Joshua 22:22

22:22 “El, God, the Lord! ¹  El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth! ²  Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord, ³  don’t spare us ⁴  today!

Psalms 1:6

1:6 Certainly ⁵  the Lord guards the way of the godly, ⁶ 

but the way of the wicked ends in destruction. ⁷ 

Psalms 139:23

139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! ⁸ 

Test me, and know my concerns! ⁹ 

Matthew 7:23

7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ¹⁰ 

Matthew 7:2

7:2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. ¹¹ 

Matthew 2:19

The Return to Nazareth

2:19 After Herod ¹²  had died, an ¹³  angel of the Lord ¹⁴  appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

¹ sn Israel’s God is here identified with three names: (1) אֵל (’el), “El” (or “God”); (2) אֱלֹהִים (’elohim), “Elohim” (or “God”), and (3) יְהוָה (yÿhvah), “Yahweh” (or “the Lord”). The name אֵל (’el, “El”) is often compounded with titles, for example, El Elyon, “God Most High.”

² tn Heb “he knows.”

³ tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.”

⁴ tn Heb “do not save us.” The verb form is singular, being addressed to either collective Israel or the Lord himself. The LXX translates in the third person.

⁵ tn The translation understands כי as asseverative. Another option is to translate “for,” understanding v. 6 as a theological explanation for vv. 3-5, which contrasts the respective destinies of the godly and the wicked.

⁶ tn Heb “the Lord knows the way of the righteous.” To “know a way” means, in its most basic sense, “to recognize/acknowledge a pathway, route, or prescribed way of life” (see Josh 3:4; Job 21:14; Ps 67:2; Isa 42:16; Jer 5:4-5). Here it could refer to the Lord recognizing the behavior of the godly and, by metonymy, rewarding their godliness with security and prosperity (resulting in the translation, “the Lord rewards the behavior of the godly”). The present translation takes the verb in the sense of “mark out” (cf. Job 23:10), which metonymically could mean “watch over, protect, guard.” In this case the “way of the godly” is not their behavior, but their course of life or destiny; a translation reflecting this would be “the Lord protects the lives of the godly” or “the Lord watches over the destiny of the godly” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The Hebrew active participle יוֹדֵעַ (yodea’, “knows”) has here a characteristic durative force.

⁷ tn Heb “but the way of the wicked perishes.” The “way of the wicked” may refer to their course of life (Ps 146:9; Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1) or their sinful behavior (Prov 12:26; 15:9). The Hebrew imperfect verbal form probably describes here what typically happens, though one could take the form as indicating what will happen (“will perish”).

⁸ tn Heb “and know my heart.”

⁹ tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sar’apay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.

¹⁰ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

¹¹ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”

¹² sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. When Herod the Great died in 4 b.c., his kingdom was divided up among his three sons: Archelaus, who ruled over Judea (where Bethlehem was located, v. 22); Philip, who became tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis (cf. Luke 3:1); and Antipas, who became tetrarch of Galilee.

¹³ tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

¹⁴ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.