Acts 4:19

4:19 But Peter and John replied, ¹  “Whether it is right before God to obey ²  you rather than God, you decide,

Genesis 3:17

3:17 But to Adam ³  he said,

“Because you obeyed ⁴  your wife

and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,

‘You must not eat from it,’

cursed is the ground ⁵  thanks to you; ⁶ 

in painful toil you will eat ⁷  of it all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:1

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now ⁸  the serpent ⁹  was more shrewd ¹⁰ 

than any of the wild animals ¹¹  that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that ¹²  God ¹³  said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 15:1

The Cutting of the Covenant

15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield ¹⁵  and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ¹⁶ 

Mark 7:7-9

7:7 They worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’ ¹⁷ 

7:8 Having no regard ¹⁸  for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” ¹⁹  7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ²⁰  your tradition.

Revelation 14:8-12

14:8 A ²¹  second ²²  angel ²³  followed the first, ²⁴  declaring: ²⁵  “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! ²⁶  She made all the nations ²⁷  drink of the wine of her immoral passion.” ²⁸ 

14:9 A ²⁹  third angel ³⁰  followed the first two, ³¹  declaring ³²  in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 14:10 that person ³³  will also drink of the wine of God’s anger ³⁴  that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur ³⁵  in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. 14:11 And the smoke from their ³⁶  torture will go up ³⁷  forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have ³⁸  no rest day or night, along with ³⁹  anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 14:12 This requires ⁴⁰  the steadfast endurance ⁴¹  of the saints – those who obey ⁴²  God’s commandments and hold to ⁴³  their faith in Jesus. ⁴⁴ 

[4:19]  ¹ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[4:19]  ² tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14).

[3:17]  ³ tn Since there is no article on the word, the personal name is used, rather than the generic “the man” (cf. NRSV).

[3:17]  ⁴ tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” often means “obey.” The man “obeyed” his wife and in the process disobeyed God.

[3:17]  ⁵ sn For the ground to be cursed means that it will no longer yield its bounty as the blessing from God had promised. The whole creation, Paul writes in Rom 8:22, is still groaning under this curse, waiting for the day of redemption.

[3:17]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew phrase בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ (ba’avurekha) is more literally translated “on your account” or “because of you.” The idiomatic “thanks to you” in the translation tries to capture the point of this expression.

[3:17]  ⁷ sn In painful toil you will eat. The theme of eating is prominent throughout Gen 3. The prohibition was against eating from the tree of knowledge. The sin was in eating. The interrogation concerned the eating from the tree of knowledge. The serpent is condemned to eat the dust of the ground. The curse focuses on eating in a “measure for measure” justice. Because the man and the woman sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, God will forbid the ground to cooperate, and so it will be through painful toil that they will eat.

[3:1]  ⁸ tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.

[3:1]  ⁹ sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

[3:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”

[3:1]  ¹³ sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [Lord God] because there is no covenant relationship involved between God and the serpent. He only speaks of “God.” In the process the serpent draws the woman into his manner of speech so that she too only speaks of “God.”

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.

[15:1]  ¹⁵ sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.

[15:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).

[7:7]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

[7:8]  ¹⁹ tc The majority of mss, mostly Byzantine ([A] ˹³ 33 Ï), have at the end of v. 8 material that seems to have come from v. 4 and v. 13: “the washing of pots and cups, and you do many other similar things.” A slight variation on the wording occurs at the very beginning of v. 8 in mostly Western witnesses (D Θ 0131^vid 28 565 it). Such floating texts are usually signs of scribal emendations. The fact that the earliest and most reliable mss, as well as other important witnesses (Ì⁴⁵ א B L W Δ 0274 ˹ 2427 co), lacked this material also strongly suggests that the longer reading is secondary.

[7:9]  ²⁰ tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

[14:8]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:8]  ²² tc There are several different variants comprising a textual problem involving “second” (δεύτερος, deuteros). First, several mss (A 1 2329 Ï^K) read “another, a second angel” (ἄλλος δεύτερος ἄγγελος, allo" deutero" angelo"). Second, other mss (Ì⁴⁷ א* 1006 1841 1854 pc) read just “another, a second” (ἄλλος δεύτερος). Third, the reading “another angel” (ἄλλος ἄγγελος) is supported by a few Greek mss and some versional evidence (69 pc ar vg). Fourth, several mss (א² [C reads δεύτερον instead of δεύτερος] 051 1611 2053 2344 Ï^A) support the reading “another, a second angel” (ἄλλος ἄγγελος δεύτερος). The reading that most likely gave rise to the others is the fourth. The first reading attempts to smooth out the grammar by placing the adjective in front of the noun. The second reading may have dropped out the “angel” on the basis of its similarity to “another” (ἄλλος). The third reading either intentionally or accidentally left out the word “second.” In any event, this is weakly attested and should not be given much consideration. (If, however, this reading had had good support, with “second” floating, and with “third” in the text in 14:9, one could possibly see δεύτερος as a motivated reading. But without sufficient support for the third reading, the one thing that is most certain is that δεύτερος was part of the original text here.) It is difficult to account for the rise of the other readings if “second” is not original. And the undisputed use of “third” (τρίτος, tritos) in 14:9 may be another indicator that the adjective “second” was in the original text. Finally, the fourth reading is the more difficult and therefore, in this case, to be accepted as the progenitor of the others.

[14:8]  ²³ tn Grk “And another angel, a second.”

[14:8]  ²⁴ tn The words “the first” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:8]  ²⁵ tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[14:8]  ²⁶ sn The fall of Babylon the great city is described in detail in Rev 18:2-24.

[14:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[14:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “of the wine of the passion of the sexual immorality of her.” Here τῆς πορνείας (th" porneia") has been translated as an attributive genitive. In an ironic twist of fate, God will make Babylon drink her own mixture, but it will become the wine of his wrath in retribution for her immoral deeds (see the note on the word “wrath” in 16:19).

[14:9]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:9]  ³⁰ tn Grk “And another angel, a third.”

[14:9]  ³¹ tn Grk “followed them.”

[14:9]  ³² tn For the translation of λέγω (legw) as “declare,” see BDAG 590 s.v. 2.e.

[14:10]  ³³ tn Grk “he himself.”

[14:10]  ³⁴ tn The Greek word for “anger” here is θυμός (qumos), a wordplay on the “passion” (θυμός) of the personified city of Babylon in 14:8.

[14:10]  ³⁵ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[14:11]  ³⁶ tn The Greek pronoun is plural here even though the verbs in the previous verse are singular.

[14:11]  ³⁷ tn The present tense ἀναβαίνει (anabainei) has been translated as a futuristic present (ExSyn 535-36). This is also consistent with the future passive βασανισθήσεται (basanisqhsetai) in v. 10.

[14:11]  ³⁸ tn The present tense ἔχουσιν (ecousin) has been translated as a futuristic present to keep the English tense consistent with the previous verb (see note on “will go up” earlier in this verse).

[14:11]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and.”

[14:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Here is.”

[14:12]  ⁴¹ tn Or “the perseverance.”

[14:12]  ⁴² tn Grk “who keep.”

[14:12]  ⁴³ tn The words “hold to” are implied as a repetition of the participle translated “keep” (οἱ τηροῦντες, Joi throunte").

[14:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “faith of Jesus.” The construction may mean either “faith in Jesus” or “faithful to Jesus.” Either translation implies that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is to be taken as an objective genitive; the difference is more lexical than grammatical because πίστις (pistis) can mean either “faith” or “faithfulness.”