32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. 3
I want to make people forget they ever existed.
3:8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a particular people 4 that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants 5 throughout all the provinces of your kingdom whose laws differ from those of all other peoples. Furthermore, they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them. 6
44:11 You handed us 7 over like sheep to be eaten;
you scattered us among the nations.
6:8 “‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands. 8
7:35 Then the Jewish leaders 9 said to one another, “Where is he 10 going to go that we cannot find him? 11 He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed 12 among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? 13
8:4 Now those who had been forced to scatter went around proclaiming the good news of the word.
1:1 From James, 18 a slave 19 of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. 20 Greetings!
1 tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).
2 tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”
3 tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).
4 tn Heb “one people.” Note the subtle absence at this point of a specific mention of the Jewish people by name.
5 tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “nations”
6 tn Heb “to cause them to rest”; NASB “to let them remain”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “to tolerate them.”
7 tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).
8 tn Heb “when you have fugitives from the sword among the nations, when you are scattered among the lands.”
9 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase is understood to refer to the Jewish authorities or leaders, since the Jewish leaders are mentioned in this context both before and after the present verse (7:32, 45).
10 tn Grk “this one.”
11 tn Grk “will not find him.”
12 sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.
13 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “is he?”).
14 tn See the note on the word “nation” in the previous verse.
15 sn The author in his comment expands the prophecy to include the Gentiles (not for the Jewish nation only), a confirmation that the Fourth Gospel was directed, at least partly, to a Gentile audience. There are echoes of Pauline concepts here (particularly Eph 2:11-22) in the stress on the unity of Jew and Gentile.
16 tn Grk “that he might gather together.”
17 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
18 tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
19 tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
20 tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.