Deuteronomy 7:17

7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?”

Deuteronomy 8:17

8:17 Be careful ¹  not to say, “My own ability and skill ²  have gotten me this wealth.”

Deuteronomy 18:21

18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, ³  ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ ⁴  –

Isaiah 47:8

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ⁵ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ⁶ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ⁷ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ⁸ 

Zephaniah 1:12

1:12 At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.

I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ⁹ 

those who think to themselves, ¹⁰ 

‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ¹¹ 

Luke 5:21-22

5:21 Then ¹²  the experts in the law ¹³  and the Pharisees began to think ¹⁴  to themselves, ¹⁵  “Who is this man ¹⁶  who is uttering blasphemies? ¹⁷  Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 5:22 When Jesus perceived ¹⁸  their hostile thoughts, ¹⁹  he said to them, ²⁰  “Why are you raising objections ²¹  within yourselves?

[8:17]  ¹ tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.

[8:17]  ² tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”

[18:21]  ³ tn Heb “in your heart.”

[18:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “know the word which the Lord has not spoken.” The issue here is not understanding the meaning of the message, but distinguishing a genuine prophetic word from a false one.

[47:8]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[1:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “who thicken on their sediment.” The imagery comes from wine making, where the wine, if allowed to remain on the sediment too long, will thicken into syrup. The image suggests that the people described here were complacent in their sinful behavior and interpreted the delay in judgment as divine apathy.

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who say in their hearts.”

[1:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The Lord does not do good nor does he do evil.”

[5:21]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:21]  ¹³ tn Or “Then the scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[5:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to reason” (in a hostile sense). See G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:97.

[5:21]  ¹⁵ tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[5:21]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “this one” (οὗτος, Joutos).

[5:21]  ¹⁷ sn Uttering blasphemies meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[5:22]  ¹⁸ sn Jesus often perceived people’s thoughts in Luke; see 4:23; 6:8; 7:40; 9:47. Such a note often precedes a rebuke.

[5:22]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “reasonings.” This is the noun form of the infinitive διαλογίζεσθαι (dialogizesqai, “began to reason to themselves”) used in v. 21. Jesus’ reply to them in the latter part of the present verse makes clear that these reasonings were mental and internal, so the translation “thoughts” was used here. On the hostile or evil nature of these thoughts, see G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:97.

[5:22]  ²⁰ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation.

[5:22]  ²¹ tn The Greek verb διαλογίζεσθε (dialogizesqe, “you reason”), used in context with διαλογισμούς (dialogismous, “reasonings”), connotes more than neutral reasoning or thinking. While the verb can refer to normal “reasoning,” “discussion,” or “reflection” in the NT, its use here in Luke 5:22, alongside the noun – which is regularly used with a negative sense in the NT (cf. Matt 15:19; Mark 7:21; Luke 2:35, 6:8, 9:47; Rom 1:21; 1 Cor 3:20; G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:96-97; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:484) – suggests the idea of “contention.” Therefore, in order to reflect the hostility evident in the reasoning of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the verb has been translated as “raising objections.”