Numbers 15:39

15:39 You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow ¹  after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. ² 

Jude 1:6

1:6 You also know that ³  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ⁴  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ⁵  in eternal chains ⁶  in utter ⁷  darkness, locked up ⁸  for the judgment of the great Day.

Jude 1:25

1:25 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.

Proverbs 21:2

21:2 All of a person’s ways seem right in his own opinion, ⁹ 

but the Lord evaluates ¹⁰  the motives. ¹¹ 

Amos 5:25

5:25 You did not bring me ¹²  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ¹³  of Israel.

Acts 7:42

7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ¹⁴  to worship the host ¹⁵  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ¹⁶  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ¹⁷  house of Israel?

¹ tn Heb “seek out, look into.”

² tn This last clause is a relative clause explaining the influence of the human heart and physical sight. It literally says, “which you go whoring after them.” The verb for “whoring” may be interpreted to mean “act unfaithfully.” So, the idea is these influences lead to unfaithful activity: “after which you act unfaithfully.”

³ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁴ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

⁵ sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

⁶ sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

⁷ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

⁸ tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

⁹ tn Heb “in his own eyes.” The term “eyes” is a metonymy for estimation, opinion, evaluation.

¹⁰ tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “examines”; NCV, TEV “judges.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the hearts.” The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) is used as a metonymy of association for thoughts and motives (BDB 660-61 s.v. 6-7). Even though people think they know themselves, the Lord evaluates motives as well (e.g., Prov 16:2).

¹² tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.

¹³ tn Heb “house.”

¹⁴ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

¹⁵ tn Or “stars.”

¹⁶ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

¹⁷ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”