Romans 6:21

6:21 So what benefit ¹  did you then reap ²  from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

Numbers 23:10

23:10 Who ³  can count ⁴  the dust ⁵  of Jacob,

Or number ⁶  the fourth part of Israel?

Let me ⁷  die the death of the upright, ⁸ 

and let the end of my life ⁹  be like theirs.” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 37:37-38

37:37 Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly! ¹¹ 

For the one who promotes peace has a future. ¹² 

37:38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed; ¹³ 

evil men have no future. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 13:40

13:40 As ¹⁵  the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

Matthew 13:43

13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ¹⁶  The one who has ears had better listen! ¹⁷ 

Matthew 19:29

19:29 And whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much ¹⁸  and will inherit eternal life.

Matthew 25:46

25:46 And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

John 4:36

4:36 The one who reaps receives pay ¹⁹  and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together.

¹ tn Grk “fruit.”

² tn Grk “have,” in a tense emphasizing their customary condition in the past.

³ tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.

⁴ tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.

⁵ sn The reference in the oracle is back to Gen 13:16, which would not be clear to Balaam. But God had described their growth like the dust of the earth. Here it is part of the description of the vast numbers.

⁶ tn Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.

⁷ tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.

⁸ sn Here the seer’s words link with the promise of Gen 12:3, that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. Since the blessing belongs to them, the upright (and not Balak), Balaam would like his lot to be with them.

⁹ tn Heb “my latter end.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “his.”

¹¹ tn Or “upright.”

¹² tn Heb “for [there is] an end for a man of peace.” Some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see the next verse and Ps 109:13; cf. NEB, NRSV).

¹³ tn Or “destroyed together.” In this case the psalmist pictures judgment sweeping them away as a group.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the end of evil men is cut off.” As in v. 37, some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see Ps 109:13). The perfect verbal forms in v. 38 probably express general truths. Another option is that they are used emphatically to state with certitude that the demise of the wicked is as good as done.

¹⁵ tn Grk “Therefore as.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

¹⁶ sn An allusion to Dan 12:3.

¹⁷ tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:9; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

¹⁸ sn Jesus reassures his disciples with a promise that (1) much benefit in this life (a hundred times as much) and (2) eternal life will be given.

¹⁹ tn Or “a reward”; see L&N 38.14 and 57.173. This is something of a wordplay.