

In other words I mistook the knowledge of sin[58] for the knowledge of God,[59] that intimate form of knowing alluded to in Romans 7:4, God is ἀγάπη,[60] ἀγάπη is from God,[61] and ἀγάπη is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα;[62] fulfilling KJV) of the law.[63]  Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, Jesus said.  I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, a form of πληρόω)[64] them.[65]  Apart from Paul’s and John’s writings I never would have understood that this ἀγάπη from God was the fruit of the Spirit, and, in a word, the credited righteousness of God.

God is love, John wrote, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him [Table].  By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.  We love because he loved us first.[66]  For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments.  And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.  This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith [i.e., in Him, yes, and in this love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us].  Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?[67]

If we accept the testimony of men, John continued, the testimony of God is greater [referring, I think, to the vision of the transfiguration], because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son.  (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.)[68]  And this is the testimony… And here, I think, John made the ἀγάπη from God functionally equivalent[69] to the life that is eternal (Love never ends).[70]  God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life.  I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.[71]

And finally having received this ἀγάπη from God (Give us today our daily bread[72]):  We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one (πονηρὸς, a form of πονηρός)[73] cannot touch him.  [And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (πονηροῦ, another form of πονηρός).[74]]  We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (πονηρῷ, another form of πονηρός).  And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.  This one is the true God and eternal life.  Little children, guard yourselves from idols.[75]

It takes a religious mind to be in close proximity to this ἀγάπη from God and yet reject it for the self-aggrandizing vindication of religious works.  For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.[76]  I’ve been there, and I’ve done that.

I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ,  and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.  My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.[77]

[5] 1 John 4:7 (NET)

[6] 1 John 3:11 (NET)

[7] 1 John 3:14 (NET)

[8] 1 John 3:18 (NET)

[9] 1 John 3:23 (NET)

[10] 1 John 4:12 (NET)

[11] 1 John 4:19 (NET)

[12] 1 John 5:2 (NET)

[13] Why was “should” inserted into 1 John 3:11 (NET)? …that we should love one another… (ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους).  1 John 4:19 (NET) We love because he loved us first (ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς).  1 John 5:2 (NET) By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments (ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅταν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπῶμεν καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ ποιῶμεν).

[14] 2 John 1:5 (NET)

[15] 1 John 4:7 (NET)

[16] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[17] 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NET)

[18] 1 Corinthians 13:8 (NET)

[19] 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NET)

[20] NET note: “The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Jh agaph tou Cristou, “the love of Christ”) could be translated as either objective genitive (‘our love for Christ’) or subjective genitive (‘Christ’s love for us’). Either is grammatically possible, but with the reference to Christ’s death for all in the following clauses, a subjective genitive (‘Christ’s love for us’) is more likely.”

[22] 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NET)

[23] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

[24] 1 John 4:7 (NET)

[26] John 14:24 (NET)

[27] Romans 13:8 (NET)

[28] John 3:3 (NET)

[29] John 3:5 (NET)

[30] John 1:13 (NET)

[32] 1 John 2:29 (NET)

[33] 1 John 3:9 (NET)

[34] 1 John 5:1a (NET)

[35] John 10:14, 15 (NET)

[36] 1 John 4:8 (NET)

[37] 1 John 4:9, 10 (NET)

[39] 1 John 4:11, 12 (NET)

[40] 1 John 4:13 (NET)

[41] 1 John 4:14 (NET)

[43] 1 John 4:15, 16a (NET)

[46] Matthew 17:5 (NET)

[47] 2 Peter 1:16-18

[48] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο σαυλος (KJV: Saul) nere.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[49] Acts 9:19b, 20 (NET) Table

[50] 1 Peter 1:8, 9 (NET)

[51] 1 Peter 1:22 (NET)

[52] 1 Peter 2:17 (NET)

[53] 1 Peter 4:8 (NET) Table

[55] 1 Peter 5:14a (NET)

[56] 2 Peter 1:5-7 (NET)

[57] 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

[61] 1 John 4:7 (NET); love comes from God (CEV, GWT, ISVNT, TEV, TMSG); love has its origin in God (MSNT), Greek: ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν (“because this love [1) out of, from, by, away from] the God is”)

[65] Matthew 5:17 (NET)

[66] 1 John 4:16b-19 (NET)

[67] 1 John 5:3-5 (NET)

[68] 1 John 5:9, 10 (NET)

[71] 1 John 5:11-13 (NET)

[72] Matthew 6:11 (NET)

[74] Matthew 6:13 (NET)

[75] 1 John 5:18-21 (NET) Table (v. 18)

[76] Romans 10:3 (NET)

[77] Philippians 3:8-11 (NET)

Fear – Genesis, Part 2

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I’m studying fear in the Old Testament to better understand how fear has ended in Christ yet the concept of fearing God continued in the New Testament.  Peter wrote, Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear (φοβεῖσθε, a form of φόβος)[1] God, honor the king.[2]  And in Revelation an angel with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth[3] said, Fear (φοβήθητε, a form of φοβέω) God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water![5]

Abraham moved to Gerar and continued to pass off his beautiful wife Sarah as his sister.  So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.[6]  But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him (Genesis 20:3-7 NET):

“You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife [Table].”  Now Abimelech had not gone near her.  He said, “Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?  Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’?  And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’  I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!”  Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience.  That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her.  But now give back the man’s wife.  Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live.  But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”

Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants.  When he told them about all these things, they were terrified (yârêʼ).[7]  The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ἐφοβήθησαν (plus σφόδρα,[8] very) here, the third person plural of φέβομαι.[9]  The first occurrence of this form in the New Testament is in Matthew’s account of the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:2–8 NET).

Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, son!  Your sins are forgiven.”  Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!”  When Jesus saw their reaction he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.”  And he stood up and went home.  When the crowd saw this, they were afraid (ἐφοβήθησαν, another form of φοβέω) and honored (ἐδόξασαν, a form of δοξάζω) God who had given such authority (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) to men.

I have already written[12] that I think the repetition of ἐξουσίαν (a form of ἐξουσία) indicates that it was the authority to forgive sins that caused the crowd to fear and to honor God.  The word translated honored above is the same glory that those under God’s wrath in Romans 1:21 withheld from God when they did not glorify him.[13]  And this connection of fear and honor gives me a clue to better understanding, especially when I return to Abimelech’s rebuke of Abraham (Genesis 20:9, 10 NET).

Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us?  What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom?  You have done things to me that should not be done!”  Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”

Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears (yirʼâh) God in this place.  They will kill me because of my wife.’”[15]  Here, the rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose a different word entirely, θεοσέβεια.  It is a compound of θεός and σέβομαι.  Negated as ἀσέβεια this is the ungodliness that prompted the revelation of God’s wrath.[19]  In Abimelech and his people, then, I find a fear of punishment that led to obedience and more.  Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham untouched.  He also gave him sheep, cattle, and male and female servants [Table], and said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please[Table].”[20]

Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.  For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham’s wife.[21]  And here I think I see the beginning of the fear of punishment that played such a major, albeit imperfect, role in the keeping of the law.

When Ishmael mocked Isaac, Sarah said to Abraham, “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”[22]  Abraham wasn’t happy about this at all, but complied when God said to him, “Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife.  Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.  But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”[23]

Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the wilderness.  When the water Abraham gave her was gone she shoved the child under one of the shrubs,[24] his body apparently limp and lethargic from dehydration.  She walked some distance away not wanting to watch her child die.  But God heard the boy’s voice.  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, Hagar?  Don’t be afraid (yârêʼ), for God has heard the boy’s voice right where he is crying.[25]  This was φοβοῦ (another form of φοβέω) in Greek in the Septuagint.

The second occurrence of this form in the New Testament was found in the story of Zechariah and the angelic announcement of his son’s birth, John the Baptist.  Zechariah, a priest, was chosen by lot to enter the holy place of the Lord and burn incense.[26]

An angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared to him.  And Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel, was seized with fear (φόβος).  But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid (φοβοῦ, another form of φοβέω), Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you will name him John.  Joy and gladness will come to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.  He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.  He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.  And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”[27]

Zechariah didn’t believe the angel’s message and was struck mute.  The text doesn’t say whether or not Hagar believed.  But God was with the boy [Ishamael] as he grew,[28] as surely as John was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:57-64 NET):

Now the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son.  Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.  On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father.  But his mother replied, “No! He must be named John.”  They said to her, “But none of your relatives bears this name.”  So they made signs to the baby’s father, inquiring what he wanted to name his son.  He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.”  And they were all amazed.  Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue released, and he spoke, blessing God.

Then Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied (Luke 1:67-79 NET):

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has come to help and has redeemed his people.  For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us.  He has done this to show mercy to our ancestors, and to remember his holy covenant – the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham.  This oath grants that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, may serve him without fear (ἀφόβως), in holiness and righteousness before him for as long as we live.  And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High.  For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.  Because of our God’s tender mercy the dawn will break upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

[2] 1 Peter 2:17 (NET)

[5] Revelation 14:7 (NET)

[6] Genesis 20:2b (NET)

[7] Genesis 20:8 (NET)

[15] Genesis 20:11 (NET) Table

[20] Genesis 20:14, 15 (NET)

[21] Genesis 20:17, 18 (NET)

[22] Genesis 21:10 (NET)

[23] Genesis 21:12, 13 (NET)

[24] Genesis 21:15 (NET)

[25] Genesis 21:17 (NET)

[26] Luke 1:9 (NET)

[27] Luke 1:11-17 (NET)

[28] Genesis 21:20a (NET)