Genesis 18:14

18:14 Is anything impossible ¹  for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” ² 

Psalms 78:41

78:41 They again challenged God, ³ 

and offended ⁴  the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ 

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ⁶ 

Is my hand too weak ⁷  to deliver ⁸  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁹  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 59:1

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak ¹¹  to deliver you;

his ear is not too deaf to hear you. ¹² 

Micah 2:7

2:7 Does the family ¹³  of Jacob say, ¹⁴ 

‘The Lord’s patience ¹⁵  can’t be exhausted –

he would never do such things’? ¹⁶ 

To be sure, my commands bring a reward

for those who obey them, ¹⁷ 

Matthew 19:26

19:26 Jesus ¹⁸  looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, ¹⁹  but for God all things are possible.”

Luke 1:37

1:37 For nothing ²⁰  will be impossible with God.”

¹ tn The Hebrew verb פָּלָא (pala’) means “to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, to be surpassing, to be amazing.”

² sn Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the Lord fixed an exact date for the birth of the child, the promise became rather overwhelming to Abraham and Sarah. But then this was the Lord of creation, the one they had come to trust. The point of these narratives is that the creation of Abraham’s offspring, which eventually became Israel, is no less a miraculous work of creation than the creation of the world itself.

³ tn Heb “and they returned and tested God.” The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate that an earlier action was repeated.

⁴ tn Or “wounded, hurt.” The verb occurs only here in the OT.

⁵ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

⁶ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

⁷ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

⁸ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

⁹ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

¹¹ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

¹² tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”

¹³ tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’

¹⁴ tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).

¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the Lord, but here it seems to have an abstract sense, “patience.” See BDB 925 s.v. 3.d.

¹⁶ tn Heb “Has the patience of the Lord run short? Or are these his deeds?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “No, of course not.” The people contest the prophet’s claims that the Lord’s judgment is falling on the nation.

¹⁷ tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The Lord begins his response to the claim of the house of Jacob that they are immune to judgment (see v. 7a). He points out that the godly are indeed rewarded, but then he goes on to show that those in the house of Jacob are not godly and can expect divine judgment, not blessing (vv. 8-11). Some emend “my words” to “his words.” In this case, v. 7b is a continuation of the immediately preceding quotation. The people, thinking they are godly, confidently ask, “Do not his [God’s] words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?”

¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁹ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποις (anqrwpois) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NASB 1995 update, “people”). Because of the contrast here between mere mortals and God (“impossible for men, but for God all things are possible”) the phrase “mere humans” has been used in the translation. There may also be a slight wordplay with “the Son of Man” in v. 28.

²⁰ tn In Greek, the phrase πᾶν ῥῆμα (pan rJhma, “nothing”) has an emphatic position, giving it emphasis as the lesson in the entire discussion. The remark is a call for faith.