Exodus 34:15-16

34:15 Be careful ¹  not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when ²  they prostitute themselves ³  to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, ⁴  you will eat from his sacrifice; 34:16 and you then take ⁵  his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.

Joshua 22:17

22:17 The sin we committed at Peor was bad enough. To this very day we have not purified ourselves; it even brought a plague on the community of the Lord. ⁶ 

Joshua 22:1

Joshua Sends Home the Eastern Tribes

22:1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

Joshua 11:1-8

Israel Defeats a Northern Coalition

11:1 When King Jabin of Hazor ⁷  heard the news, he organized a coalition, including ⁸  King Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph, 11:2 and the northern kings who ruled in ⁹  the hill country, the Arabah south of Kinnereth, ¹⁰  the lowlands, and the heights of Dor to the west. 11:3 Canaanites came ¹¹  from the east and west; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites from the hill country; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area ¹²  of Mizpah. 11:4 These kings came out with their armies; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and had a large number of horses and chariots. ¹³  11:5 All these kings gathered and joined forces ¹⁴  at the Waters of Merom to fight Israel.

11:6 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn ¹⁵  their chariots.” 11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. ¹⁶  11:8 The Lord handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, ¹⁷  Misrephoth Maim, ¹⁸  and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained.

Psalms 106:28

106:28 They worshiped ¹⁹  Baal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. ²⁰ 

Hosea 9:10

9:10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness.

I viewed your ancestors ²¹  like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season.

Then they came to Baal-Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame –

they became as detestable as what they loved.

Hosea 9:1

Fertility Cult Festivals Have Intoxicated Israel

9:1 O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly ²²  like the nations,

for you are unfaithful ²³  to your God.

You love to receive a prostitute's wages ²⁴ 

on all the floors where you thresh your grain.

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²⁵  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:27-28

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ²⁷  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ²⁸  and teaching ²⁹  all people ³⁰  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ³¹  in Christ.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³²  brothers and sisters ³³  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³⁴  from God our Father! ³⁵ 

Colossians 1:16-17

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ³⁶  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ³⁷  in him.

Revelation 2:14

2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, ³⁸  who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block ³⁹  before the people ⁴⁰  of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ⁴¹ 

[34:15]  ¹ tn The sentence begins simply “lest you make a covenant”; it is undoubtedly a continuation of the imperative introduced earlier, and so that is supplied here.

[34:15]  ² tn The verb is a perfect with a vav consecutive. In the literal form of the sentence, this clause tells what might happen if the people made a covenant with the inhabitants of the land: “Take heed…lest you make a covenant…and then they prostitute themselves…and sacrifice…and invite…and you eat.” The sequence lays out an entire scenario.

[34:15]  ³ tn The verb זָנָה (zanah) means “to play the prostitute; to commit whoredom; to be a harlot” or something similar. It is used here and elsewhere in the Bible for departing from pure religion and engaging in pagan religion. The use of the word in this figurative sense is fitting, because the relationship between God and his people is pictured as a marriage, and to be unfaithful to it was a sin. This is also why God is described as a “jealous” or “impassioned” God. The figure may not be merely a metaphorical use, but perhaps a metonymy, since there actually was sexual immorality at the Canaanite altars and poles.

[34:15]  ⁴ tn There is no subject for the verb. It could be rendered “and one invites you,” or it could be made a passive.

[34:16]  ⁵ tn In the construction this verb would follow as a possible outcome of the last event, and so remain in the verbal sequence. If the people participate in the festivals of the land, then they will intermarry, and that could lead to further involvement with idolatry.

[22:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “Was the sin of Peor too insignificant for us, from which we have not made purification to this day? And there was a plague in the assembly of the Lord.”

[11:1]  ⁷ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “he sent to.”

[11:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and to the kings who [are] from the north in.”

[11:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Chinneroth,” a city and plain located in the territory of Naphtali in Galilee (BDB 490 s.v. כִּנֶּרֶת, כִּנֲרוֹת).

[11:3]  ¹¹ tn The verb “came” is supplied in the translation (see v. 4).

[11:3]  ¹² tn Or “land.”

[11:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “They and all their camps with them came out, a people as numerous as the sand which is on the edge of the sea in multitude, and [with] horses and chariots very numerous.”

[11:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and came and camped together.”

[11:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “burn with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[11:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them at the Waters of Merom suddenly and fell upon them.”

[11:8]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:8]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).

[106:28]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “joined themselves to.”

[106:28]  ²⁰ tn Here “the dead” may refer to deceased ancestors (see Deut 26:14). Another option is to understand the term as a derogatory reference to the various deities which the Israelites worshiped at Peor along with Baal (see Num 25:2 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 49).

[9:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “fathers”; a number of more recent English versions use the more general “ancestors” here.

[9:1]  ²² tn Heb “do not rejoice unto jubilation”; KJV “Rejoice not…for joy”; NASB “Do not rejoice…with exultation.”

[9:1]  ²³ tn Heb “you have committed adultery”; NRSV “you have played the whore.”

[9:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you love the wages of the prostitute” (NIV similar); NAB “loving a harlot’s hire.”

[1:20]  ²⁵ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:27]  ²⁷ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:28]  ²⁸ tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ²⁹ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ³⁰ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ³¹ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.

[1:2]  ³² tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³³ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³⁵ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:16]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:17]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[2:14]  ³⁸ sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.

[2:14]  ³⁹ tn That is, a cause for sinning. An alternate translation is “who instructed Balak to cause the people of Israel to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols…”

[2:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “sons,” but the expression υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ (Juioi Israhl) is an idiom for the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (see L&N 11.58).

[2:14]  ⁴¹ tn Due to the actual events in the OT (Num 22-24; 31:16), πορνεῦσαι (porneusai) is taken to mean “sexual immorality.” BDAG 854 s.v. πορνεύω 1 states, “engage in illicit sex, to fornicate, to whore…W. φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα ‘eat meat offered to idols’ Rv 2:14, 20.”