Luke 10:19

10:19 Look, I have given you authority to tread ¹  on snakes and scorpions ²  and on the full force of the enemy, ³  and nothing will ⁴  hurt you.

Ezekiel 2:6

2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ⁵  and thorns ⁶  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ⁷  for they are a rebellious house!

Revelation 9:10

9:10 They have ⁸  tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability ⁹  to injure people for five months is in their tails.

¹ tn Or perhaps, “trample on” (which emphasizes the impact of the feet on the snakes). See L&N 15.226.

² sn Snakes and scorpions are examples of the hostility in the creation that is defeated by Jesus. The use of battle imagery shows who the kingdom fights against. See Acts 28:3-6.

³ tn Or “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and [authority] over the full force of the enemy.” The second prepositional phrase can be taken either as modifying the infinitive πατεῖν (patein, “to tread”) or the noun ἐξουσίαν (exousian, “power”). The former is to be preferred and has been represented in the translation.

⁴ tn This is an emphatic double negative in the Greek text.

⁵ tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

⁶ tn The Hebrew term is found elsewhere in the OT only in Ezek 28:24.

⁷ tn Heb “of their faces.”

⁸ tn In the Greek text there is a shift to the present tense here; the previous verbs translated “had” are imperfects.

⁹ tn See BDAG 352 s.v. ἐξουσία 2, “potential or resource to command, control, or govern, capability, might, power.”