Deuteronomy 4:30

4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, ¹  if you return to the Lord your God and obey him ² 

Genesis 49:1

The Blessing of Jacob

49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you ³  what will happen to you in the future. ⁴ 

Job 19:25

19:25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer ⁵  lives,

and that as the last ⁶ 

he will stand upon the earth. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 38:8

38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, ⁸  with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people ⁹  were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely.

Ezekiel 38:1

A Prophecy Against Gog

38:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 4:1-2

Ominous Object Lessons

4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick ¹⁰  and set it in front of you. Inscribe ¹¹  a city on it – Jerusalem. 4:2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp ¹²  against it! Post soldiers outside it ¹³  and station battering rams around it.

Ezekiel 3:1

3:1 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you ¹⁴  – eat this scroll – and then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

Hebrews 1:2

1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, ¹⁵  whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ¹⁶ 

Hebrews 1:2

1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, ¹⁷  whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ¹⁸ 

Hebrews 3:3

3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!

[4:30]  ¹ sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.

[4:30]  ² tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.

[49:1]  ³ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

[49:1]  ⁴ tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.

[19:25]  ⁵ tn Or “my Vindicator.” The word is the active participle from גָּאַל (ga’al, “to redeem, protect, vindicate”). The word is well-known in the OT because of its identification as the kinsman-redeemer (see the Book of Ruth). This is the near kinsman who will pay off one’s debts, defend the family, avenge a killing, marry the widow of the deceased. The word “redeemer” evokes the wrong connotation for people familiar with the NT alone; a translation of “Vindicator” would capture the idea more. The concept might include the description of the mediator already introduced in Job 16:19, but surely here Job is thinking of God as his vindicator. The interesting point to be stressed here is that Job has said clearly that he sees no vindication in this life, that he is going to die. But he knows he will be vindicated, and even though he will die, his vindicator lives. The dilemma remains though: his distress lay in God’s hiding his face from him, and his vindication lay only in beholding God in peace.

[19:25]  ⁶ tn The word אַחֲרוּן (’akharon, “last”) has triggered a good number of interpretations. Here it is an adjectival form and not adverbial; it is an epithet of the vindicator. Some commentators, followed by the RSV, change the form to make it adverbial, and translate it “at last.” T. H. Gaster translates it “even if he were the last person to exist” (“Short notes,” VT 4 [1954]: 78).

[19:25]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew has “and he will rise/stand upon [the] dust.” The verb קוּם (qum) is properly “to rise; to arise,” and certainly also can mean “to stand.” Both English ideas are found in the verb. The concept here is that of God rising up to mete out justice. And so to avoid confusion with the idea of resurrection (which although implicit in these words which are pregnant with theological ideas yet to be revealed, is not explicitly stated or intended in this context) the translation “stand” has been used. The Vulgate had “I will rise,” which introduced the idea of Job’s resurrection. The word “dust” is used as in 41:33. The word “dust” is associated with death and the grave, the very earthly particles. Job assumes that God will descend from heaven to bring justice to the world. The use of the word also hints that this will take place after Job has died and returned to dust. Again, the words of Job come to mean far more than he probably understood.

[38:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the sword.”

[38:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “it.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13 1/2 inches wide.

[4:1]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps “draw.”

[4:2]  ¹² tn Or “a barricade.”

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “set camps against it.”

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “eat what you find.”

[1:2]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.

[1:2]  ¹⁷ tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).

[1:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.