Acts 9:23

Saul’s Escape from Damascus

9:23 Now after some days had passed, the Jews plotted ¹  together to kill him,

Genesis 4:5-8

4:5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. ²  So Cain became very angry, ³  and his expression was downcast. ⁴ 

4:6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 4:7 Is it not true ⁵  that if you do what is right, you will be fine? ⁶  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching ⁷  at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” ⁸ 

4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” ⁹  While they were in the field, Cain attacked ¹⁰  his brother ¹¹  Abel and killed him.

Psalms 37:12-15

37:12 Evil men plot against the godly ¹² 

and viciously attack them. ¹³ 

37:13 The Lord laughs in disgust ¹⁴  at them,

for he knows that their day is coming. ¹⁵ 

37:14 Evil men draw their swords

and prepare their bows,

to bring down ¹⁶  the oppressed and needy,

and to slaughter those who are godly. ¹⁷ 

37:15 Their swords will pierce ¹⁸  their own hearts,

and their bows will be broken.

Psalms 37:32-33

37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly

and try to kill them. ¹⁹ 

37:33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,

or allow them to be condemned in a court of law. ²⁰ 

Psalms 64:2-8

64:2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,

from the crowd of evildoers. ²¹ 

64:3 They ²²  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ²³ 

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent ²⁴  in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. ²⁵ 

64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. ²⁶ 

They plan how to hide ²⁷  snares,

and boast, ²⁸  “Who will see them?” ²⁹ 

64:6 They devise ³⁰  unjust schemes;

they disguise ³¹  a well-conceived plot. ³² 

Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ³³ 

64:7 But God will shoot ³⁴  at them;

suddenly they will be ³⁵  wounded by an arrow. ³⁶ 

64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. ³⁷ 

All who see them will shudder, ³⁸ 

Matthew 10:21

10:21 “Brother ³⁹  will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against ⁴⁰  parents and have them put to death.

Matthew 10:25

10:25 It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household!

Matthew 23:34-35

23:34 “For this reason I ⁴¹  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ⁴²  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ⁴³  and some you will flog ⁴⁴  in your synagogues ⁴⁵  and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ⁴⁶  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Matthew 24:9

Persecution of Disciples

24:9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations ⁴⁷  because of my name. ⁴⁸ 

John 15:20

15:20 Remember what ⁴⁹  I told you, ‘A slave ⁵⁰  is not greater than his master.’ ⁵¹  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ⁵²  my word, they will obey ⁵³  yours too.

John 16:2

16:2 They will put you out of ⁵⁴  the synagogue, ⁵⁵  yet a time ⁵⁶  is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ⁵⁷ 

[9:23]  ¹ sn Fitting the pattern emphasized earlier with Stephen and his speech in Acts 7, some Jews plotted to kill God’s messenger (cf. Luke 11:53-54).

[4:5]  ² sn The Letter to the Hebrews explains the difference between the brothers as one of faith – Abel by faith offered a better sacrifice. Cain’s offering as well as his reaction to God’s displeasure did not reflect faith. See further B. K. Waltke, “Cain and His Offering,” WTJ 48 (1986): 363-72.

[4:5]  ³ tn Heb “and it was hot to Cain.” This Hebrew idiom means that Cain “burned” with anger.

[4:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “And his face fell.” The idiom means that the inner anger is reflected in Cain’s facial expression. The fallen or downcast face expresses anger, dejection, or depression. Conversely, in Num 6 the high priestly blessing speaks of the Lord lifting up his face and giving peace.

[4:7]  ⁵ tn The introduction of the conditional clause with an interrogative particle prods the answer from Cain, as if he should have known this. It is not a condemnation, but an encouragement to do what is right.

[4:7]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text is difficult, because only one word occurs, שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et), which appears to be the infinitive construct from the verb “to lift up” (נָאָשׂ, na’as). The sentence reads: “If you do well, uplifting.” On the surface it seems to be the opposite of the fallen face. Everything will be changed if he does well. God will show him favor, he will not be angry, and his face will reflect that. But more may be intended since the second half of the verse forms the contrast: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching….” Not doing well leads to sinful attack; doing well leads to victory and God’s blessing.

[4:7]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “crouching” (רֹבֵץ, rovets) is an active participle. Sin is portrayed with animal imagery here as a beast crouching and ready to pounce (a figure of speech known as zoomorphism). An Akkadian cognate refers to a type of demon; in this case perhaps one could translate, “Sin is the demon at the door” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 29, 32-33).

[4:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “and toward you [is] its desire, but you must rule over it.” As in Gen 3:16, the Hebrew noun “desire” refers to an urge to control or dominate. Here the desire is that which sin has for Cain, a desire to control for the sake of evil, but Cain must have mastery over it. The imperfect is understood as having an obligatory sense. Another option is to understand it as expressing potential (“you can have [or “are capable of having”] mastery over it.”). It will be a struggle, but sin can be defeated by righteousness. In addition to this connection to Gen 3, other linguistic and thematic links between chaps. 3 and 4 are discussed by A. J. Hauser, “Linguistic and Thematic Links Between Genesis 4:1-6 and Genesis 2–3,” JETS 23 (1980): 297-306.

[4:8]  ⁹ tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָּׂדֶה (basadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָּׂדֶה.

[4:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).

[4:8]  ¹¹ sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).

[37:12]  ¹² tn Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.

[37:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.

[37:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “laughs.” As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter (see 2:4). The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes the action from the perspective of an eye-witness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.

[37:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for he sees that his day is coming.” As the following context makes clear (vv. 15, 17, 19-20), “his day” refers to the time when God will destroy evildoers.

[37:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to cause to fall.”

[37:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the upright in way,” i.e., those who lead godly lives.

[37:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “enter into.”

[37:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “an evil [one] watches the godly [one] and seeks to kill him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

[37:33]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord does not abandon him into his hand or condemn him when he is judged.” The imperfects draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic behavior in this regard.

[64:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[64:3]  ²² tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3]  ²³ tn Heb “a bitter word.”

[64:4]  ²⁴ tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

[64:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[64:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”

[64:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they report about hiding.”

[64:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they say.”

[64:5]  ²⁹ tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).

[64:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”

[64:6]  ³¹ tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).

[64:6]  ³² tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.

[64:6]  ³³ tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.

[64:7]  ³⁴ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.

[64:7]  ³⁵ tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.

[64:7]  ³⁶ tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[64:8]  ³⁷ tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.

[64:8]  ³⁸ tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.

[10:21]  ³⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “will rebel against.”

[23:34]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ⁴² tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ⁴³ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ⁴⁴ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ⁴⁵ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ⁴⁶ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[24:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).

[24:9]  ⁴⁸ sn See Matt 5:10-12; 1 Cor 1:25-31.

[15:20]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “Remember the word that I said to you.”

[15:20]  ⁵⁰ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[15:20]  ⁵¹ sn A slave is not greater than his master. Jesus now recalled a statement he had made to the disciples before, in John 13:16. As the master has been treated, so will the slaves be treated also. If the world had persecuted Jesus, then it would also persecute the disciples. If the world had kept Jesus’ word, it would likewise keep the word of the disciples. In this statement there is the implication that the disciples would carry on the ministry of Jesus after his departure; they would in their preaching and teaching continue to spread the message which Jesus himself had taught while he was with them. And they would meet with the same response, by and large, that he encountered.

[15:20]  ⁵² tn Or “if they kept.”

[15:20]  ⁵³ tn Or “they will keep.”

[16:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “expel you from.”

[16:2]  ⁵⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[16:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:2]  ⁵⁷ sn Jesus now refers not to the time of his return to the Father, as he has frequently done up to this point, but to the disciples’ time of persecution. They will be excommunicated from Jewish synagogues. There will even be a time when those who kill Jesus’ disciples will think that they are offering service to God by putting the disciples to death. Because of the reference to service offered to God, it is almost certain that Jewish opposition is intended here in both cases rather than Jewish opposition in the first instance (putting the disciples out of synagogues) and Roman opposition in the second (putting the disciples to death). Such opposition materializes later and is recorded in Acts: The stoning of Stephen in 7:58-60 and the slaying of James the brother of John by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12:2-3 are notable examples.