Numbers 23:19
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a human being, 1 that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? 2
Numbers 23:2
23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each
3 altar a bull and a ram.
Numbers 7:2
7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans,
4 made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising
5 the numbering.
Numbers 7:17-19
7:17 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.
7:18 On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering.
7:19 He offered for his offering one silver platter weighing 130 shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing 70, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering;
Jeremiah 44:28-29
44:28 Some who survive in battle will return to the land of Judah from the land of Egypt. But they will be very few indeed!
6 Then the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will know whose word proves true,
7 mine or theirs.’
44:29 Moreover the
Lord says,
8 ‘I will make something happen to prove that I will punish you in this place. I will do it so that you will know that my threats to bring disaster on you will prove true.
9
Ezekiel 12:25
12:25 For I, the
Lord, will speak. Whatever word I speak will be accomplished. It will not be delayed any longer. Indeed in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and accomplish it, declares the sovereign
Lord.’”
Ezekiel 24:14
24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment 10 is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! 11 I will judge you 12 according to your conduct 13 and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
Matthew 24:35
24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
14
1 tn Heb “son of man.”
2 tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.
3 tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.
4 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”
5 tn The form is the Qal active participle from the verb “to stand” (עָמַד, ’amad). The form describes these leaders as “the ones standing over [the ones numbered].” The expression, along with the clear indication of the first census in chapter 1, shows that this was a supervisory capacity.
6 tn Heb “The survivors of the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number [more literally, “men of number”; for the idiom see BDB 709 s.v. מִסְפָּר 1.a].” The term “survivors of the sword” may be intended to represent both those who survive death in war or death by starvation or disease, a synecdoche of species for all three genera.
7 tn Heb “will stand,” i.e., in the sense of being fulfilled, proving to be true, or succeeding (see BDB 878 s.v. קוּם 7.g).
8 tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”
9 tn Heb “This will be to you the sign, oracle of the Lord, that I will punish you in this place in order that you may know that my threats against you for evil/disaster/harm will certainly stand [see the translator’s note on the preceding verse for the meaning of this word here].” The word “sign” refers to an event that is a pre-omen or portent of something that will happen later (see BDB 16 s.v. אוֹת 2 and compare usage in 1 Sam 14:10; 2 Kgs 19:29). The best way to carry that idea across in this context seems to be “I will make something happen to prove [or portend].” Another possibility would be “I will give you a pre-omen that,” but many readers would probably not be familiar with “omen/pre-omen.” Again the sentence has been broken in two and restructured to better conform with English style.
10 tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”
12 tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”
13 tn Heb “ways.”
14 sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.