83:3 They carefully plot 1 against your people,
and make plans to harm 2 the ones you cherish. 3
83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! 4
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
19:21 There are many plans 5 in a person’s mind, 6
but it 7 is the counsel 8 of the Lord which will stand.
10:7 But he does not agree with this,
his mind does not reason this way, 9
for his goal is to destroy,
and to eliminate many nations. 10
Now on that day a great 20 persecution began 21 against the church in Jerusalem, 22 and all 23 except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions 24 of Judea and Samaria.
1 tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”
2 tn Heb “and consult together against.”
3 tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”
4 tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”
5 sn The plans (from the Hebrew verb חָשַׁב [khashav], “to think; to reckon; to devise”) in the human heart are many. But only those which God approves will succeed.
6 tn Heb “in the heart of a man” (cf. NAB, NIV). Here “heart” is used for the seat of thoughts, plans, and reasoning, so the translation uses “mind.” In contemporary English “heart” is more often associated with the seat of emotion than with the seat of planning and reasoning.
7 tn Heb “but the counsel of the
8 tn The antithetical parallelism pairs “counsel” with “plans.” “Counsel of the
9 tn Heb “but he, not so does he intend, and his heart, not so does it think.”
10 tn Heb “for to destroy [is] in his heart, and to cut off nations, not a few.”
11 tn Or “Supper.” To avoid possible confusion because of different regional English usage regarding the distinction between “dinner” and “supper” as an evening meal, the translation simply refers to “the evening meal.”
12 sn At this point the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus. C. K. Barrett (St. John, 365) thought this was a reference to the idea entering the devil’s own heart, but this does not seem likely. It is more probable that Judas’ heart is meant, since the use of the Greek article (rather than a possessive pronoun) is a typical idiom when a part of one’s own body is indicated. Judas’ name is withheld until the end of the sentence for dramatic effect (emphasis). This action must be read in light of 13:27, and appears to refer to a preliminary idea or plan.
13 tn Or “that he should hand over.”
14 tn Grk “betray him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).
16 tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.
17 tn Or “and implore the Lord.”
18 tn Grk “that if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in contemporary English and has thus been converted to an active construction in the translation.
19 tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).
20 tn Or “severe.”
21 tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”
22 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
23 sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.
24 tn Or “countryside.”
25 tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).