Deuteronomy 11:26-27

Anticipation of a Blessing and Cursing Ceremony

11:26 Take note – I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: ¹  11:27 the blessing if you take to heart ²  the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today,

Ezekiel 2:7

2:7 You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

Ezekiel 3:17

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ³  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me.

Acts 20:20

20:20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming ⁴  to you anything that would be helpful, ⁵  and from teaching you publicly ⁶  and from house to house,

Acts 20:26-27

20:26 Therefore I declare ⁷  to you today that I am innocent ⁸  of the blood of you all. ⁹  20:27 For I did not hold back from ¹⁰  announcing ¹¹  to you the whole purpose ¹²  of God.

[11:26]  ¹ sn A blessing and a curse. Every extant treaty text of the late Bronze Age attests to a section known as the “blessings and curses,” the former for covenant loyalty and the latter for covenant breach. Blessings were promised rewards for obedience; curses were threatened judgments for disobedience. In the Book of Deuteronomy these are fully developed in 27:1–28:68. Here Moses adumbrates the whole by way of anticipation.

[11:27]  ² tn Heb “listen to,” that is, obey.

[3:17]  ³ tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[20:20]  ⁴ tn Or “declaring.”

[20:20]  ⁵ tn Or “profitable.” BDAG 960 s.v. συμφέρω 2.b.α has “τὰ συμφέροντα what advances your best interests or what is good for you Ac 20:20,” but the broader meaning (s.v. 2, “to be advantageous, help, confer a benefit, be profitable/useful”) is equally possible in this context.

[20:20]  ⁶ tn Or “openly.”

[20:26]  ⁷ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ⁹ tn That is, “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible” (an idiom). According to L&N 33.223, the meaning of the phrase “that I am innocent of the blood of all of you” is “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.” However, due to the length of this phrase and its familiarity to many modern English readers, the translation was kept closer to formal equivalence in this case. The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; Paul is addressing the Ephesian congregation (in the person of its elders) in both v. 25 and 27.

[20:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

[20:27]  ¹¹ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ¹² tn Or “plan.”