Proverbs 26:7

26:7 Like legs that hang limp ¹  from the lame,

so ²  is a proverb ³  in the mouth of fools.

Isaiah 1:11-15

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ⁴ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ⁵  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ⁶ 

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ⁷ 

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ⁸  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ⁹ 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ¹⁰ 

1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;

they are a burden

that I am tired of carrying.

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ¹¹ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ¹² 

Isaiah 48:1-2

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ¹³ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ¹⁴ 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ¹⁵  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ¹⁶ 

48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; ¹⁷ 

they trust in ¹⁸  the God of Israel,

whose name is the Lord who commands armies.

Isaiah 58:1-7

The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion

58:1 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet!

Yell as loud as a trumpet!

Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ¹⁹ 

confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ²⁰ 

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ²¹ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

58:3 They lament, ²²  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ²³ 

you oppress your workers. ²⁴ 

58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by ²⁵  arguments, brawls,

and fistfights. ²⁶ 

Do not fast as you do today,

trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ²⁷ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ²⁸ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ²⁹  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ³⁰ 

I want you ³¹  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ³² 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

58:7 I want you ³³  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ³⁴ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ³⁵ 

Jeremiah 7:4-7

7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ³⁶  “We are safe! ³⁷  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ³⁸  7:5 You must change ³⁹  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ⁴⁰  7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ⁴¹  Stop killing innocent people ⁴²  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ⁴³  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ⁴⁴  7:7 If you stop doing these things, ⁴⁵  I will allow you to continue to live in this land ⁴⁶  which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. ⁴⁷ 

Matthew 7:3-5

7:3 Why ⁴⁸  do you see the speck ⁴⁹  in your brother’s eye, but fail to see ⁵⁰  the beam of wood ⁵¹  in your own? 7:4 Or how can you say ⁵²  to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:22-23

7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ⁵³  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ⁵⁴ 

John 4:24

4:24 God is spirit, ⁵⁵  and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Acts 19:13-16

19:13 But some itinerant ⁵⁶  Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name ⁵⁷  of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by ⁵⁸  evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn ⁵⁹  you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 19:14 (Now seven sons of a man named ⁶⁰  Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.) ⁶¹  19:15 But the evil spirit replied to them, ⁶²  “I know about Jesus ⁶³  and I am acquainted with ⁶⁴  Paul, but who are you?” ⁶⁵  19:16 Then the man who was possessed by ⁶⁶  the evil spirit jumped on ⁶⁷  them and beat them all into submission. ⁶⁸  He prevailed ⁶⁹  against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.

Romans 2:17-24

The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law ⁷⁰  and boast of your relationship to God ⁷¹  2:18 and know his will ⁷²  and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, ⁷³  2:19 and if you are convinced ⁷⁴  that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth – 2:21 therefore ⁷⁵  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 2:22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor ⁷⁶  idols, do you rob temples? 2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 2:24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ⁷⁷ 

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ⁷⁸ Therefore ⁷⁹  you are without excuse, ⁸⁰  whoever you are, ⁸¹  when you judge someone else. ⁸²  For on whatever grounds ⁸³  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Colossians 1:27

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ⁸⁴  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁸⁵  brothers and sisters ⁸⁶  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁸⁷  from God our Father! ⁸⁸ 

Colossians 2:15

2:15 Disarming ⁸⁹  the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ⁹⁰ 

[26:7]  ¹ tn Heb “like the legs which hang down from the lame” (so NASB). The is דַּלְיוּ (dalyu), from דָּלַל (dalal, “to hang; to be low; to languish”) although the spelling of the form indicates it would be from דָּלָה (dalah, “to draw” [water]). The word indicates the uselessness of the legs – they are there but cannot be used. Luther gave the verse a fanciful but memorable rendering: “Like dancing to a cripple, so is a proverb in the mouth of the fool.”

[26:7]  ² tn The proverb does not begin with a כְּ (bet) preposition to indicate a simile; but the analogy within the verse makes it clear that the first line is the emblem. The conjunction vav then indicates the equation – “so.”

[26:7]  ³ sn As C. H. Toy puts it, the fool is a “proverb-monger” (Proverbs [ICC], 474); he handles an aphorism about as well as a lame man can walk. The fool does not understand, has not implemented, and cannot explain the proverb. It is useless to him even though he repeats it.

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  ⁵ tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ⁶ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ⁹ sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ¹² sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[48:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

[48:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

[48:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.

[48:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”

[58:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “declare to my people their rebellion.”

[58:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and to the house of Jacob their sin.” The verb “declare” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[58:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[58:3]  ²² tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ²³ tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[58:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”

[58:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”

[58:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[58:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ³¹ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ³² tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:7]  ³³ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[7:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”

[7:4]  ³⁷ tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).

[7:5]  ³⁹ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

[7:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

[7:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

[7:7]  ⁴⁵ tn The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5-6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5-6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.

[7:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”

[7:7]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”

[7:3]  ⁴⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[7:3]  ⁴⁹ sn The term translated speck refers to a small piece of wood, chaff, or straw; see L&N 3.66.

[7:3]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “do not notice.”

[7:3]  ⁵¹ sn The term beam of wood refers to a very big piece of wood, the main beam of a building, in contrast to the speck in the other’s eye (L&N 7.78).

[7:4]  ⁵² tn Grk “how will you say?”

[7:22]  ⁵³ tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

[4:24]  ⁵⁵ tn Here πνεῦμα (pneuma) is understood as a qualitative predicate nominative while the articular θεός (qeos) is the subject.

[19:13]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “some Jewish exorcists who traveled about.” The adjectival participle περιερχομένων (periercomenwn) has been translated as “itinerant.”

[19:13]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “to name the name.”

[19:13]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “who had.” Here ἔχω (ecw) is used of demon possession, a common usage according to BDAG 421 s.v. ἔχω 7.a.α.

[19:13]  ⁵⁹ sn The expression I sternly warn you means “I charge you as under oath.”

[19:14]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “a certain Sceva.”

[19:14]  ⁶¹ sn Within the sequence of the narrative, this amounts to a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:15]  ⁶² tn Grk “answered and said to them.” The expression, redundant in English, has been simplified to “replied.”

[19:15]  ⁶³ tn Grk “Jesus I know about.” Here ᾿Ιησοῦν (Ihsoun) is in emphatic position in Greek, but placing the object first is not normal in contemporary English style.

[19:15]  ⁶⁴ tn BDAG 380 s.v. ἐπίσταμαι 2 has “know, be acquainted with τινά…τὸν Παῦλον Ac 19:15.” Here the translation “be acquainted with” was used to differentiate from the previous phrase which has γινώσκω (ginwskw).

[19:15]  ⁶⁵ sn But who are you? This account shows how the power of Paul was so distinct that parallel claims to access that power were denied. In fact, such manipulation, by those who did not know Jesus, was judged (v. 16). The indirect way in which the exorcists made the appeal shows their distance from Jesus.

[19:16]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “in whom the evil spirit was.”

[19:16]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “the man in whom the evil spirit was, jumping on them.” The participle ἐφαλόμενος (efalomeno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. L&N 15.239 has “ἐφαλόμενος ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς ‘the man jumped on them’ Ac 19:16.”

[19:16]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “and beating them all into submission.” The participle κατακυριεύσας (katakurieusa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. According to W. Foerster, TDNT 3:1098, the word means “the exercise of dominion against someone, i.e., to one’s own advantage.” These exorcists were shown to be powerless in comparison to Jesus who was working through Paul.

[19:16]  ⁶⁹ tn BDAG 484 s.v. ἰσχύω 3 has “win out, prevail…κατά τινος over, against someone Ac 19:16.”

[2:17]  ⁷⁰ sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

[2:17]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.

[2:18]  ⁷² tn Grk “the will.”

[2:18]  ⁷³ tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”

[2:19]  ⁷⁴ tn This verb is parallel to the verbs in vv. 17-18a, so it shares the conditional meaning even though the word “if” is not repeated.

[2:21]  ⁷⁵ tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction).

[2:22]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “detest.”

[2:24]  ⁷⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.

[2:1]  ⁷⁸ sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ⁷⁹ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ⁸⁰ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ⁸² tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ⁸³ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[1:27]  ⁸⁴ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:2]  ⁸⁵ 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]  ⁸⁶ 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]  ⁸⁷ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁸⁸ 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.

[2:15]  ⁸⁹ tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.

[2:15]  ⁹⁰ tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tw staurw) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrhsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph – the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).