1 Kings 21:20

21:20 When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, ¹  “So, you have found me, my enemy!” Elijah ²  replied, “I have found you, because you are committed ³  to doing evil in the sight of ⁴  the Lord.

Joshua 7:25

7:25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster ⁵  on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you today!” All Israel stoned him to death. (They also stoned and burned the others.) ⁶ 

Jeremiah 26:8-9

26:8 Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the Lord had commanded him to say to all the people. All at once some ⁷  of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, “You deserve to die! ⁸  26:9 How dare you claim the Lord’s authority to prophesy such things! How dare you claim his authority to prophesy that this temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will become an uninhabited ruin!” ⁹  Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 38:4

38:4 So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing ¹⁰  the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. ¹¹  This ¹²  man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” ¹³ 

Amos 7:10

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹⁴  sent this message ¹⁵  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ¹⁶  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ¹⁷ 

Acts 16:20

16:20 When ¹⁸  they had brought them ¹⁹  before the magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion. ²⁰  They are ²¹  Jews

Acts 17:6

17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged ²²  Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, ²³  screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble ²⁴  throughout the world ²⁵  have come here too,

Acts 24:5

24:5 For we have found ²⁶  this man to be a troublemaker, ²⁷  one who stirs up riots ²⁸  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ²⁹  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ³⁰ 

[21:20]  ¹ tn Heb “and Ahab said to Elijah.” The narrative is elliptical and streamlined. The words “when Elijah arrived” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:20]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:20]  ³ tn Heb “you have sold yourself.”

[21:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[7:25]  ⁵ tn Or “trouble.” The word is “achor” in Hebrew (also in the following clause).

[7:25]  ⁶ tc Heb “and they burned them with fire and they stoned them with stones.” These words are somewhat parenthetical in nature and are omitted in the LXX; they may represent a later scribal addition.

[26:8]  ⁷ tn The translation again represents an attempt to break up a long complex Hebrew sentence into equivalent English ones that conform more to contemporary English style: Heb “And as soon as Jeremiah finished saying all that…the priests…grabbed him and said…” The word “some” has been supplied in the translation, because obviously it was not all the priests, the prophets, and all the people, but only some of them. There is, of course, rhetorical intent here to show that all were implicated, although all may not have actually participated. (This is a common figure called synecdoche where all is put for a part – all for all kinds or representatives of all kinds. See E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 614-19, and compare usage in Acts 10:12; Matt 3:5.)

[26:8]  ⁸ tn Or “You must certainly die!” The construction here is again emphatic with the infinitive preceding the finite verb (cf. Joüon 2:423 §123.h, and compare usage in Exod 21:28).

[26:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Why have you prophesied in the Lord’s name, saying, ‘This house will become like Shiloh and this city will become a ruin without inhabitant?’” It is clear from the context here and in 7:1-15 that the emphasis is on “in the Lord’s name” and that the question is rhetorical. The question is not a quest for information but an accusation, a remonstrance. (For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 953-54, who calls a question like this a rhetorical question of remonstrance or expostulation. For good examples see Pss 11:1; 50:16.) For the significance of “prophesying in the Lord’s name” see the study note on 14:14. The translation again utilizes the indirect quote to eliminate one level of embedded quotation.

[38:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “weakening the hands of.” For this idiom see BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Pi. and compare the usage in Isa 13:7; Ezek 21:7 (21:12 HT).

[38:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “by saying these things.”

[38:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) has not been rendered here because it is introducing a parallel causal clause to the preceding one. To render “For” might be misunderstood as a grounds for the preceding statement. To render “And” or “Moreover” sounds a little odd here. If it must be represented, “Moreover” is perhaps the best rendering.

[38:4]  ¹³ tn Or “is not looking out for these people’s best interests but is really trying to do them harm”; Heb “is not seeking the welfare [or “well-being”; Hebrew shalom] of this people but [their] harm [more literally, evil].”

[7:10]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ¹⁵ tn The direct object of the verb translated “sent” is elided in the Hebrew text. The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “words.”

[16:20]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[16:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “having brought them.” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (epilabomenoi) has been taken temporally. It is also possible in English to translate this participle as a finite verb: “they brought them before the magistrates and said.”

[16:20]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 309 s.v. ἐκταράσσω has “agitate, cause trouble to, throw into confusion” for the meaning of this verb.

[16:20]  ²¹ tn Grk “being Jews, and they are proclaiming.” The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[17:6]  ²² tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

[17:6]  ²³ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

[17:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

[17:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

[24:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “For having found.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:5]  ²⁷ tn L&N 22.6 has “(a figurative extension of meaning of λοιμός ‘plague,’ 23.158) one who causes all sorts of trouble – ‘troublemaker, pest.’ … ‘for we have found this man to be a troublemaker” Ac 24:5.”

[24:5]  ²⁸ tn Or “dissensions.” While BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3 translates this phrase “κινεῖν στάσεις (v.l. στάσιν) τισί create dissension among certain people Ac 24:5,” it is better on the basis of the actual results of Paul’s ministry to categorize this usage under section 2, “uprising, riot, revolt, rebellion” (cf. the use in Acts 19:40).

[24:5]  ²⁹ tn This term is yet another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 894 s.v. πρωτοστάτης).

[24:5]  ³⁰ sn The sect of the Nazarenes is a designation for followers of Jesus the Nazarene, that is, Christians.