18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 3 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, 4 ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ 5 – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my 6 name and the prediction 7 is not fulfilled, 8 then I have 9 not spoken it; 10 the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”
44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants 15
and brings to pass the announcements 16 of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, 17 ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’
1 tn Heb “if like the death of every man they die.”
2 tn The noun is פְּקֻדָּה (pÿquddah, “appointment, visitation”). The expression refers to a natural death, parallel to the first expression.
3 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “in your heart.”
5 tn Heb “know the word which the Lord has not spoken.” The issue here is not understanding the meaning of the message, but distinguishing a genuine prophetic word from a false one.
6 tn Heb “the
7 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
8 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
9 tn Heb “the
10 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”
11 tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).
12 tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”
13 tn Heb “multiplied you.”
14 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
15 tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.
16 tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.
17 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
18 tn The word “invariably” is not in the text but is implicit in the context and in the tense of the Hebrew verb. It is supplied in the translation for clarity and to help bring out the contrast in the next verse.
19 tc Many Hebrew
20 tn The verbs in this verse are to be interpreted as iterative imperfects in past time rather than as futures because of the explicit contrast that is drawn in the two verses by the emphatic syntactical construction of the two verses. Both verses begin with a casus pendens construction to throw the two verses into contrast: Heb “The prophets who were before me and you from ancient times, they prophesied…The prophet who prophesied peace, when the word of that prophet came true, that prophet was known that the
21 tn Or “unscrupulousness.”
22 sn “You who…paths of the Lord?” This rebuke is like ones from the OT prophets: Jer 5:27; Gen 32:11; Prov 10:7; Hos 14:9. Five separate remarks indicate the magician’s failings. The closing rhetorical question of v. 10 (“will you not stop…?”) shows how opposed he is to the way of God.
23 tn Grk “And now.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
24 tn Grk “upon,” but in a negative sense.
25 sn The term translated mistiness here appears in the writings of the physician Galen as a medical technical description of a person who is blind. The picture of judgment to darkness is symbolic as well. Whatever power Elymas had, it represented darkness. Magic will again be an issue in Acts 19:18-19. This judgment is like that of Ananias and his wife in Acts 5:1-11.
26 tn Grk “fell on.”
27 tn The noun χειραγωγός (ceiragwgo") is plural, so “people” is used rather than singular “someone.”