1 Samuel 14:45

14:45 But the army said to Saul, “Should Jonathan, who won this great victory in Israel, die? May it never be! As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of his head will fall to the ground! For it is with the help of God that he has acted today.” So the army rescued Jonathan from death. ¹ 

Genesis 44:7

44:7 They answered him, “Why does my lord say such things? ²  Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ³ 

Joshua 22:29

22:29 Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord by turning back today from following after the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace ⁴  aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!” ⁵ 

Joshua 24:16

24:16 The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can ⁶  worship ⁷  other gods!

Luke 20:16

20:16 He will come and destroy ⁸  those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” ⁹  When the people ¹⁰  heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” ¹¹ 

¹ tn Heb “and he did not die.”

² tn Heb “Why does my lord speak according to these words?”

³ tn Heb “according to this thing.”

⁴ tn Or “peace offerings.”

⁵ sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.

⁶ tn Heb “to.”

⁷ tn Or “can serve.”

⁸ sn The statement that the owner will come and destroy those tenants is a promise of judgment; see Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44.

⁹ sn The warning that the owner would give the vineyard to others suggests that the care of the promise and the nation’s hope would be passed to others. This eventually looks to Gentile inclusion; see Eph 2:11-22.

¹⁰ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people addressed in v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ sn May this never happen! Jesus’ audience got the point and did not want to consider a story where the nation would suffer judgment.