19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night 3 and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” 4 “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” 5
1 tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”
2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.
4 tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”
5 sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.
6 tn The Hebrew verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive (picking up the future sense from the participles) from קוּם (qum, “to rise up”). This may refer to the confirmation or fulfillment of an earlier promise, but it is more likely that it anticipates the unconditional promise made to humankind following the flood (see Gen 9:9, 11, 17).
7 tn The perfect verb form with vav (ו) consecutive is best understood as specific future, continuing God’s description of what will happen (see vv. 17-18a).
8 tn Heb “from all life, from all flesh, two from all you must bring.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse (note the conjunction with prepositional phrase, followed by two more prepositional phrases in apposition and then the imperfect verb form) signals a change in mood from announcement (vv. 17-18) to instruction.
9 tn The Piel infinitive construct לְהַחֲיוֹת (lÿhakhayot, here translated as “to keep them alive”) shows the purpose of bringing the animals into the ark – saving life. The Piel of this verb means here “to preserve alive.”
10 tn Heb “to keep alive.”
11 tn Heb “I will make you an object of terror to both you and your friends.”
12 tn Heb “And they will fall by the sword of their enemies and [with] your eyes seeing [it].”
13 tn Heb “Take them [the goods, etc.] as plunder and seize them.”
14 tn Heb “all who live in your house.” This included his family and his servants.
15 sn As a member of the priesthood and the protector of order in the temple, Pashhur was undoubtedly one of those who promulgated the deceptive belief that the
16 sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.
17 sn See the note on tetrarch in 3:1.
18 tc Several
19 tn Or “immoralities.”
20 tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
21 tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (peribleyameno") has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around… he said”).
22 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man with the withered hand) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
24 sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.
25 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Grk “moved back” (but here a fairly rapid movement is implied).
27 sn When Jesus said to those who came to arrest him “I am,” they retreated and fell to the ground. L. Morris says that “it is possible that those in front recoiled from Jesus’ unexpected advance, so that they bumped those behind them, causing them to stumble and fall” (John [NICNT], 743-44). Perhaps this is what in fact happened on the scene; but the theological significance given to this event by the author implies that more is involved. The reaction on the part of those who came to arrest Jesus comes in response to his affirmation that he is indeed the one they are seeking, Jesus the Nazarene. But Jesus makes this affirmation of his identity using a formula which the reader has encountered before in the Fourth Gospel, e.g., 8:24, 28, 58. Jesus has applied to himself the divine Name of Exod 3:14, “I AM.” Therefore this amounts to something of a theophany which causes even his enemies to recoil and prostrate themselves, so that Jesus has to ask a second time, “Who are you looking for?” This is a vivid reminder to the reader of the Gospel that even in this dark hour, Jesus holds ultimate power over his enemies and the powers of darkness, because he is the one who bears the divine Name.
28 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.
29 tn The double vocative suggests emotion.
30 sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.
31 tn On the debate over what the name “Elymas” means, see BDAG 320 s.v. ᾿Ελύμας. The magician’s behavior is more directly opposed to the faith than Simon Magus’ was.
32 sn A parenthetical note by the author.
33 sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.
34 sn A parenthetical note by the author.
35 sn This qualifying clause in the narrative indicates who represented God in the dispute.
36 tn Or “gazed intently.”
37 tn Or “unscrupulousness.”
38 sn “You who…paths of the Lord?” This rebuke is like ones from the OT prophets: Jer 5:27; Gen 32:11; Prov 10:7; Hos 14:9. Five separate remarks indicate the magician’s failings. The closing rhetorical question of v. 10 (“will you not stop…?”) shows how opposed he is to the way of God.
39 tn Grk “And now.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
40 tn Grk “upon,” but in a negative sense.
41 sn The term translated mistiness here appears in the writings of the physician Galen as a medical technical description of a person who is blind. The picture of judgment to darkness is symbolic as well. Whatever power Elymas had, it represented darkness. Magic will again be an issue in Acts 19:18-19. This judgment is like that of Ananias and his wife in Acts 5:1-11.
42 tn Grk “fell on.”
43 tn The noun χειραγωγός (ceiragwgo") is plural, so “people” is used rather than singular “someone.”
44 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
45 tn This is a collective singular in Greek.
46 tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”
47 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.