52:31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth 1 day of the twelfth month, 2 Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned 3 King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 52:32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than 4 the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 52:33 Jehoiachin 5 took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 52:34 He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.
8:7 Even the stork knows
when it is time to move on. 7
The turtledove, swallow, and crane 8
recognize 9 the normal times for their migration.
But my people pay no attention
to 10 what I, the Lord, require of them. 11
8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!
We have the law of the Lord”?
The truth is, 12 those who teach it 13 have used their writings
to make it say what it does not really mean. 14
8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.
They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. 15
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what wisdom do they really have?
22:29 When people are brought low 16 and you say
‘Lift them up!’ 17
then he will save the downcast; 18
1 sn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:28 has “twenty-seventh.”
2 sn The twenty-fifth day would be March 20, 561
3 tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”
4 tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of
5 tn The subject is unstated in the Hebrew text, but Jehoiachin is clearly the subject of the following verb.
6 tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the
7 tn Heb “its appointed time.” The translation is contextually motivated to avoid lack of clarity.
8 tn There is debate in the commentaries and lexicons about the identification of some of these birds, particularly regarding the identification of the “swallow” which is more likely the “swift” and the “crane” which some identify with the “thrush.” For a discussion see the Bible encyclopedias and the UBS handbook Fauna and Flora of the Bible. The identity of the individual birds makes little difference to the point being made and “swallow” is more easily identifiable to the average reader than the “swift.”
9 tn Heb “keep.” Ironically birds, which do not think, obey the laws of nature, but Israel does not obey the laws of God.
10 tn Heb “do not know.” But here as elsewhere the word “know” is more than an intellectual matter. It is intended here to summarize both “know” and “follow” (Heb “observe”) in the preceding lines.
11 tn Heb “the ordinance/requirement of the
12 tn Heb “Surely, behold!”
13 tn Heb “the scribes.”
14 tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.
15 tn Heb “be trapped.” However, the word “trapped” generally carries with it the connotation of divine judgment. See BDB 540 s.v. לָכַד Niph.2, and compare usage in Jer 6:11 for support. The verbs in the first two lines are again the form of the Hebrew verb that emphasizes that the action is as good as done (Hebrew prophetic perfects).
16 tn There is no expressed subject here, and so the verb is taken as a passive voice again.
17 tn The word גֵּוָה (gevah) means “loftiness; pride.” Here it simply says “up,” or “pride.” The rest is paraphrased. Of the many suggestions, the following provide a sampling: “It is because of pride” (ESV), “he abases pride” (H. H. Rowley); “[he abases] the lofty and the proud” (Beer); “[he abases] the word of pride” [Duhm]; “[he abases] the haughtiness of pride” [Fohrer and others]; “[he abases] the one who speaks proudly” [Weiser]; “[he abases] the one who boasts in pride” [Kissane]; and “God [abases] pride” [Budde, Gray].
18 tn Or “humble”; Heb “the lowly of eyes.”
19 tn BDAG 516 s.v. κατάγω states, “Hence the pass., in act. sense, of ships and seafarers put in εἴς τι at a harbor…εἰς Σιδῶνα Ac 27:3.”
20 sn Sidon is another seaport 75 mi (120 km) north of Caesarea.
21 tn BDAG 1056 s.v. φιλανθρώπως states, “benevolently, kindly φιλανθρώπως χρῆσθαί (τινι) treat someone in kindly fashion…Ac 27:3.”
22 tn Grk “to go to his friends to be cared for.” The scene is an indication of Christian hospitality.
23 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
24 tn Or “wanting to rescue Paul.”
25 tn BDAG 347 s.v. I. ἔξειμι has “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν get to land Ac 27:43.”
26 tn Or “they also honored us greatly”; Grk “they also honored us with many honors” (an idiom).
27 tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.” In this case the simpler English “sail” is more appropriate. The English participle “preparing” has also been supplied, since the provisioning of the ship would take place some time before the actual departure.
28 tn BDAG 384 s.v. ἐπιτίθημι 1.b has “give τινί τι someth. to someone…ἀναγομένοις τὰ πρὸς τὰς χρείας when we sailed they gave us what we needed Ac 28:10.”
29 sn They gave us all the supplies we needed. What they had lost in the storm and shipwreck was now replaced. Luke describes these pagans very positively.
30 tc Some important
31 sn A quotation from Ps 118:6.