1 Corinthians 11:32

11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.

Exodus 15:26

15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey ¹  the Lord your God, and do what is right ²  in his sight, and pay attention ³  to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all ⁴  the diseases ⁵  that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” ⁶ 

Numbers 20:12

The Lord’s Judgment

20:12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough ⁷  to show me as holy ⁸  before ⁹  the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” ¹⁰ 

Numbers 20:24

20:24 “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors, ¹¹  for he will not enter into the land I have given to the Israelites because both of you ¹²  rebelled against my word ¹³  at the waters of Meribah.

Numbers 21:6-9

21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous ¹⁴  snakes ¹⁵  among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. 21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ¹⁶  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks ¹⁷  at it, he will live.” 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. ¹⁸ 

Numbers 21:2

21:2 So Israel made a vow ¹⁹  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ²⁰  this people into our ²¹  hand, then we will utterly destroy ²²  their cities.”

Numbers 12:14

12:14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit ²³  in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.”

Numbers 12:1

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12:1 ²⁴ Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against ²⁵  Moses because of the Cushite ²⁶  woman he had married ²⁷  (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).

Numbers 13:21-24

The Spies’ Activities

13:21 So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ²⁸  at the entrance of Hamath. ²⁹  13:22 When they went up through the Negev, they ³⁰  came ³¹  to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, ³²  descendants of Anak, were living. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan ³³  in Egypt.) 13:23 When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff ³⁴  between two men, as well as some of the pomegranates and the figs. 13:24 That place was called ³⁵  the Eshcol Valley, ³⁶  because of the cluster ³⁷  of grapes that the Israelites cut from there.

Psalms 38:1-8

Psalm 38 ³⁸ 

A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention. ³⁹ 

38:1 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger!

Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury! ⁴⁰ 

38:2 For your arrows pierce ⁴¹  me,

and your hand presses me down. ⁴² 

38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment; ⁴³ 

I am deprived of health because of my sin. ⁴⁴ 

38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; ⁴⁵ 

like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.

38:5 My wounds ⁴⁶  are infected and starting to smell, ⁴⁷ 

because of my foolish sins. ⁴⁸ 

38:6 I am dazed ⁴⁹  and completely humiliated; ⁵⁰ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ⁵¹ 

and my whole body is sick. ⁵² 

38:8 I am numb with pain and severely battered; ⁵³ 

I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel. ⁵⁴ 

Psalms 78:30-31

78:30 They were not yet filled up, ⁵⁵ 

their food was still in their mouths,

78:31 when the anger of God flared up against them.

He killed some of the strongest of them;

he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.

Psalms 89:31-34

89:31 if they break ⁵⁶  my rules

and do not keep my commandments,

89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, ⁵⁷ 

their sin by inflicting them with bruises. ⁵⁸ 

89:33 But I will not remove ⁵⁹  my loyal love from him,

nor be unfaithful to my promise. ⁶⁰ 

89:34 I will not break ⁶¹  my covenant

or go back on what I promised. ⁶² 

Amos 3:2

3:2 “I have chosen ⁶³  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Hebrews 12:5-11

12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?

“My son, do not scorn ⁶⁴  the Lord’s discipline

or give up when he corrects ⁶⁵  you.

12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” ⁶⁶ 

12:7 Endure your suffering ⁶⁷  as discipline; ⁶⁸  God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 12:8 But if you do not experience discipline, ⁶⁹  something all sons ⁷⁰  have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from ⁷¹  our earthly fathers ⁷²  and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? ⁷³  12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. ⁷⁴  But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness ⁷⁵  for those trained by it.

Revelation 3:19

3:19 All those ⁷⁶  I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent!

[15:26]  ¹ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of שָׁמַע (shama’). The meaning of the verb is idiomatic here because it is followed by “to the voice of Yahweh your God.” When this is present, the verb is translated “obey.” The construction is in a causal clause. It reads, “If you will diligently obey.” Gesenius points out that the infinitive absolute in a conditional clause also emphasizes the importance of the condition on which the consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[15:26]  ² tn The word order is reversed in the text: “and the right in his eyes you do,” or, “[if] you do what is right in his eyes.” The conditional idea in the first clause is continued in this clause.

[15:26]  ³ tn Heb “give ear.” This verb and the next are both perfect tenses with the vav (ו) consecutive; they continue the sequence of the original conditional clause.

[15:26]  ⁴ tn The substantive כָּל־ (kol, “all of”) in a negative clause can be translated “none of.”

[15:26]  ⁵ sn The reference is no doubt to the plagues that Yahweh has just put on them. These will not come on God’s true people. But the interesting thing about a conditional clause like this is that the opposite is also true – “if you do not obey, then I will bring these diseases.”

[15:26]  ⁶ tn The form is רֹפְאֶךָ (rofÿ’ekha), a participle with a pronominal suffix. The word is the predicate after the pronoun “I”: “I [am] your healer.” The suffix is an objective genitive – the Lord heals them.

[20:12]  ⁷ tn Or “to sanctify me.”

[20:12]  ⁸ sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile – very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.

[20:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[20:12]  ¹⁰ tn There is debate as to exactly what the sin of Moses was. Some interpreters think that the real sin might have been that he refused to do this at first, but that fact has been suppressed from the text. Some think the text was deliberately vague to explain why they could not enter the land without demeaning them. Others simply, and more likely, note that in Moses there was unbelief, pride, anger, impatience – disobedience.

[20:24]  ¹¹ sn This is the standard poetic expression for death. The bones would be buried, often with the bones of relatives in the same tomb, giving rise to the expression.

[20:24]  ¹² tn The verb is in the second person plural form, and so it is Moses and Aaron who rebelled, and so now because of that Aaron first and then Moses would die without going into the land.

[20:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “mouth.”

[21:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fiery.”

[21:6]  ¹⁵ tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nÿkhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.

[21:7]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

[21:8]  ¹⁷ tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”

[21:9]  ¹⁸ sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people – if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.

[21:2]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ²² tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[12:14]  ²³ tn The form is intensified by the infinitive absolute, but here the infinitive strengthens not simply the verbal idea but the conditional cause construction as well.

[12:1]  ²⁴ sn In this short chapter we find a prime example of jealousy among leaders and how God dealt with it. Miriam and Aaron are envious of Moses’ leadership, but they use an occasion – his marriage – to criticize him. Often the immediate criticism is simply a surface issue for a deeper matter. God indicates very clearly he will speak through many people, including them, but Moses is different. Moses is the mediator of the covenant. The chapter is a lesson of what not to do. They should have fulfilled their duties before God and not tried to compete or challenge the leader in this way. There is a touch of divine irony here, for Miriam is turned white with leprosy. The chapter falls easily into the sections of the story: the accusation (vv. 1-3), the Lord’s response (vv. 4-10), the intercession of Moses (vv. 11-16). For further information, see J. S. Kselman, “A Note on Numbers 12:6-8,” VT 26 (1976): 500-504.

[12:1]  ²⁵ tn The preposition bet (בְּ) has the adversative sense here, “[speak] against” (see also its use for hostile speech in 21:5, 7). Speaking against is equal to the murmuring throughout the wilderness period. The verb of the sentence is וַתְּדַבֵּר (vattÿdabber), the feminine form of the verb. This indicates that Miriam was the main speaker for the two, the verb agreeing with the first of the compound subject.

[12:1]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text has הַכֻּשִׁית (hakkushit, “the Cushite”) as the modifier of “woman.” The Greek text interpreted this correctly as “Ethiopian.” The word Cush in the Bible can describe the Cassites, east of Babylon of the later period (Gen 10:18), or Ethiopia (Isa 20:3; Nah 3:5; et al). Another suggestion is that it would refer to Cushan of Hab 3:7, perhaps close to Midian, and so the area Moses had been. This would suggest it could be Zipporah – but the Bible does not identify the Cushite as Zipporah. The most natural understanding would be that it refers to an Egyptian/Ethiopian woman. The text does not say when Moses married this woman, or what Miriam’s problem with her was. It is clear that it was a racial issue, by virtue of the use of “Cushite.” Whether she was of darker skin than the Hebrews would be hard to say, since the Bible gives no further detail. Neither does it say if this is a second wife, or a woman Moses married since Zipporah went home (Exod 18:2). These do not seem to be the issues the text wishes to elaborate on; it is simply stating that this woman was the occasion for a deeper challenge.

[12:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “taken.”

[13:21]  ²⁸ sn Zin is on the southern edge of the land, but Rehob is far north, near Mount Hermon. The spies covered all the land.

[13:21]  ²⁹ tn The idiom uses the infinitive construct: “to enter Hamath,” meaning, “on the way that people go to Hamath.”

[13:22]  ³⁰ tc The MT has the singular, but the ancient versions and Smr have the plural.

[13:22]  ³¹ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the following clause. The first verse gave the account of their journey over the whole land; this section focuses on what happened in the area of Hebron, which would be the basis for the false report.

[13:22]  ³² sn These names are thought to be three clans that were in the Hebron area (see Josh 15:14; Judg 1:20). To call them descendants of Anak is usually taken to mean that they were large or tall people (2 Sam 21:18-22). They were ultimately driven out by Caleb.

[13:22]  ³³ sn The text now provides a brief historical aside for the readers. Zoan was probably the city of Tanis, although that is disputed today by some scholars. It was known in Egypt in the New Kingdom as “the fields of Tanis,” which corresponded to the “fields of Zoar” in the Hebrew Bible (Ps 78:12, 43).

[13:23]  ³⁴ tn The word is related etymologically to the verb for “slip, slide, bend, totter.” This would fit the use very well. A pole that would not bend would be hard to use to carry things, but a pole or stave that was flexible would serve well.

[13:24]  ³⁵ tn The verb is rendered as a passive because there is no expressed subject.

[13:24]  ³⁶ tn Or “Wadi Eshcol.” The translation “brook” is too generous; the Hebrew term refers to a river bed, a ravine or valley through which torrents of rain would rush in the rainy season; at other times it might be completely dry.

[13:24]  ³⁷ tn The word “Eshcol” is drawn from the Hebrew expression concerning the “cluster of grapes.” The word is probably retained in the name Burj Haskeh, two miles north of Damascus.

[38:1]  ³⁸ sn Psalm 38. The author asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He confesses his sin and recognizes that the crisis he faces is the result of divine discipline. Yet he begs the Lord not to reject him.

[38:1]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the heading of Ps 70. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[38:1]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “continue to” are supplied in the translation of both lines. The following verses make it clear that the psalmist is already experiencing divine rebuke/punishment. He asks that it might cease.

[38:2]  ⁴¹ tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).

[38:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).

[38:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.

[38:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”

[38:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “pass over my head.”

[38:5]  ⁴⁶ sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

[38:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

[38:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

[38:6]  ⁴⁹ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[38:7]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

[38:7]  ⁵² tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[38:8]  ⁵³ tn Heb “I am numb and crushed to excess.”

[38:8]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “I roar because of the moaning of my heart.”

[78:30]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “they were not separated from their desire.”

[89:31]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “desecrate.”

[89:32]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”

[89:32]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “with blows their sin.”

[89:33]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “break”; “make ineffectual.” Some prefer to emend אָפִיר (’afir; the Hiphil of פָּרַר, parar, “to break”) to אָסִיר (’asir; the Hiphil of סוּר, sur, “to turn aside”), a verb that appears in 2 Sam 7:15.

[89:33]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and I will not deal falsely with my faithfulness.”

[89:34]  ⁶¹ tn Or “desecrate.”

[89:34]  ⁶² tn Heb “and what proceeds out of my lips I will not alter.”

[3:2]  ⁶³ tn Heb “You only have I known.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’) is used here in its covenantal sense of “recognize in a special way.”

[12:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “disregard,” “think little of.”

[12:5]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “reproves,” “rebukes.” The Greek verb ἐλέγχω (elencw) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

[12:6]  ⁶⁶ sn A quotation from Prov 3:11-12.

[12:7]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “endure,” with the object (“your suffering”) understood from the context.

[12:7]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “in order to become disciplined.”

[12:8]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “you are without discipline.”

[12:8]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “all”; “sons” is implied by the context.

[12:9]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”

[12:9]  ⁷² tn Grk “the fathers of our flesh.” In Hebrews, “flesh” is a characteristic way of speaking about outward, physical, earthly life (cf. Heb 5:7; 9:10, 13), as opposed to the inward or spiritual dimensions of life.

[12:9]  ⁷³ tn Grk “and live.”

[12:11]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”

[12:11]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

[3:19]  ⁷⁶ tn The Greek pronoun ὅσος (Josos) means “as many as” and can be translated “All those” or “Everyone.”