Romans 3:3

3:3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?

Romans 11:1-2

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

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 

Isaiah 55:11

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ³ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ⁴ 

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ⁵ 

John 10:35

10:35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken), ⁶ 

John 10:2

10:2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

John 2:13

2:13 Now the Jewish feast of Passover ⁷  was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ⁸ 

Hebrews 6:17-18

6:17 In the same way ⁹  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ¹⁰  and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ¹¹  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

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 Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

⁴ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”

⁵ 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.

⁶ sn The parenthetical note And the scripture cannot be broken belongs to Jesus’ words rather than the author’s. Not only does Jesus appeal to the OT to defend himself against the charge of blasphemy, but he also adds that the scripture cannot be “broken.” In this context he does not explain precisely what is meant by “broken,” but it is not too hard to determine. Jesus’ argument depended on the exact word used in the context of Ps 82:6. If any other word for “judge” had been used in the psalm, his argument would have been meaningless. Since the scriptures do use this word in Ps 82:6, the argument is binding, because they cannot be “broken” in the sense of being shown to be in error.

⁷ tn Grk “the Passover of the Jews.” This is first of at least three (and possibly four) Passovers mentioned in John’s Gospel. If it is assumed that the Passovers appear in the Gospel in their chronological order (and following a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), this would be the Passover of the spring of a.d. 30, the first of Jesus’ public ministry. There is a clear reference to another Passover in 6:4, and another still in 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:28, 39, and 19:14. The latter would be the Passover of a.d. 33. There is a possibility that 5:1 also refers to a Passover, in which case it would be the second of Jesus’ public ministry (a.d. 31), while 6:4 would refer to the third (a.d. 32) and the remaining references would refer to the final Passover at the time of the crucifixion. It is entirely possible, however, that the Passovers occurring in the Fourth Gospel are not intended to be understood as listed in chronological sequence. If the material of the Fourth Gospel originally existed in the form of homilies or sermons by the Apostle John on the life and ministry of Jesus, the present arrangement would not have to be in strict chronological order (it does not explicitly claim to be). In this case the Passover mentioned in 2:13, for example, might actually be later in Jesus’ public ministry than it might at first glance appear. This leads, however, to a discussion of an even greater problem in the passage, the relationship of the temple cleansing in John’s Gospel to the similar account in the synoptic gospels.

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Grk “in which.”

¹⁰ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

¹¹ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.