1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! 1
You will be shocked and amazed! 2
For I will do something in your lifetime 3
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 4
13:41 ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! 7
For I am doing a work in your days,
a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’” 8
1 tn Or “look among the nations and observe.” The imperatival forms in v. 5 are plural, indicating that the Lord’s message is for the whole nation, not just the prophet.
2 tn The Hebrew text combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of the verb תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). A literal translation might read, “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sounds draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572-73 §34.4c.
3 tc Heb “for a work working in your days.” Following the LXX reading, some supply a first person singular pronoun with the participle פֹּעֵל (po’el). Ellipsis of a first singular pronoun before participles is relatively rare (see GKC 360 §116.s); perhaps an original אֲנֹכִי (’anoki; or אֲנִי, ’aniy) followed the initial כִּי (ki) and was omitted by homoioteleuton.
4 tn Heb “you will not believe when it is told.” In this context the force of כִּי (ki) may be “when,” “if,” or “even though.”
5 sn The speech closes with a warning, “Watch out,” that also stresses culpability.
6 tn Or “in.”
7 tn Or “and die!”
8 sn A quotation from Hab 1:5. The irony in the phrase even if someone tells you, of course, is that Paul has now told them. So the call in the warning is to believe or else face the peril of being scoffers whom God will judge. The parallel from Habakkuk is that the nation failed to see how Babylon’s rising to power meant perilous judgment for Israel.
9 tn Or “namely, that is.”
10 tn Or “mystery.”
11 tn Or “as I wrote above briefly.”
12 tn Grk “which, when reading.”
13 tn Grk “you are able to.”
14 tn Or “mystery.”
15 tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.
16 tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).
17 tn Grk “other.”
18 tn Or “in.”
19 sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.
20 tn Grk “and fellow members.”
21 tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”
22 tn Grk “according to.”
23 sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.
24 sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.
25 sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).
26 tn There is a possible causative nuance in the Greek verb, but this is difficult to convey in the translation.
27 tn Grk “what is the plan of the divine secret.” Earlier the author had used οἰκονομία (oikonomia; here “plan”) to refer to his own “stewardship” (v. 2). But now he is speaking about the content of this secret, not his own activity in relation to it.
28 tn Or “for eternity,” or perhaps “from the Aeons.” Cf. 2:2, 7.
29 tn Or “by God.” It is possible that ἐν (en) plus the dative here indicates agency, that is, that God has performed the action of hiding the secret. However, this usage of the preposition ἐν is quite rare in the NT, and even though here it does follow a perfect passive verb as in the Classical idiom, it is more likely that a different nuance is intended.