Isaiah 41:4

41:4 Who acts and carries out decrees? ¹ 

Who ²  summons the successive generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,

and at the very end – I am the one. ³ 

Isaiah 43:13

43:13 From this day forward I am he;

no one can deliver from my power; ⁴ 

I will act, and who can prevent it?”

Isaiah 43:25

43:25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;

your sins I do not remember.

Psalms 92:14

92:14 They bear fruit even when they are old;

they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. ⁵ 

Psalms 102:26-27

102:26 They will perish,

but you will endure. ⁶ 

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ⁷ 

102:27 But you remain; ⁸ 

your years do not come to an end.

Malachi 2:16

2:16 “I hate divorce,” ⁹  says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” ¹⁰  says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

Malachi 3:6

Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness

3:6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, ¹¹  you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.

Romans 11:29

11:29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

Hebrews 1:12

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ¹²  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ¹³ 

Hebrews 13:8

13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!

James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ¹⁴  is from above, coming down ¹⁵  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “Who acts and accomplishes?”; NASB “Who has performed and accomplished it.”

² tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

³ tn Heb “I, the Lord, [am with] the first, and with the last ones I [am] he.”

⁴ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”

⁷ tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “stand.”

¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.

¹³ tn Heb “you [are] he,” or “you [are] the one.” The statement may echo the Lord’s affirmation “I am he” in Isa 41:4; 43:10, 13; 46:10; 48:12. In each of these passages the affirmation emphasizes the fact that the Lord transcends time limitations, the very point being made in Ps 102:27.

¹⁶ tc The verb שָׂנֵא (sane’) appears to be a third person form, “he hates,” which makes little sense in the context, unless one emends the following word to a third person verb as well. Then one might translate, “he [who] hates [his wife] [and] divorces her…is guilty of violence.” A similar translation is advocated by M. A. Shields, “Syncretism and Divorce in Malachi 2,10-16,” ZAW 111 (1999): 81-85. However, it is possible that the first person pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) has accidentally dropped from the text after כִּי (ki). If one restores the pronoun, the form שָׂנֵא can be taken as a participle and the text translated, “for I hate” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

¹⁷ tn Heb “him who covers his garment with violence” (similar ASV, NRSV). Here “garment” is a metaphor for appearance and “violence” a metonymy of effect for cause. God views divorce as an act of violence against the victim.

¹⁹ tn Heb “do not change.” This refers to God’s ongoing commitment to his covenant promises to Israel.

²² tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

²³ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.

²⁵ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

²⁶ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

²⁷ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).