Psalms 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ¹ 

he ²  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ³ 

Job 20:5

20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, ⁴ 

the joy of the godless ⁵  lasts but a moment. ⁶ 

Isaiah 30:13

30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.

You will be like a high wall

that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;

it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ⁷ 

Acts 2:23

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ⁸  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ⁹ 

Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ¹⁰  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Acts 5:3

5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled ¹¹  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of ¹²  the land?

Revelation 18:10

18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,

“Woe, woe, O great city,

Babylon the powerful city!

For in a single hour your doom ¹³  has come!”

¹ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

² tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

³ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

⁴ tn The expression in the text is “quite near.” This indicates that it is easily attained, and that its end is near.

⁵ tn For the discussion of חָנֵף (khanef, “godless”) see Job 8:13.

⁶ tn The phrase is “until a moment,” meaning it is short-lived. But see J. Barr, “Hebrew ’ad, especially at Job 1:18 and Neh 7:3,” JSS 27 (1982): 177-88.

⁷ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

⁸ tn Or “you killed.”

⁹ tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.

¹⁰ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

¹¹ 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).

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”