Proverbs 17:16

17:16 Of what ¹  use is money in the hand of a fool, ² 

since he has no intention ³  of acquiring wisdom? ⁴ 

John 3:19-20

3:19 Now this is the basis for judging: ⁵  that the light has come into the world and people ⁶  loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 3:20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

Romans 1:28

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ⁷  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ⁸ 

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ⁹  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Romans 2:10-12

2:10 but ¹⁰  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹¹  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

¹ tn Heb “why this?” The term זֶּה (zeh) is an enclitic use of the demonstrative pronoun for emphasis: “why ever” would this happen?

² sn The sense seems to be “What good is money” since what the fool needs cannot be bought? The verse is a rhetorical question stating that money would be wasted on a fool.

³ tn Heb “there is no heart”; NASB “he has no (+ common TEV) sense”; NLT “has no heart for wisdom.”

⁴ sn W. McKane envisions a situation where the fool comes to a sage with a fee in hand, supposing that he can acquire a career as a sage, and this gives rise to the biting comment here: Why does the fool have money in his hands? To buy wisdom when he has no brains? (Proverbs [OTL], 505).

⁵ tn Or “this is the reason for God judging,” or “this is how judgment works.”

⁶ tn Grk “and men,” but in a generic sense, referring to people of both genders (as “everyone” in v. 20 makes clear).

⁷ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

⁸ tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

⁹ tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

¹⁰ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

¹¹ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.