12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad 1 and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.
55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle 2
and sinful people their plans. 3
They should return 4 to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, 5
and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 6
4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil 7
so that you may yet be delivered.
How long will you continue to harbor up
wicked schemes within you?
13:27 People of Jerusalem, 8 I have seen your adulterous worship,
your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. 9
I have seen your disgusting acts of worship 10
on the hills throughout the countryside.
You are doomed to destruction! 11
How long will you continue to be unclean?’”
1:1 From Paul, 21 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1 tn Grk “rotten.” The word σαπρός, modifying both “tree” and “fruit,” can also mean “diseased” (L&N 65.28).
2 tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.
3 tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.
4 tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”
5 tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.
6 sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.
7 tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”
8 tn Heb “Jerusalem.” This word has been pulled up from the end of the verse to help make the transition. The words “people of” have been supplied in the translation here to ease the difficulty mentioned earlier of sustaining the personification throughout.
9 tn Heb “[I have seen] your adulteries, your neighings, and your shameless prostitution.” The meanings of the metaphorical references have been incorporated in the translation for the sake of clarity for readers of all backgrounds.
10 tn Heb “your disgusting acts.” This word is almost always used of idolatry or of the idols themselves. See BDB 1055 s.v. שִׁקֻּוּץ and Deut 29:17 and Jer 4:1; 7:30.
11 tn Heb “Woe to you!”
12 sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.
13 tn Grk “the”; the Greek article has been translated here and in the following clause (“out of the evil”) as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
14 sn Mention of the heart shows that Jesus is not interested in what is done, but why. Motives are more important than actions for him.
15 tn The word “treasury” is not repeated in the Greek text at this point, but is implied.
16 sn What one utters from one’s mouth is especially singled out as the example of this principle. James seems to have known this teaching (Jas 1:26; 3:1-12).
17 tn Grk “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
18 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
19 tn Note that the verb is second person plural (with an understood plural pronominal subject in Greek). The charge is again indirectly made against Jesus by charging the disciples.
20 sn The alleged violation expressed by the phrase what is against the law is performing work on the Sabbath. That the disciples ate from such a field is no problem given Deut 23:25, but Sabbath activity is another matter in the leaders’ view (Exod 20:8-11 and Mishnah, m. Shabbat 7.2). The supposed violation involved reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food. This probably explains why the clause describing the disciples “rubbing” the heads of grain in their hands is mentioned last, in emphatic position. This was preparation of food.
21 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
22 tn Grk “in assurance of faith.”
23 sn The phrase our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; 9:9, 14; 10:2, 16).
24 tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).