49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you 4 what will happen to you in the future. 5
2:2 In the future 6
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure 7
as the most important of mountains,
and will be the most prominent of hills. 8
All the nations will stream to it,
48:47 Yet in days to come
I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.” 9
says the Lord. 10
The judgment against Moab ends here.
49:39 “Yet in days to come
I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.” 11
says the Lord. 12
4:1 In the future 18 the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; 19
it will be more prominent than other hills. 20
People will stream to it.
4:1 In the future 21 the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; 22
it will be more prominent than other hills. 23
People will stream to it.
4:1 In the future 24 the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; 25
it will be more prominent than other hills. 26
People will stream to it.
4:2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple 27 of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his commands 28
and we can live by his laws.” 29
For Zion will be the source of instruction;
the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. 30
3:3 You 31 devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot 32 –
like meat in a kettle.
3:1 I said,
“Listen, you leaders 33 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 34 of Israel!
You ought to know what is just, 35
2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, 36
those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. 37
As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, 38
because they have the power to do so.
1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions 39 foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 40
1 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people in that future time) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Grk “in accord with.”
3 tn Grk “having an itching in regard to hearing,” “having itching ears.”
4 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
5 tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.
6 tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.
7 tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).
8 tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.
9 tn See 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.
10 tn Heb “Oracle of the
11 tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.
12 tn Heb “Oracle of the
13 tn Heb “come up.”
14 tn Or “reveal my holiness.”
15 tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”
16 tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”
17 tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”
18 tn Heb “at the end of days.”
19 tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”
20 tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”
21 tn Heb “at the end of days.”
22 tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”
23 tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”
24 tn Heb “at the end of days.”
25 tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”
26 tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”
27 tn Heb “house.”
28 tn Heb “ways.”
29 tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”
30 tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the
31 tn Heb “who.”
32 tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).
33 tn Heb “heads.”
34 tn Heb “house.”
35 tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”
36 tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.
37 tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”
38 tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”
39 tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.
40 sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.