Isaiah 42:9

42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; ¹ 

now I announce new events.

Before they begin to occur,

I reveal them to you.” ² 

Numbers 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ³  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ⁴ 

Hebrews 6:14-18

6:14 saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.” ⁵  6:15 And so by persevering, Abraham ⁶  inherited the promise. 6:16 For people ⁷  swear by something greater than themselves, ⁸  and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. ⁹  6:17 In the same way ¹⁰  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ¹¹  and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ¹²  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

¹ tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”

² tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).

³ tn Heb “son of man.”

⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

⁵ tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.

⁶ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.

⁷ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”

⁸ tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.

⁹ tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “in which.”

¹¹ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

¹² tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.