Proverbs 18:10

18:10 The name of the Lord ¹  is like ²  a strong tower; ³ 

the righteous person runs ⁴  to it and is set safely on high. ⁵ 

Proverbs 22:3

22:3 A shrewd person ⁶  sees danger ⁷  and hides himself,

but the naive keep right on going ⁸  and suffer for it. ⁹ 

Exodus 9:20-21

9:20 Those ¹⁰  of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their ¹¹  servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those ¹²  who did not take ¹³  the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle ¹⁴  in the field.

Psalms 57:1-3

Psalm 57 ¹⁵ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ¹⁶  a prayer ¹⁷  of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. ¹⁸ 

57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter. ¹⁹ 

In the shadow of your wings ²⁰  I take shelter

until trouble passes.

57:2 I cry out for help to the sovereign God, ²¹ 

to the God who vindicates ²²  me.

57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me ²³ 

from my enemies who hurl insults! ²⁴  (Selah)

May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

Isaiah 26:20-21

26:20 Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!

Close your doors behind you!

Hide for a little while,

until his angry judgment is over! ²⁵ 

26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, ²⁶ 

to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.

The earth will display the blood shed on it;

it will no longer cover up its slain. ²⁷ 

Matthew 3:7

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ²⁸  and Sadducees ²⁹  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Hebrews 6:18

6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ³⁰  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

Hebrews 11:7

11:7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard ³¹  constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Hebrews 11:2

11:2 For by it the people of old ³²  received God’s commendation. ³³ 

Hebrews 3:7

Exposition of Psalm 95: Hearing God’s Word in Faith

3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ³⁴ 

“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ³⁵ 

Hebrews 3:10-14

3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering ³⁶  and they have not known my ways.’

3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ³⁷ 

3:12 See to it, ³⁸  brothers and sisters, ³⁹  that none of you has ⁴⁰  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ⁴¹  the living God. ⁴²  3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence ⁴³  firm until the end.

[18:10]  ¹ sn The “name of the Lord” is a metonymy of subject. The “name” here signifies not the personal name “Yahweh,” for that would be redundant in the expression “the name of Yahweh,” but the attributes of the Lord (cf. Exod 34:5-7) – here his power to protect.

[18:10]  ² tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:10]  ³ tn Heb “a tower of strength,” with “strength” regarded as attributive by most English versions. The metaphor “strong tower” indicates that God is a secure refuge. The figure is qualified in the second colon.

[18:10]  ⁴ sn The metaphor of “running” to the Lord refers to a whole-hearted and unwavering trust in God’s protection (e.g., Isa 40:31).

[18:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “is high” or “is inaccessible.” This military-type expression stresses the effect of the trust – security, being out of danger (see HALOT 1305 s.v. שׂגב). Other scriptures will supply the ways that God actually protects people who trust him.

[22:3]  ⁶ sn The contrast is between the “shrewd” (prudent) person and the “simpleton.” The shrewd person knows where the dangers and pitfalls are in life and so can avoid them; the naive person is unwary, untrained, and gullible, unable to survive the dangers of the world and blundering into them.

[22:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “evil,” a term that is broad enough to include (1) “sin” as well as (2) any form of “danger” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or “trouble” (TEV, CEV). The second option is more likely what is meant here: The naive simpleton does not see the danger to be avoided and so suffers for it.

[22:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “go on”; the word “right” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning: The naive person, oblivious to impending danger, meets it head on (cf. TEV “will walk right into it”).

[22:3]  ⁹ tn The verb עָנַשׁ (’anash) means “to fine” specifically. In the Niphal stem it means “to be fined,” or more generally, “to be punished.” In this line the punishment is the consequence of blundering into trouble – they will pay for it.

[9:20]  ¹⁰ tn The text has “the one fearing.” The singular expression here and throughout vv. 20-21 refers to all who fit the description.

[9:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his” (singular).

[9:21]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text again has the singular.

[9:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “put to his heart.”

[9:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his servants and his cattle.”

[57:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.

[57:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.

[57:1]  ¹⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[57:1]  ¹⁸ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.

[57:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[57:1]  ²⁰ sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).

[57:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “to God Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[57:2]  ²² tn Or “avenges in favor of.”

[57:3]  ²³ tn Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. NRSV).

[57:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”

[26:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “until anger passes by.”

[26:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “out of his place” (so KJV, ASV).

[26:21]  ²⁷ sn This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at 24:5.

[3:7]  ²⁸ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[3:7]  ²⁹ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[6:18]  ³⁰ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.

[11:7]  ³¹ tn Cf. BDAG 407 s.v. εὐλαβέομαι 2, “out of reverent regard (for God’s command).”

[11:2]  ³² tn Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”

[11:2]  ³³ tn Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4-6 shows this to be from God.

[3:7]  ³⁴ sn The following quotation is from Ps 95:7b-11.

[3:7]  ³⁵ tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”

[3:10]  ³⁶ tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”

[3:11]  ³⁷ tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.

[3:12]  ³⁸ tn Or “take care.”

[3:12]  ³⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”

[3:12]  ⁴¹ tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”

[3:12]  ⁴² tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”

[3:14]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”