2 Kings 17:13-23

17:13 The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, “Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.” ¹  17:14 But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, ²  who had not trusted the Lord their God. 17:15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. ³  They paid allegiance to ⁴  worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. ⁵  They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command. ⁶  17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, ⁷  and worshiped ⁸  Baal. 17:17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, ⁹  and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry. ¹⁰ 

17:18 So the Lord was furious ¹¹  with Israel and rejected them; ¹²  only the tribe of Judah was left. 17:19 Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God; they followed Israel’s example. ¹³  17:20 So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated ¹⁴  them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence. 17:21 He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king. ¹⁵  Jeroboam drove Israel away ¹⁶  from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin. ¹⁷  17:22 The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and did not repudiate ¹⁸  them. 17:23 Finally ¹⁹  the Lord rejected Israel ²⁰  just as he had warned he would do ²¹  through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.

2 Kings 17:2

17:2 He did evil in the sight of ²²  the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him.

2 Kings 1:15-16

1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down ²³  with him to the king.

1:16 Elijah ²⁴  said to the king, ²⁵  “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! ²⁶  Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” ²⁷ 

Proverbs 29:1

29:1 The one who stiffens his neck ²⁸  after numerous rebukes ²⁹ 

will suddenly be destroyed ³⁰  without remedy. ³¹ 

Jeremiah 42:19-22

42:19 “The Lord has told you people who remain in Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be very sure of this: I warn you ³²  here and now. ³³  42:20 You are making a fatal mistake. ³⁴  For you sent me to the Lord your God and asked me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us what the Lord our God says and we will do it.’ ³⁵  42:21 This day ³⁶  I have told you what he said. ³⁷  But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. ³⁸  42:22 So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”

Jeremiah 44:4-5

44:4 I sent my servants the prophets to you people over and over ³⁹  again warning you not to do this disgusting thing I hate. ⁴⁰  44:5 But the people of Jerusalem and Judah ⁴¹  would not listen or pay any attention. They would not stop the wickedness they were doing nor quit sacrificing to other gods. ⁴² 

Luke 10:10-11

10:10 But whenever ⁴³  you enter a town ⁴⁴  and the people ⁴⁵  do not welcome ⁴⁶  you, go into its streets ⁴⁷  and say, 10:11 ‘Even the dust of your town ⁴⁸  that clings to our feet we wipe off ⁴⁹  against you. ⁵⁰  Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come.’ ⁵¹ 

Acts 18:5-6

18:5 Now when Silas and Timothy arrived ⁵²  from Macedonia, ⁵³  Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming ⁵⁴  the word, testifying ⁵⁵  to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁵⁶  18:6 When they opposed him ⁵⁷  and reviled him, ⁵⁸  he protested by shaking out his clothes ⁵⁹  and said to them, “Your blood ⁶⁰  be on your own heads! I am guiltless! ⁶¹  From now on I will go to the Gentiles!”

Acts 18:1

Paul at Corinth

18:1 After this ⁶²  Paul ⁶³  departed from ⁶⁴  Athens ⁶⁵  and went to Corinth. ⁶⁶ 

Acts 4:6

4:6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. ⁶⁷ 

Hebrews 2:1-3

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2:2 For if the message spoken through angels ⁶⁸  proved to be so firm that every violation ⁶⁹  or disobedience received its just penalty, 2:3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him,

Hebrews 12:25

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

[17:13]  ¹ tn Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.”

[17:14]  ² tn Heb and they stiffened their neck like the neck of their fathers.”

[17:15]  ³ tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”

[17:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).

[17:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the Lord” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing”, which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.

[17:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them.”

[17:16]  ⁷ tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.

[17:16]  ⁸ tn Or “served.”

[17:17]  ⁹ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.

[17:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”

[17:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “very angry.”

[17:18]  ¹² tn Heb “turned them away from his face.”

[17:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “they walked in the practices of Israel which they did.”

[17:20]  ¹⁴ tn Or “afflicted.”

[17:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.”

[17:21]  ¹⁶ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is נָדָא (nada’), an alternate form of נָדָה (nadah), “push away.” The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb נָדָח (nadakh), “drive away.”

[17:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a great sin.”

[17:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “turn away from.”

[17:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “until.”

[17:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord turned Israel away from his face.”

[17:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “just as he said.”

[17:2]  ²² tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[1:15]  ²³ sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.

[1:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is there no God in Israel to inquire of his word?”

[1:16]  ²⁷ sn For the third time in this chapter we read the Lord’s sarcastic question to king and the accompanying announcement of judgment. The repetition emphasizes one of the chapter’s main themes. Israel’s leaders should seek guidance from their own God, not a pagan deity, for Israel’s sovereign God is the one who controls life and death.

[29:1]  ²⁸ tn The idiom “to harden the neck” (מַקְשֶׁה־עֹרֶף, maqsheh-’oref) is the idea of resisting the rebukes and persisting in obstinacy (e.g., Exod 32:9). The opposite of a “stiff neck” would be the bending back, i.e., submission.

[29:1]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew construction is אִישׁ תּוֹכָחוֹת (’ish tokhakhot, “a man of rebukes”), meaning “a man who has (or receives) many rebukes.” This describes a person who is deserving of punishment and who has been given many warnings. The text says, then, “a man of rebukes hardening himself.”

[29:1]  ³⁰ sn The stubborn person refuses to listen; he will suddenly be destroyed when the calamity strikes (e.g., Prov 6:15; 13:18; 15:10).

[29:1]  ³¹ tn Or “healing” (NRSV).

[42:19]  ³² tn Heb “Know for certain that I warn you…” The idea of “for certain” is intended to reflect the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute before the volitive use of the imperfect (see IBHS 587-88 §35.3.1h and 509 §31.5b). The substitution “of this:” for “that” has been made to shorten the sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.

[42:19]  ³³ tn Heb “today.”

[42:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “you are erring at the cost of your own lives” (BDB 1073 s.v. תָּעָה Hiph.3 and HALOT 1626 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4, and cf. BDB 90 s.v. בְּ 3 and see parallels in 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Sam 23:17 for the nuance of “at the cost of your lives”). This fits the context better than “you are deceiving yourselves” (KBL 1035 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4). The reading here follows the Qere הִתְעֵיתֶם (hit’etem) rather than the Kethib which has a metathesis of י (yod) and ת (tav), i.e., הִתְעֵתֶים. The Greek text presupposes הֲרֵעֹתֶם (hare’otem, “you have done evil”), but that reading is generally rejected as secondary.

[42:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “According to all which the Lord our God says so tell us and we will do.” The restructuring of the sentence is intended to better reflect contemporary English style.

[42:21]  ³⁶ tn Or “Today.”

[42:21]  ³⁷ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit and seem necessary for clarity.

[42:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “But you have not hearkened to the voice of [idiomatic for “obeyed” see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.m] the Lord your God, namely [cf. BDB 252 s.v. וְ 1.b] with respect [cf. BDB 514 s.v. לְ 5.f(c)] all which he has sent to us.” The verb is translated “don’t seem to want to obey” because they have not yet expressed their refusal or their actual disobedience. Several commentaries sensing this apparent discrepancy suggest that 42:19-22 are to be transposed after 43:1-3 (see, e.g., BHS note 18a, W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:275; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 252, 256, 258). However, there is absolutely no textual evidence for the transposition and little reason to suspect an early scribal error (in spite of Holladay’s suggestion). It is possible that Jeremiah here anticipates this answer in 43:1-3 through the response on their faces (so Bright, 256; F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 361). G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 249) also call attention to the stated intention in 41:17 and the fact that the strong warning in 42:15-17 seems to imply that a negative response is expected). The use of the perfect here is perhaps to be related to the perfect expressing resolve or determination (see IBHS 489 §30.5.1d). It is also conceivable that these two verses are part of a conditional sentence which has no formal introduction. I.e., “And if you will not obey…then you should know for certain that…” For examples of this kind of conditional clause introduced by two vavs (ו) see Joüon 2:628-29 §167.b, and compare Jer 18:4; Judg 6:13. However, though this interpretation is within the possibilities of Hebrew grammar, I know of no translation or commentary that follows it. So it has not been followed in the translation or given as an alternate translation.

[44:4]  ³⁹ tn See 7:13 for an explanation of this idiom and compare 7:25; 25:4; 26:5; 29:19; 35:15 for similar references to the persistent warnings of the prophets.

[44:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “sent…over again, saying, ‘Do not do this terrible thing that I hate.’” The indirect quote has been used to shorten the sentence and eliminate one level of embedded quotes.

[44:5]  ⁴¹ tn There appears to be a deliberate shift in the pronouns used in vv. 2-5. “You” refers to the people living in Egypt who are being addressed (v. 2) and to the people of present and past generations to whom the Lord persistently sent the prophets (v. 4). “They” refers to the people of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah who have suffered disaster (v. 2) because of the wickedness of sacrificing to other gods (vv. 3, 5). The referents have been explicitly identified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[44:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “They did not listen or incline their ear [= pay attention] by turning from their wickedness by not sacrificing to other gods.” The לְ (lamed) + the negative + the infinitive is again epexegetical. The sentence has been restructured and more idiomatic English expressions have been used to better conform with contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to retain the basic relationships of subordination.

[10:10]  ⁴³ tn Grk “whatever town you enter,” but this is more often expressed in English as “whenever you enter a town.”

[10:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “city.”

[10:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “and they”; the referent (the people who live in the town) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:10]  ⁴⁶ sn More discussion takes place concerning rejection (the people do not welcome you), as these verses lead into the condemnation of certain towns for their rejection of God’s kingdom.

[10:10]  ⁴⁷ tn The term πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to the “broad street,” so this refers to the main roads of the town.

[10:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “city.”

[10:11]  ⁴⁹ sn See Luke 9:5, where the verb is different but the meaning is the same. This was a sign of rejection.

[10:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Here ὑμῖν (Jumin) has been translated as a dative of disadvantage.

[10:11]  ⁵¹ tn Or “has come near.” As in v. 9 (see above), the combination of ἐγγίζω (engizw) with the preposition ἐπί (epi) is decisive in showing that the sense is “has come” (see BDAG 270 s.v. ἐγγίζω 2, and W. R. Hutton, “The Kingdom of God Has Come,” ExpTim 64 [Dec 1952]: 89-91).

[18:5]  ⁵² tn Grk “came down.”

[18:5]  ⁵³ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[18:5]  ⁵⁴ tn BDAG 971 s.v. συνέχω 6 states, “συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ (Paul) was wholly absorbed in preaching Ac 18:5…in contrast to the activity cited in vs. 3.” The imperfect συνείχετο (suneiceto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“became wholly absorbed…”), stressing the change in Paul’s activity once Silas and Timothy arrived. At this point Paul apparently began to work less and preach more.

[18:5]  ⁵⁵ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “testify of, bear witness to solemnly (orig. under oath)…W. acc. and inf. foll. Ac 18:5.”

[18:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[18:6]  ⁵⁷ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[18:6]  ⁵⁸ tn The participle βλασφημούντων (blasfhmountwn) has been taken temporally. The direct object (“him”) is implied rather than expressed and could be impersonal (“it,” referring to what Paul was saying rather than Paul himself), but the verb occurs more often in contexts involving defamation or slander against personal beings (not always God). For a very similar context to this one, compare Acts 13:45. The translation “blaspheme” is not used because in contemporary English its meaning is more narrowly defined and normally refers to blasphemy against God (not what Paul’s opponents were doing here). What they were doing was more like slander or defamation of character.

[18:6]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “shaking out his clothes, he said to them.” L&N 16:8 translates Acts 18:6 “when they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes.” The addition of the verb “protested by” in the translation is necessary to clarify for the modern reader that this is a symbolic action. It is similar but not identical to the phrase in Acts 13:51, where the dust from the feet is shaken off. The participle ἐκτιναξάμενος (ektinaxameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:6]  ⁶⁰ sn Your blood be on your own heads! By invoking this epithet Paul declared himself not responsible for their actions in rejecting Jesus whom Paul preached (cf. Ezek 33:4; 3:6-21; Matt 23:35; 27:25).

[18:6]  ⁶¹ tn Or “innocent.” BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a has “guiltless Ac 18:6.”

[18:1]  ⁶² tn Grk “After these things.”

[18:1]  ⁶³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “Paul left.”

[18:1]  ⁶⁵ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[18:1]  ⁶⁶ sn Corinth was the capital city of the senatorial province of Achaia and the seat of the Roman proconsul. It was located 55 mi (88 km) west of Athens. Corinth was a major rival to Athens and was the largest city in Greece at the time.

[4:6]  ⁶⁷ sn The high priest’s family. This family controlled the high priesthood as far back as a.d. 6. Annas, Caiaphas, and Alexander were all high priests at one time (though Alexander held that office after this event).

[2:2]  ⁶⁸ sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).

[2:2]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”