Deuteronomy 22:21-22

22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing ¹  in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge ²  evil from among you.

22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with ³  a married woman ⁴  both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge ⁵  evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 22:24

22:24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated ⁶  his neighbor’s fiancée; ⁷  in this way you will purge ⁸  evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 13:5

13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, ⁹  he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 13:1

13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams ¹¹  should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, ¹² 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹³  brothers and sisters ¹⁴  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁵  from God our Father! ¹⁶ 

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁷ 

¹ tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

² tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.

³ tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.

⁴ tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”

⁵ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

⁶ tn Heb “humbled.”

⁷ tn Heb “wife.”

⁸ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

⁹ tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.

¹⁰ tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).

¹¹ tn Heb “or a dreamer of dreams” (so KJV, ASV, NASB). The difference between a prophet (נָבִיא, navi’) and one who foretells by dreams (חֹלֵם אוֹ, ’o kholem) was not so much one of office – for both received revelation by dreams (cf. Num 12:6) – as it was of function or emphasis. The prophet was more a proclaimer and interpreter of revelation whereas the one who foretold by dreams was a receiver of revelation. In later times the role of the one who foretold by dreams was abused and thus denigrated as compared to that of the prophet (cf. Jer 23:28).

¹² tn The expression אוֹת אוֹ מוֹפֵת (’ot ’o mofet) became a formulaic way of speaking of ways of authenticating prophetic messages or other works of God (cf. Deut 28:46; Isa 20:3). The NT equivalent is the Greek term σημεῖον (shmeion), a sign performed (used frequently in the Gospel of John, cf. 2:11, 18; 20:30-31). They could, however, be counterfeited or (as here) permitted to false prophets by the Lord as a means of testing his people.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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).

¹⁵ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).