Deuteronomy 29:24-27

29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ¹  all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ²  29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ³  written in this scroll.

Numbers 14:42

14:42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be ⁴  defeated before your enemies.

Jude 1:13

1:13 wild sea waves, ⁵  spewing out the foam of ⁶  their shame; ⁷  wayward stars ⁸  for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness ⁹  have been reserved.

Isaiah 63:17

63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray ¹⁰  from your ways, ¹¹ 

and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? ¹² 

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your inheritance!

¹ tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

² tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

³ tn Heb “the entire curse.”

⁴ tn This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”

⁵ tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”

⁶ tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”

⁷ tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.

⁸ sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.

⁹ tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.

¹⁰ tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.

¹¹ tn This probably refers to God’s commands.

¹² tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).