John 3:27

3:27 John replied, ¹  “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.

John 7:30

7:30 So then they tried to seize Jesus, ²  but no one laid a hand on him, because his time ³  had not yet come.

Genesis 45:7-8

45:7 God sent me ⁴  ahead of you to preserve you ⁵  on the earth and to save your lives ⁶  by a great deliverance. 45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser ⁷  to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:14-16

9:14 For this time I will send all my plagues ⁸  on your very self ⁹  and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 9:15 For by now I could have stretched out ¹⁰  my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed ¹¹  from the earth. 9:16 But ¹²  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ¹³  to show you ¹⁴  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ¹⁵  in all the earth.

Exodus 9:1

The Fifth Blow: Disease

9:1 ¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people that they may serve me!

Exodus 29:11

29:11 You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting

Psalms 39:9

39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth

because of what you have done. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 62:11

62:11 God has declared one principle;

two principles I have heard: ¹⁸ 

God is strong, ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 27:5-8

27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ²⁰  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ²¹  27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ²²  of my servant, ²³  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ²⁴  27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ²⁵  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ²⁶  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ²⁷  27:8 But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to ²⁸  him. I, the Lord, affirm that ²⁹  I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it ³⁰  with war, ³¹  starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it. ³² 

Lamentations 3:37

מ (Mem)

3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled ³³ 

unless the Lord ³⁴  decreed it?

Daniel 4:17

4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;

this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,

so that ³⁵  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ³⁶ 

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

Daniel 4:25

4:25 You will be driven ³⁷  from human society, ³⁸  and you will live ³⁹  with the wild animals. You will be fed ⁴⁰  grass like oxen, ⁴¹  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ⁴²  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

Daniel 4:32

4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ⁴³  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ⁴⁴ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ⁴⁵  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

Daniel 5:21

5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ⁴⁶  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ⁴⁷  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

Matthew 6:13

6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, ⁴⁸  but deliver us from the evil one. ⁴⁹ 

Luke 22:53

22:53 Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts, ⁵⁰  you did not arrest me. ⁵¹  But this is your hour, ⁵²  and that of the power ⁵³  of darkness!”

Acts 2:23

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ⁵⁴  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ⁵⁵ 

Acts 4:28

4:28 to do as much as your power ⁵⁶  and your plan ⁵⁷  had decided beforehand ⁵⁸  would happen.

Romans 11:36

11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.

Romans 13:1

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ⁵⁹  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ⁶⁰  is from above, coming down ⁶¹  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ⁶² 

[3:27]  ¹ tn Grk “answered and said.”

[7:30]  ² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:30]  ³ tn Grk “his hour.”

[45:7]  ⁴ sn God sent me. The repetition of this theme that God sent Joseph is reminiscent of commission narratives in which the leader could announce that God sent him (e.g., Exod 3:15).

[45:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “to make you a remnant.” The verb, followed here by the preposition לְ (lÿ), means “to make.”

[45:7]  ⁶ tn The infinitive gives a second purpose for God’s action.

[45:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.

[9:14]  ⁸ tn The expression “all my plagues” points to the rest of the plagues and anticipates the proper outcome. Another view is to take the expression to mean the full brunt of the attack on the Egyptian people.

[9:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “to your heart.” The expression is unusual, but it may be an allusion to the hard heartedness of Pharaoh – his stubbornness and blindness (B. Jacob, Exodus, 274).

[9:15]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the Qal perfect שָׁלַחְתִּי (shalakhti), but a past tense, or completed action translation does not fit the context at all. Gesenius lists this reference as an example of the use of the perfect to express actions and facts, whose accomplishment is to be represented not as actual but only as possible. He offers this for Exod 9:15: “I had almost put forth” (GKC 313 §106.p). Also possible is “I should have stretched out my hand.” Others read the potential nuance instead, and render it as “I could have…” as in the present translation.

[9:15]  ¹¹ tn The verb כָּחַד (kakhad) means “to hide, efface,” and in the Niphal it has the idea of “be effaced, ruined, destroyed.” Here it will carry the nuance of the result of the preceding verbs: “I could have stretched out my hand…and struck you…and (as a result) you would have been destroyed.”

[9:16]  ¹² tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ¹³ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ¹⁴ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[9:1]  ¹⁶ sn This plague demonstrates that Yahweh has power over the livestock of Egypt. He is able to strike the animals with disease and death, thus delivering a blow to the economic as well as the religious life of the land. By the former plagues many of the Egyptian religious ceremonies would have been interrupted and objects of veneration defiled or destroyed. Now some of the important deities will be attacked. In Goshen, where the cattle are merely cattle, no disease hits, but in the rest of Egypt it is a different matter. Osiris, the savior, cannot even save the brute in which his own soul is supposed to reside. Apis and Mnevis, the ram of Ammon, the sheep of Sais, and the goat of Mendes, perish together. Hence, Moses reminds Israel afterward, “On their gods also Yahweh executed judgments” (Num 33:4). When Jethro heard of all these events, he said, “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods” (Exod 18:11).

[39:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).

[62:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).

[62:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”

[27:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

[27:5]  ²¹ sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

[27:6]  ²² tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ²³ sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

[27:7]  ²⁵ sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)

[27:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[27:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[27:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “The nation and/or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, by sword, starvation, and disease I will punish [or more literally, “visit upon”] that nation, oracle of the Lord.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style and the figures interpreted for the sake of clarity. The particle אֵת, the sign of the accusative, before “which will not put…” is a little unusual here. For its use to introduce a new topic (here a second relative clause) see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α.

[27:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “with/by the sword.”

[27:8]  ³² tc The verb translated “destroy” (תָּמַם, tamam) is usually intransitive in the stem of the verb used here. It is found in a transitive sense elsewhere only in Ps 64:7. BDB 1070 s.v. תָּמַם 7 emends both texts. In this case they recommend תִּתִּי (titi): “until I give them into his hand.” That reading is suggested by the texts of the Syriac and Targumic translations (see BHS fn c). The Greek translation supports reading the verb “destroy” but treats it as though it were intransitive “until they are destroyed by his hand” (reading תֻּמָּם [tummam]). The MT here is accepted as the more difficult reading and support is seen in the transitive use of the verb in Ps 64:7.

[3:37]  ³³ tn Heb “Who is this, he spoke and it came to pass?” The general sense is to ask whose commands are fulfilled. The phrase “he spoke and it came to pass” is taken as an allusion to the creation account (see Gen 1:3).

[3:37]  ³⁴ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[4:17]  ³⁵ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

[4:17]  ³⁶ tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

[4:25]  ³⁷ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

[4:25]  ³⁸ tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ³⁹ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ⁴⁰ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

[4:25]  ⁴¹ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.

[4:25]  ⁴² tn Aram “until.”

[4:32]  ⁴³ tn Aram “until.”

[4:35]  ⁴⁴ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ⁴⁵ tn Aram “strikes against.”

[5:21]  ⁴⁶ tn Aram “heart.”

[5:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

[6:13]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “into a time of testing.”

[6:13]  ⁴⁹ tc Most mss (L W Θ 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 ˹ pc lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.

[22:53]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “in the temple.”

[22:53]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “lay hands on me.”

[22:53]  ⁵² tn Or “your time.”

[22:53]  ⁵³ tn Or “authority,” “domain.”

[2:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “you killed.”

[2:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.

[4:28]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

[13:1]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “by God.”

[1:17]  ⁶⁰ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ⁶¹ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ⁶² tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).