Deuteronomy 32:21

32:21 They have made me jealous ¹  with false gods, ² 

enraging me with their worthless gods; ³ 

so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, ⁴ 

with a nation slow to learn ⁵  I will enrage them.

Deuteronomy 32:1

Invocation of Witnesses

32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Deuteronomy 12:21

12:21 If the place he ⁶  chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he ⁷  has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages ⁸  just as you wish.

Deuteronomy 12:1

The Central Sanctuary

12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ⁹  has given you to possess. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 16:13

The Festival of Temporary Shelters

16:13 You must celebrate the Festival of Temporary Shelters ¹¹  for seven days, at the time of the grain and grape harvest. ¹² 

Deuteronomy 16:1

The Passover-Unleavened Bread Festival

16:1 Observe the month Abib ¹³  and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month ¹⁴  he ¹⁵  brought you out of Egypt by night.

Psalms 31:6

31:6 I hate those who serve worthless idols, ¹⁶ 

but I trust in the Lord.

Isaiah 44:9-10

44:9 All who form idols are nothing;

the things in which they delight are worthless.

Their witnesses cannot see;

they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.

44:10 Who forms a god and casts an idol

that will prove worthless? ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 44:19-20

44:19 No one thinks to himself,

nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:

‘I burned half of it in the fire –

yes, I baked bread over the coals;

I roasted meat and ate it.

With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?

Should I bow down to dry wood?’ ¹⁸ 

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ¹⁹ 

his deceived mind misleads him.

He cannot rescue himself,

nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ²⁰ 

Isaiah 45:20

45:20 Gather together and come!

Approach together, you refugees from the nations!

Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,

those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.

Isaiah 46:7

46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;

they put it in its place and it just stands there;

it does not ²¹  move from its place.

Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;

it does not deliver him from his distress.

Jeremiah 8:19

8:19 I hear my dear people ²²  crying out ²³ 

throughout the length and breadth of the land. ²⁴ 

They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?

Is her divine King ²⁵  no longer there?’”

The Lord answers, ²⁶ 

“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,

with their worthless foreign idols?” ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 10:3-5

10:3 For the religion ²⁸  of these people is worthless.

They cut down a tree in the forest,

and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. ²⁹ 

10:4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold.

He uses hammer and nails to fasten it ³⁰  together

so that it will not fall over.

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.” ³¹ 

Jeremiah 10:8

10:8 The people of those nations ³²  are both stupid and foolish.

Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ³³ 

Jeremiah 10:14-15

10:14 All these idolaters ³⁴  will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham. ³⁵ 

There is no breath in any of those idols. ³⁶ 

10:15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. ³⁷ 

When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

Jeremiah 14:22

14:22 Do any of the worthless idols ³⁸  of the nations cause rain to fall?

Do the skies themselves send showers?

Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? ³⁹ 

So we put our hopes in you ⁴⁰ 

because you alone do all this.”

Amos 2:4

2:4 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions ⁴¹  –

make that four! ⁴²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁴³ 

They rejected the Lord’s law; ⁴⁴ 

they did not obey his commands.

Their false gods, ⁴⁵ 

to which their fathers were loyal, ⁴⁶ 

led them astray.

Jonah 2:8

2:8 Those who worship ⁴⁷  worthless idols ⁴⁸  forfeit the mercy that could be theirs. ⁴⁹ 

Romans 1:21-23

1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ⁵⁰  were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed ⁵¹  to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ⁵²  or birds or four-footed animals ⁵³  or reptiles.

Romans 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁵⁴  a slave ⁵⁵  of Christ Jesus, ⁵⁶  called to be an apostle, ⁵⁷  set apart for the gospel of God. ⁵⁸ 

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ⁵⁹  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Ephesians 4:17

Live in Holiness

4:17 So I say this, and insist ⁶⁰  in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility ⁶¹  of their thinking. ⁶² 

[32:21]  ¹ sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.

[32:21]  ² tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”

[32:21]  ³ tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).

[32:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).

[32:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”

[12:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in your own community.”

[12:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days which you live in the land.” This adverbial statement modifies “to obey,” not “to possess,” so the order in the translation has been rearranged to make this clear.

[16:13]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew phrase חַג הַסֻּכֹּת (khag hassukot, “festival of huts” or “festival of shelters”) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is now preferable to the traditional “tabernacles” (KJV, ASV, NIV) in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. Clearer is the English term “shelters” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but this does not reflect the temporary nature of the living arrangement. This feast was a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt, suggesting that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.

[16:13]  ¹² tn Heb “when you gather in your threshing-floor and winepress.”

[16:1]  ¹³ sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.

[16:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[31:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ones who observe vain things of falsehood.” See Jonah 2:9.

[44:10]  ¹⁷ tn The rhetorical question is sarcastic. The sense is, “Who is foolish enough…?”

[44:19]  ¹⁸ tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.

[44:20]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

[44:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

[46:7]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.

[8:19]  ²² tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:19]  ²³ tn Heb “Behold the voice of the crying of the daughter of my people.”

[8:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Land of distances, i.e., of wide extent.” For parallel usage cf. Isa 33:17.

[8:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “her King” but this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.

[8:19]  ²⁶ tn The words, “The Lord would answer” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. Another option would be to add “And I can just hear the Lord reply.”

[8:19]  ²⁷ sn The people’s cry and the Lord’s interruption reflect the same argument that was set forth in the preceding chapter. They have misguided confidence that the Lord is with them regardless of their actions and he responds that their actions have provoked him to the point of judging them. See especially 7:4 and 7:30.

[10:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “statutes.” According to BDB 350 s.v. חֻקָּה 2.b it refers to the firmly established customs or practices of the pagan nations. Compare the usage in Lev 20:23; 2 Kgs 17:8. Here it is essentially equivalent to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) in v. 1, which has already been translated “religious practices.”

[10:3]  ²⁹ sn This passage is dripping with sarcasm. It begins by talking about the “statutes” of the pagan peoples as a “vapor” using a singular copula and singular predicate. Then it suppresses the subject, the idol, as though it were too horrible to mention, using only the predications about it. The last two lines read literally: “[it is] a tree which one cuts down from the forest; the work of the hands of a craftsman with his chisel.”

[10:4]  ³⁰ tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, referring to the parts.

[10:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”

[10:8]  ³² tn Or “Those wise people and kings are…” It is unclear whether the subject is the “they” of the nations in the preceding verse, or the wise people and kings referred to. The text merely has “they.”

[10:8]  ³³ tn Heb “The instruction of vanities [worthless idols] is wood.” The meaning of this line is a little uncertain. Various proposals have been made to make sense, most of which involve radical emendation of the text. For some examples see J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (NICOT), 323-24, fn 6. However, this is probably a case of the bold predication that discussed in GKC 452 §141.d, some examples of which may be seen in Ps 109:4 “I am prayer,” and Ps 120:7 “I am peace.”

[10:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Every man.” But in the context this is not a reference to all people without exception but to all idolaters. The referent is made explicit for the sake of clarity.

[10:14]  ³⁵ tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”

[10:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “There is no breath in them.” The referent is made explicit so that no one will mistakenly take it to refer to the idolaters or goldsmiths.

[10:15]  ³⁷ tn Or “objects of mockery.”

[14:22]  ³⁸ tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel), often translated “vanities”, is a common pejorative epithet for idols or false gods. See already in 8:19 and 10:8.

[14:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Is it not you, O Lord our God?” The words “who does” are supplied in the translation for English style.

[14:22]  ⁴⁰ tn The rhetorical negatives are balanced by a rhetorical positive.

[2:4]  ⁴¹ tn This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.

[2:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.”

[2:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”

[2:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26) and a delusion (Isa 66:3). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9; cf. Hab 2:3). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.

[2:4]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76.

[2:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “those who pay regard to.” The verbal root שָׁמַר (shamar, “to keep, to watch”) appears in the Piel stem only here in biblical Hebrew, meaning “to pay regard to” (BDB 1037 s.v. שָׁמַר). This is metonymical for the act of worship (e.g., Qal “to observe” = to worship, Ps 31:7).

[2:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “worthlessnesses of nothingness” or “vanities of emptiness.” The genitive construct הַבְלֵי־שָׁוְא (havle-shavÿ’) forms an attributive adjective expression: “empty worthlessness” or “worthless vanities.” This ironic reference to false gods is doubly insulting (e.g., Ps 31:7). The noun הֶבֶל (hevel, “vapor, breath”) is often used figuratively to describe what is insubstantial, empty, and futile (31 times in Eccl; see also, e.g., Pss 39:4-6, 11; 144:4; Prov 13:11; 21:6; Isa 30:7; 49:4). It often refers to idols – the epitome of emptiness, nothingness, and worthlessness (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26; Ps 31:7; Jer 8:19; 10:8, 15; 14:22; 16:19; 51:18). The noun שָׁוְא (“worthlessness, emptiness, nothingness”) describes what is ineffective and lacking reality (BDB 996 s.v. שָׁוְא; e.g., Exod 20:7; Pss 60:11; 127:1; Ezek 22:28). It is also often used to refer to idols (e.g., Ps 31:7; Jer 18:15; Hos 5:11).

[2:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “abandon their mercy/loyalty.” The meaning of חַסְדָּם יַעֲזֹבוּ (khasdam ya’azovu, “forsake their mercy/loyalty”) is greatly debated. There are two exegetical issues that are mutually related. First, does the noun חֶסֶד (khesed) here mean (1) “mercy, kindness” that man receives from God, or (2) “loyalty, faithfulness” that man must give to God (see BDB 338-39 s.v חֶסֶד; HALOT 336-37 s.v. חֶסֶד)? Second, the third masculine plural suffix on חַסְדָּם (“their loyalty/mercy”) has been taken as (1) subjective genitive, referring to the loyal allegiance they ought to display to the true God: “they abandon the loyalty they should show.” Examples of subjective genitives are: “This is your kindness (חַסְדֵּךְ, khasdek) which you must do for me: every place to which we come, say of me, ‘He is my brother’” (Gen 20:13; also cf. Gen 40:14; 1 Sam 20:14-15). Several English versions take this approach: “forsake their faithfulness” (NASB), “abandon their faithful love” (NJB), “abandon their loyalty” (NEB, REB), “forsake their true loyalty” (RSV, NRSV), “turn their backs on all God’s mercies” (NLT), “have abandoned their loyalty to you” (TEV). (2) This has also been taken as objective genitive, referring to the mercy they might have received from God: “they forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.” The ancient versions interpret חַסְדָּם in this sense: “they do not know the source of their welfare” (Tg. Jonah 2:8), “forsake the source of their welfare” (Vulgate), and “abandon their own mercy” (LXX). Several English versions follow this approach: “forsake their source of mercy” (NAB); “forfeit the grace that could be theirs” (NIV), “forsake their own welfare” (JPS, NJPS), “forsake their own mercy” (KJV, ASV), “forsake their own Mercy” (NKJV), “turn from the God who offers them mercy” (CEV). This is a difficult lexical/syntactical problem. On the one hand, the next line contrasts their failure with Jonah’s boast of loyalty to the true God – demonstrating that he, unlike pagan idolaters, deserves to be delivered. On the other hand, the only other use of חֶסֶד in the book refers to “mercy” God bestows (4:2) – something that Jonah did not believe that the (repentant) pagan idolaters had a right to receive. BDB 339 s.v. I חֶסֶד II takes this approach – “He is חַסְדָּם their goodness, favour Jonah 2:9” – and cites other examples of חֶסֶד with suffixes referring to God: חַסְדִּי (khasdi) “my kindness” = he shows kindness to me (Ps 144:2); and אֱלֹהֵי חַסְדִּי (’elohe khasdi) “the God of my kindness” = the God who shows kindness to me (Ps 59:18).

[1:21]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:22]  ⁵¹ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:23]  ⁵² tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ⁵³ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁵⁶ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

[1:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ⁵⁸ tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

[1:4]  ⁵⁹ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

[4:17]  ⁶⁰ tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.

[4:17]  ⁶¹ tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.

[4:17]  ⁶² tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”