Jeremiah 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ¹ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ² 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ³  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ⁴  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

Mark 7:7-13

7:7 They worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’ ⁵ 

7:8 Having no regard ⁶  for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” ⁷  7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ⁸  your tradition. 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ⁹  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹⁰  7:11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ ¹¹  (that is, a gift for God), 7:12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. 7:13 Thus you nullify ¹²  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Romans 4:11-12

4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ¹³  so that he would become ¹⁴  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ¹⁵  that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised, ¹⁶  who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised. ¹⁷ 

Hebrews 11:1-2

People Commended for Their Faith

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 11:2 For by it the people of old ¹⁸  received God’s commendation. ¹⁹ 

Hebrews 11:39

11:39 And these all were commended ²⁰  for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. ²¹ 

¹ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

² tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

³ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

⁴ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

⁶ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

⁷ tc The majority of mss, mostly Byzantine ([A] ˹³ 33 Ï), have at the end of v. 8 material that seems to have come from v. 4 and v. 13: “the washing of pots and cups, and you do many other similar things.” A slight variation on the wording occurs at the very beginning of v. 8 in mostly Western witnesses (D Θ 0131^vid 28 565 it). Such floating texts are usually signs of scribal emendations. The fact that the earliest and most reliable mss, as well as other important witnesses (Ì⁴⁵ א B L W Δ 0274 ˹ 2427 co), lacked this material also strongly suggests that the longer reading is secondary.

⁸ tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

¹¹ sn Corban is a Hebrew loanword (transliterated in the Greek text and in most modern English translations) referring to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner (L&N 53.22). According to contemporary Jewish tradition the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 10).

¹² tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

¹³ tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.

¹⁵ tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”

¹⁸ tn Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4-6 shows this to be from God.

²⁰ sn The expression these all were commended forms an inclusio with Heb 11:2: The chapter begins and ends with references to commendation for faith.

²¹ tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.