Deuteronomy 4:27

4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you ¹  among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Deuteronomy 4:2

4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to ²  you.

Deuteronomy 17:6-7

17:6 At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses ³  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ⁴  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Isaiah 11:11

11:11 At that time ⁵  the sovereign master ⁶  will again lift his hand ⁷  to reclaim ⁸  the remnant of his people ⁹  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ¹⁰  Cush, ¹¹  Elam, Shinar, ¹²  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 24:9

24:9 I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ¹⁴  That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them. ¹⁵ 

Amos 9:9

9:9 “For look, I am giving a command

and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.

It will resemble a sieve being shaken,

when not even a pebble falls to the ground. ¹⁶ 

Acts 2:5-11

2:5 Now there were devout Jews ¹⁷  from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. ¹⁸  2:6 When this sound ¹⁹  occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, ²⁰  because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 2:7 Completely baffled, they said, ²¹  “Aren’t ²²  all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that each one of us hears them ²³  in our own native language? ²⁴  2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, ²⁵  2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, ²⁶  and visitors from Rome, ²⁷  2:11 both Jews and proselytes, ²⁸  Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!” ²⁹ 

[4:27]  ¹ tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”

[4:2]  ² tn Heb “commanding.”

[17:7]  ³ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[17:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”

[11:11]  ⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:11]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).

[11:11]  ⁸ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹² tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[24:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “an object of reproach in peoples’ proverbs…an object of ridicule in people’s curses.” The alternate translation treats the two pairs which are introduced without vavs (ו) but are joined by vavs as examples of hendiadys. This is very possible here but the chain does not contain this pairing in 25:18; 29:18.

[24:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will make them for a terror for disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, for a reproach and for a proverb, for a taunt and a curse in all the places which I banish them there.” The complex Hebrew sentence has been broken down into equivalent shorter sentences to conform more with contemporary English style.

[9:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like being shaken with a sieve, and a pebble does not fall to the ground.” The meaning of the Hebrew word צְרוֹר (tsÿror), translated “pebble,” is unclear here. In 2 Sam 17:13 it appears to refer to a stone. If it means “pebble,” then the sieve described in v. 6 allows the grain to fall into a basket while retaining the debris and pebbles. However, if one interprets צְרוֹר as a “kernel of grain” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT) then the sieve is constructed to retain the grain and allow the refuse and pebbles to fall to the ground. In either case, the simile supports the last statement in v. 8 by making it clear that God will distinguish between the righteous (the grain) and the wicked (the pebbles) when he judges, and will thereby preserve a remnant in Israel. Only the sinners will be destroyed (v. 10).

[2:5]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Jews, devout men.” It is possible that only men are in view here in light of OT commands for Jewish men to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at various times during the year (cf. Exod 23:17, 34:23; Deut 16:16). However, other evidence seems to indicate that both men and women might be in view. Luke 2:41-52 shows that whole families would make the temporary trip to Jerusalem. In addition, it is probable that the audience consisted of families who had taken up permanent residence in Jerusalem. The verb κατοικέω (katoikew) normally means “reside” or “dwell,” and archaeological evidence from tombs in Jerusalem does indicate that many families immigrated to Jerusalem permanently (see B. Witherington, Acts, 135); this would naturally include women. Also, the word ἀνήρ (ajnhr), which usually does mean “male” or “man” (as opposed to woman), sometimes is used generically to mean “a person” (BDAG 79 s.v. 2; cf. Matt 12:41). Given this evidence, then, it is conceivable that the audience in view here is not individual male pilgrims but a mixed group of men and women.

[2:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Now there were residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.”

[2:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or “this noise.”

[2:6]  ²⁰ tn Or “was bewildered.”

[2:7]  ²¹ tn Grk “They were astounded and amazed, saying.” The two imperfect verbs, ἐξίσταντο (existanto) and ἐθαύμαζον (eqaumazon), show both the surprise and the confusion on the part of the hearers. The verb ἐξίσταντο (from ἐξίστημι, existhmi) often implies an illogical perception or response (BDAG 350 s.v. ἐξίστημι): “to be so astonished as to almost fail to comprehend what one has experienced” (L&N 25.218).

[2:7]  ²² tn Grk “Behold, aren’t all these.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[2:8]  ²³ tn Grk “we hear them, each one of us.”

[2:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “in our own language in which we were born.”

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn According to BDAG 595 s.v. Λιβύη, the western part of Libya, Libya Cyrenaica, is referred to here (see also Josephus, Ant. 16.6.1 [16.160] for a similar phrase).

[2:10]  ²⁷ map For location see JP4 A1.

[2:11]  ²⁸ sn Proselytes refers to Gentile (i.e., non-Jewish) converts to Judaism.

[2:11]  ²⁹ tn Or “God’s mighty works.” Here the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a subjective genitive.