Exodus 15:9-10

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ¹  I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire ²  will be satisfied on them.

I will draw ³  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ⁴ 

15:10 But ⁵  you blew with your breath, and ⁶  the sea covered them.

They sank ⁷  like lead in the mighty waters.

Joshua 8:20-22

8:20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw ⁸  the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. ⁹  In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers. 8:21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke, ¹⁰  they turned around and struck down the men of Ai. 8:22 At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. ¹¹  The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.

Jude 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ¹²  a slave ¹³  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ¹⁴  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ¹⁵  God the Father and kept for ¹⁶  Jesus Christ.

Jude 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ¹⁷  a slave ¹⁸  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ¹⁹  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ²⁰  God the Father and kept for ²¹  Jesus Christ. 1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ²² 

Jude 1:19-21

1:19 These people are divisive, ²³  worldly, ²⁴  devoid of the Spirit. ²⁵  1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ²⁶  1:21 maintain ²⁷  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ²⁸  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ²⁹ 

Psalms 73:18-20

73:18 Surely ³⁰  you put them in slippery places;

you bring them down ³¹  to ruin.

73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! ³² 

73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. ³³ 

O Lord, when you awake ³⁴  you will despise them. ³⁵ 

Proverbs 29:1

29:1 The one who stiffens his neck ³⁶  after numerous rebukes ³⁷ 

will suddenly be destroyed ³⁸  without remedy. ³⁹ 

Isaiah 30:13

30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.

You will be like a high wall

that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;

it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ⁴⁰ 

Luke 17:27-29

17:27 People ⁴¹  were eating, ⁴²  they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage – right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then ⁴³  the flood came and destroyed them all. ⁴⁴  17:28 Likewise, just as it was ⁴⁵  in the days of Lot, people ⁴⁶  were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 17:29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ⁴⁷ 

Luke 21:34-35

Be Ready!

21:34 “But be on your guard ⁴⁸  so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. ⁴⁹  21:35 For ⁵⁰  it will overtake ⁵¹  all who live on the face of the whole earth. ⁵² 

Acts 12:22-23

12:22 But the crowd ⁵³  began to shout, ⁵⁴  “The voice of a god, ⁵⁵  and not of a man!” 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ⁵⁶  struck ⁵⁷  Herod ⁵⁸  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ⁵⁹ 

Acts 13:41

13:41 ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! ⁶⁰ 

For I am doing a work in your days,

a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’” ⁶¹ 

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ⁶²  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ⁶³  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 1:9

1:9 After ⁶⁴  he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Acts 1:2

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ⁶⁵  after he had given orders ⁶⁶  by ⁶⁷  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Acts 2:4

2:4 All ⁶⁸  of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages ⁶⁹  as the Spirit enabled them. ⁷⁰ 

Revelation 18:7-8

18:7 As much as ⁷¹  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ⁷²  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ⁷³  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’ 18:8 For this reason, she will experience her plagues ⁷⁴  in a single day: disease, ⁷⁵  mourning, ⁷⁶  and famine, and she will be burned down ⁷⁷  with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”

[15:9]  ¹ sn W. C. Kaiser observes the staccato phrases that almost imitate the heavy, breathless heaving of the Egyptians as, with what reserve of strength they have left, they vow, “I will…, I will…, I will…” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:395).

[15:9]  ² tn The form is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”). But this word refers to the whole person, the body and the soul, or better, a bundle of appetites in a body. It therefore can figuratively refer to the desires or appetites (Deut 12:15; 14:26; 23:24). Here, with the verb “to be full” means “to be satisfied”; the whole expression might indicate “I will be sated with them” or “I will gorge myself.” The greedy appetite was to destroy.

[15:9]  ³ tn The verb רִיק (riq) means “to be empty” in the Qal, and in the Hiphil “to empty.” Here the idea is to unsheathe a sword.

[15:9]  ⁴ tn The verb is יָרַשׁ (yarash), which in the Hiphil means “to dispossess” or “root out.” The meaning “destroy” is a general interpretation.

[15:10]  ⁵ tn “But” has been supplied here.

[15:10]  ⁶ tn Here “and” has been supplied.

[15:10]  ⁷ tn The verb may have the idea of sinking with a gurgling sound, like water going into a whirlpool (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 124; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 136). See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, “The Song of Miriam,” JNES 14 (1955): 243-47.

[8:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they saw, and look.” The Hebrew term הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to the scene and invites the audience to view the events from the perspective of the men of Ai.

[8:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.”

[8:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and that the smoke of the city ascended.”

[8:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and these went out from the city to meet them and they were for Israel in the middle, some on this side, and others on the other side.”

[1:1]  ¹² tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹³ tn 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.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. 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]  ¹⁴ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn 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.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. 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]  ¹⁹ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ²¹ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[1:2]  ²² tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:19]  ²³ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ²⁴ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:20]  ²⁶ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ²⁸ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ²⁹ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[73:18]  ³⁰ tn The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.

[73:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “cause them to fall.”

[73:19]  ³² tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”

[73:20]  ³³ tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.

[73:20]  ³⁴ sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.

[73:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.

[29:1]  ³⁶ tn The idiom “to harden the neck” (מַקְשֶׁה־עֹרֶף, maqsheh-’oref) is the idea of resisting the rebukes and persisting in obstinacy (e.g., Exod 32:9). The opposite of a “stiff neck” would be the bending back, i.e., submission.

[29:1]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew construction is אִישׁ תּוֹכָחוֹת (’ish tokhakhot, “a man of rebukes”), meaning “a man who has (or receives) many rebukes.” This describes a person who is deserving of punishment and who has been given many warnings. The text says, then, “a man of rebukes hardening himself.”

[29:1]  ³⁸ sn The stubborn person refuses to listen; he will suddenly be destroyed when the calamity strikes (e.g., Prov 6:15; 13:18; 15:10).

[29:1]  ³⁹ tn Or “healing” (NRSV).

[30:13]  ⁴⁰ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

[17:27]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “They.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

[17:27]  ⁴² tn These verbs (“eating… drinking… marrying… being given in marriage”) are all progressive imperfects, describing action in progress at that time.

[17:27]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:27]  ⁴⁴ sn Like that flood came and destroyed them all, the coming judgment associated with the Son of Man will condemn many.

[17:28]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “as it happened.”

[17:28]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “they.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

[17:29]  ⁴⁷ sn And destroyed them all. The coming of the Son of Man will be like the judgment on Sodom, one of the most immoral places of the OT (Gen 19:16-17; Deut 32:32-33; Isa 1:10).

[21:34]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “watch out for yourselves.”

[21:34]  ⁴⁹ sn Or like a thief, see Luke 12:39-40. The metaphor of a trap is a vivid one. Most modern English translations traditionally place the words “like a trap” at the end of v. 34, completing the metaphor. In the Greek text (and in the NRSV and REB) the words “like a trap” are placed at the beginning of v. 35. This does not affect the meaning.

[21:35]  ⁵⁰ tn There is debate in the textual tradition about the position of γάρ (gar) and whether v. 35 looks back to v. 34 or is independent. The textual evidence does slightly favor placing γάρ after the verb and thus linking it back to v. 34. The other reading looks like Isa 24:17. However, the construction is harsh and the translation prefers for stylistic reasons to start a new English sentence here.

[21:35]  ⁵¹ tn Or “come upon.”

[21:35]  ⁵² sn This judgment involves everyone: all who live on the face of the whole earth. No one will escape this evaluation.

[12:22]  ⁵³ tn The translation “crowd” is given by BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος; the word often means a gathering of citizens to conduct public business. Here it is simply the group of people gathered to hear the king’s speech.

[12:22]  ⁵⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἐπεφώνει (epefwnei) is taken ingressively in the sequence of events. Presumably the king had started his speech when the crowd began shouting.

[12:22]  ⁵⁵ sn The voice of a god. Contrast the response of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:13-15.

[12:23]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ⁵⁷ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ⁵⁹ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).

[13:41]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “and die!”

[13:41]  ⁶¹ sn A quotation from Hab 1:5. The irony in the phrase even if someone tells you, of course, is that Paul has now told them. So the call in the warning is to believe or else face the peril of being scoffers whom God will judge. The parallel from Habakkuk is that the nation failed to see how Babylon’s rising to power meant perilous judgment for Israel.

[13:2]  ⁶² tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ⁶³ tn Or “Appoint.”

[1:9]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:2]  ⁶⁵ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

[1:2]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

[1:2]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “through.”

[2:4]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[2:4]  ⁶⁹ tn The Greek term is γλώσσαις (glwssai"), the same word used for the tongues of fire.

[2:4]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “just as the spirit gave them to utter.” The verb ἀποφθέγγομαι (apofqengomai) was used of special utterances in Classical Greek (BDAG 125 s.v.).

[18:7]  ⁷¹ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

[18:7]  ⁷² tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:7]  ⁷³ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.

[18:8]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “For this reason, her plagues will come.”

[18:8]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[18:8]  ⁷⁶ tn This is the same Greek word (πένθος, penqo") translated “grief” in vv. 7-8.

[18:8]  ⁷⁷ tn Here “burned down” was used to translate κατακαυθήσεται (katakauqhsetai) because a city is in view.