24:17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! 1
24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit; 2
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens 3 are opened up 4
and the foundations of the earth shake.
5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, 5
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped 6 into a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
9:1 I saw the sovereign One 7 standing by the altar 8 and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, 9 so the thresholds shake!
Knock them down on the heads of all the people, 10
and I will kill the survivors 11 with the sword.
No one will be able to run away; 12
no one will be able to escape. 13
9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, 14
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from me 15 at the bottom of the sea,
from there 16 I would command the Sea Serpent 17 to bite them.
17:37 Then 21 the disciples 22 said 23 to him, “Where, 24 Lord?” He replied to them, “Where the dead body 25 is, there the vultures 26 will gather.” 27
1 tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.
2 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
3 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
4 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
5 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
6 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
7 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
8 sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.
9 tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.
10 tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”
11 tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.
12 tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”
13 tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”
14 tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”
15 tn Heb “from before my eyes.”
16 tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).
17 sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the
18 sn There is debate among commentators and scholars over the phrase one will be taken and the other left about whether one is taken for judgment or for salvation. If the imagery is patterned after the rescue of Noah from the flood and Lot from Sodom, as some suggest, the ones taken are the saved (as Noah and Lot were) andthose left behind are judged. The imagery, however, is not directly tied to theidentification of the two groups. Its primary purposein context is topicture the sudden, surprisingseparation of the righteous and the judged (i.e., condemned) at the return of the Son of Man.
19 tn Grk “at the same place.” According to L&N 46.16, this refers to a hand mill normally operated by two women.
20 tc Several
21 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
22 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the disciples, v. 22) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 tn Grk “answering, they said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.
24 sn The question “Where, Lord?” means, “Where will the judgment take place?”
25 tn Or “corpse.”
26 tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures, because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.
27 tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.
28 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
29 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
30 tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).
31 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
32 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
33 tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.
34 tc Most
35 tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).