Numbers 11:23

11:23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? ¹  Now you will see whether my word to you will come true ²  or not!”

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ³ 

Is my hand too weak ⁴  to deliver ⁵  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁶  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ⁷ 

Isaiah 59:1-2

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak ⁸  to deliver you;

his ear is not too deaf to hear you. ⁹ 

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. ¹⁰ 

Zechariah 4:6

4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ ¹¹  says the Lord who rules over all.”

Zechariah 4:2

4:2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, ¹²  “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top and seven lamps, with fourteen pipes going to the lamps.

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ¹³  in the saints’ ¹⁴  inheritance in the light.

¹ sn This anthropomorphic expression concerns the power of God. The “hand of the Lord” is idiomatic for his power, what he is able to do. The question is rhetorical; it is affirming that his hand is not shortened, i.e., that his power is not limited. Moses should have known this, and so this is a rebuke for him at this point. God had provided the manna, among all the other powerful acts they had witnessed. Meat would be no problem. But the lack of faith by the people was infectious.

² tn Or “will happen” (TEV); KJV “shall come to pass unto thee.”

³ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

⁴ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

⁵ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

⁶ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

⁷ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

⁸ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁹ tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”

¹¹ sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).

¹² tc The present translation (along with most other English versions) follows the reading of the Qere and many ancient versions, “I said,” as opposed to the MT Kethib “he said.”

¹³ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

¹⁴ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”