Ecclesiastes 9:12

9:12 Surely, no one ¹  knows his appointed time! ² 

Like fish that are caught in a deadly ³  net, and like birds that are caught in a snare –

just like them, all people ⁴  are ensnared ⁵  at an unfortunate ⁶  time that falls upon them suddenly.

Isaiah 37:3

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ⁷  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ⁸  and humiliation, ⁹  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ¹⁰ 

Micah 2:3

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ¹¹ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ¹² 

You will no longer ¹³  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Habakkuk 3:16

Habakkuk Declares His Confidence

3:16 I listened and my stomach churned; ¹⁴ 

the sound made my lips quiver.

My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, ¹⁵ 

and I shook as I tried to walk. ¹⁶ 

I long ¹⁷  for the day of distress

to come upon ¹⁸  the people who attack us.

Zephaniah 2:2-3

2:2 before God’s decree becomes reality ¹⁹  and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, ²⁰ 

before the Lord’s raging anger ²¹  overtakes ²²  you –

before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ²³  all you humble people ²⁴  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ²⁵ 

Strive to do what is right! ²⁶  Strive to be humble! ²⁷ 

Maybe you will be protected ²⁸  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Ephesians 5:15-16

Live Wisely

5:15 Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, 5:16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 6:13

6:13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground ²⁹  on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6:2

6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” ³⁰  which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

Ephesians 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ³¹  for the sake of you Gentiles –

[9:12]  ¹ tn Heb “man.” The term is used here in a generic sense and translated “no one.”

[9:12]  ² tn Heb “time.” BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.d suggests that עֵת (’et, “time”) refers to an “uncertain time.” On the other hand, HALOT 901 s.v. עֵת 6 nuances it as “destined time,” that is, “no one knows his destined time [i.e., hour of destiny].” It is used in parallelism with זְמָן (zÿman, “appointed time; appointed hour”) in 3:1 (HALOT 273 s.v. זְמָן; BDB 273 s.v. זְמָן). Eccl 3:9-15 teaches God’s sovereignty over the appointed time-table of human events. Similarly, Qoheleth here notes that no one knows what God has appointed in any situation or time. This highlights the limitations of human wisdom and human ability, as 9:11 stresses.

[9:12]  ³ tn Heb “bad, evil.” The moral connotation hardly fits here. The adjective would seem to indicate that the net is the instrument whereby the fish come to ruin.

[9:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[9:12]  ⁵ tn The Masoretes pointed the consonantal form יוקשׁים (“are ensnared”) as יוּקָשִׁים (yuqashim, Pual participle mpl from ַָיקֹשׁ, yaqosh, “to be ensnared”). This is an unusual form for a Pual participle: (1) The characteristic doubling of the middle consonant was omitted due to the lengthening of the preceding short vowel from יֻקָּשִׁים to יוּקָשִׁים (GKC 74 §20.n and 143 §52.s), and (2) The characteristic prefix מְ (mem) is absent, as in a few other Pual participles, e.g., Exod 3:2; Judg 13:8; 2 Kgs 2:10; Isa 30:24; 54:11 (GKC 143 §52.s). On the other hand, the consonant form יוקשים might actually be an example of the old Qal passive participle which dropped out of Hebrew at an early stage, and was frequently mistaken by the Masoretes as a Pual form (e.g., Jer 13:10; 23:32) (GKC 143 §52.s). Similarly, the Masoretes pointed אכל as אֻכָּל (’ukkal, Pual perfect 3rd person masculine singular “he was eaten”); however, it probably should be pointed אֻכַל (’ukhal, old Qal passive perfect 3rd person masculine singular “he was eaten”) because אָכַל (’akhal) only occurs in the Qal (see IBHS 373-74 §22.6a).

[9:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “evil.” The term רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil; unfortunate”) is repeated in v. 12 in the two parts of the comparison: “fish are caught in an evil (רָעָה) net” and “men are ensnared at an unfortunate (רָעָה) time.”

[37:3]  ⁷ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

[37:3]  ⁸ tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

[37:3]  ⁹ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

[37:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ¹² tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ¹³ tn Or “you will not.”

[3:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my insides trembled.”

[3:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”

[3:16]  ¹⁶ tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.

[3:16]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).

[3:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to come up toward.”

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “before the giving birth of a decree.” For various alternative readings, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 187-88.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn The second half of the line reads literally, “like chaff it passes by a day.” The translation above assumes the “day” is the brief time God is giving the nation to repent. The comparison of this quickly passing opportunity to chaff is consistent with the straw imagery of v. 1.

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “the fury of the anger of the Lord.” The synonyms are combined to emphasize the extreme degree of the Lord’s anger.

[2:2]  ²² tn Heb “comes upon.” This phrase occurs twice in this verse.

[2:3]  ²³ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ²⁴ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ²⁵ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[6:13]  ²⁹ tn The term ἀνθίστημι (anqisthmi) carries the idea of resisting or opposing something or someone (BDAG 80 s.v.). In Eph 6:13, when used in combination with στῆναι (sthnai; cf. also στῆτε [sthte] in v. 14) and in a context of battle imagery, it seems to have the idea of resisting, standing firm, and being able to stand your ground.

[6:2]  ³⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.

[3:1]  ³¹ tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.