27:11 When its branches get brittle, 1 they break;
women come and use them for kindling. 2
For these people lack understanding, 3
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
24:19 Joshua warned 4 the people, “You will not keep worshiping 5 the Lord, for 6 he is a holy God. 7 He is a jealous God who will not forgive 8 your rebellion or your sins.
18:23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill me.
Do not pardon their crimes!
Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! 9
Let them be brought down in defeat before you!
Deal with them while you are still angry! 10
1 tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
2 tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.
3 tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”
4 tn Heb “said to.”
5 tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”
6 sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.
7 tn In the Hebrew text both the divine name (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) and the adjective (קְדֹשִׁים, qÿdoshim, “holy”) are plural. Normally the divine name, when referring to the one true God, takes singular modifiers, but this is a rare exception where the adjective agrees grammatically with the honorific plural noun. See GKC §124.i and IBHS 122.
8 tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”
9 sn Heb “Do not blot out their sins from before you.” For this anthropomorphic figure which looks at God’s actions as though connected with record books, i.e., a book of wrongdoings to be punished, and a book of life for those who are to live, see e.g., Exod 32:32, 33, Ps 51:1 (51:3 HT); 69:28 (69:29 HT).
10 tn Heb “in the time of your anger.”
11 sn Is guilty of an eternal sin. This passage has troubled many people, who have wondered whether or not they have committed this eternal sin. Three things must be kept in mind: (1) the nature of the sin is to ascribe what is the obvious work of the Holy Spirit (e.g., releasing people from Satan’s power) to Satan himself; (2) it is not simply a momentary doubt or sinful attitude, but is indeed a settled condition which opposes the Spirit’s work, as typified by the religious leaders who opposed Jesus; and (3) a person who is concerned about it has probably never committed this sin, for those who commit it here (i.e., the religious leaders) are not in the least concerned about Jesus’ warning. On this last point see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:645-46.