Exodus 23:15

23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days ¹  you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time ²  you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before ³  me empty-handed.

Exodus 34:20

34:20 Now the firstling ⁴  of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. ⁵  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

“No one will appear before me empty-handed. ⁶ 

Exodus 34:1

The New Tablets of the Covenant

34:1 ⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “Cut out ⁸  two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write ⁹  on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you smashed.

Exodus 29:3-9

29:3 You are to put them in one basket and present ¹⁰  them in the basket, along with ¹¹  the bull and the two rams.

29:4 “You are to present ¹²  Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. You are to wash ¹³  them with water 29:5 and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, ¹⁴  the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband. ¹⁵  29:6 You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem ¹⁶  on the turban. 29:7 You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ¹⁷  29:8 You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics 29:9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons ¹⁸  and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate ¹⁹  Aaron and his sons.

Exodus 29:14-17

29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up ²⁰  outside the camp. ²¹  It is the purification offering. ²² 

29:15 “You are to take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head, 29:16 and you are to kill the ram and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar. 29:17 Then you are to cut the ram into pieces and wash the entrails and its legs and put them on its pieces and on its head

Psalms 96:8

96:8 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves! ²³ 

Bring an offering and enter his courts!

Proverbs 3:9-10

3:9 Honor ²⁴  the Lord from your wealth

and from the first fruits of all your crops; ²⁵ 

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely, ²⁶ 

and your vats ²⁷  will overflow ²⁸  with new wine.

Isaiah 23:18

23:18 Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes. ²⁹ 

Isaiah 60:6-9

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ³⁰ 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ³¹  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ³² 

60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ³³ 

They will go up on my altar acceptably, ³⁴ 

and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

60:8 Who are these who float along ³⁵  like a cloud,

who fly like doves to their shelters? ³⁶ 

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ³⁷  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ³⁸  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ³⁹ 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁴⁰  for he has bestowed honor on you.

Haggai 1:9

1:9 ‘You expected a large harvest, but instead ⁴¹  there was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared right away. ⁴²  Why?’ asks the Lord who rules over all. ‘Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house! ⁴³ 

Matthew 2:11

2:11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down ⁴⁴  and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, ⁴⁵  and myrrh. ⁴⁶ 

Mark 12:3

12:3 But ⁴⁷  those tenants ⁴⁸  seized his slave, ⁴⁹  beat him, ⁵⁰  and sent him away empty-handed. ⁵¹ 

[23:15]  ¹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[23:15]  ² tn Heb “in it.”

[23:15]  ³ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here – no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).

[34:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the one that opens [the womb of] the donkey.”

[34:20]  ⁵ sn See G. Brin, “The Firstling of Unclean Animals,” JQR 68 (1971): 1-15.

[34:20]  ⁶ tn The form is the adverb “empty.”

[34:1]  ⁷ sn The restoration of the faltering community continues in this chapter. First, Moses is instructed to make new tablets and take them to the mountain (1-4). Then, through the promised theophany God proclaims his moral character (5-8). Moses responds with the reiteration of the intercession (8), and God responds with the renewal of the covenant (10-28). To put these into expository form, as principles, the chapter would run as follows: I. God provides for spiritual renewal (1-4), II. God reminds people of his moral standard (5-9), III. God renews his covenant promises and stipulations (10-28).

[34:1]  ⁸ tn The imperative is followed by the preposition with a suffix expressing the ethical dative; it strengthens the instruction for Moses. Interestingly, the verb “cut out, chisel, hew,” is the same verb from which the word for a “graven image” is derived – פָּסַל (pasal).

[34:1]  ⁹ tn The perfect tense with vav consecutive makes the value of this verb equal to an imperfect tense, probably a simple future here.

[29:3]  ¹⁰ tn The verb קָרַב (qarav) in the Hiphil means to “bring near” to the altar, or, to offer something to God. These gifts will, therefore, be offered to him for the service of this ritual.

[29:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and with.”

[29:4]  ¹² tn Here too the verb is Hiphil (now imperfect) meaning “bring near” the altar. The choice of this verb indicates that they were not merely being brought near, but that they were being formally presented to Yahweh as the offerings were.

[29:4]  ¹³ sn This is the washing referred to in Lev 8:6. This is a complete washing, not just of the hands and feet that would follow in the course of service. It had to serve as a symbolic ritual cleansing or purifying as the initial stage in the consecration. The imagery of washing will be used in the NT for regeneration (Titus 3:5).

[29:5]  ¹⁴ tn The Hiphil of לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe”) will take double accusatives; so the sign of the accusative is with Aaron, and then with the articles of clothing. The translation will have to treat Aaron as the direct object and the articles as indirect objects, because Aaron receives the prominence in the verse – you will clothe Aaron.

[29:5]  ¹⁵ tn The verb used in this last clause is a denominative verb from the word for ephod. And so “ephod the ephod on him” means “fasten as an ephod the ephod on him” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 316).

[29:6]  ¹⁶ sn This term does not appear in chap. 28, but it can only refer to the plate with the inscription on it that was tied to the turban. Here it is called a “holy diadem,” a diadem that is distinctly set apart for this service. All the clothing was described as “holy garments,” and so they were all meant to mark the separation of the priests to this holy service. The items of clothing were each intended for different aspects of ministry, and so this step in the consecration was designed to symbolize being set apart for those duties, or, prepared (gifted) to perform the ministry.

[29:7]  ¹⁷ sn The act of anointing was meant to set him apart for this holy service within the house of Yahweh. The psalms indicate that no oil was spared in this ritual, for it ran down his beard and to the hem of his garment. Oil of anointing was used for all major offices (giving the label with the passive adjective “mashiah” (or “messiah”) to anyone anointed. In the further revelation of Scripture, the oil came to signify the enablement as well as the setting apart, and often the Holy Spirit came on the person at the anointing with oil. The olive oil was a symbol of the Spirit in the OT as well (Zech 4:4-6). And in the NT “anointing” signifies empowerment by the Holy Spirit for service.

[29:9]  ¹⁸ tc Hebrew has both the objective pronoun “them” and the names “Aaron and his sons.” Neither the LXX nor Leviticus 8:13 has “Aaron and his sons,” suggesting that this may have been a later gloss in the text.

[29:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and you will fill the hand” and so “consecrate” or “ordain.” The verb draws together the individual acts of the process.

[29:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:14]  ²¹ sn This is to be done because there is no priesthood yet. Once they are installed, then the sin/purification offering is to be eaten by the officiating priests as a sign that the offering was received. But priests could not consume their own sin offering.

[29:14]  ²² sn There were two kinds of “purification offering,” those made with confession for sin and those made without. The title needs to cover both of them, and if it is called in the traditional way “the sin offering,” that will convey that when people offered it for skin diseases, menstruation, or having babies, they had sinned. That was not the case. Moreover, it is usual to translate the names of the sacrifices by what they do more than what they cover – so peace offering, reparation offering, and purification offering.

[96:8]  ²³ tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., “due”] his name.”

[3:9]  ²⁴ tn The imperative כַּבֵּד (kabbed, “honor”) functions as a command, instruction, counsel or exhortation. To honor God means to give him the rightful place of authority by rendering to him gifts of tribute. One way to acknowledge God in one’s ways (v. 6) is to honor him with one’s wealth (v. 9).

[3:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “produce.” The noun תְּבוּאָה (tÿvu’ah) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “product; yield” of the earth (= crops; harvest) and (2) “income; revenue” in general (BDB 100 s.v.). The imagery in vv. 9-10 is agricultural; however, all Israelites – not just farmers – were expected to give the best portion (= first fruits) of their income to Lord.

[3:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “with plenty” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “to overflowing.” The noun שָׂבָע (sava’, “plenty; satiety”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or contents: “completely.”

[3:10]  ²⁷ sn This pictures the process of pressing grapes in which the upper receptacle is filled with grapes and the lower one catches the juice. The harvest of grapes will be so plentiful that the lower vat will overflow with grape juice. The pictures in v. 10 are metonymies of effect for cause (= the great harvest that God will provide when they honor him).

[3:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “burst open.” The verb פָּרַץ (parats, “to burst open”) functions as hyperbole here to emphasize the fullness of the wine vats (BDB 829 s.v. 9).

[23:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for eating to fullness and for beautiful covering[s].”

[60:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

[60:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

[60:6]  ³² tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

[60:7]  ³³ tn Heb “will serve you,” i.e., be available as sacrifices (see the next line). Another option is to understood these “rams” as symbolic of leaders who will be subject to the people of Zion. See v. 10.

[60:7]  ³⁴ tc Heb “they will go up on acceptance [on] my altar.” Some have suggested that the preposition עַל (’al) is dittographic (note the preceding יַעֲלוּ [ya’alu]). Consequently, the form should be emended to לְרָצוֹן (lÿratson, “acceptably”; see BDB 953 s.v. רָצוֹן). However, the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has both לרצון followed by the preposition על, which would argue against deleted the preposition. As the above translation seeks to demonstrate, the preposition עַל (’al) indicates a norm (“in accordance with acceptance” or “acceptably”; IBHS 218 §11.2.13e, n. 111) and the “altar” functions as an objective accusative with a verb of motion (cf. Gen 49:4; Lev 2:2; Num 13:17; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:534, n. 14).

[60:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “fly” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “fly along.”

[60:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to their windows,” i.e., to the openings in their coops. See HALOT 83 s.v. אֲרֻבָּה.

[60:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁴⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “look!” (הִנֵּה, hinneh). The term, an interjection, draws attention to the point being made.

[1:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “I blew it away” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT). The imagery here suggests that human achievements are so fragile and temporal that a mere breath from God can destroy them (see Ezek 22:20, 21; and Isa 40:7 with נָשַׁב, nashav).

[1:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and each of you runs to his own house”; NIV “is busy with”; TEV “is busy working on”; NCV “work hard for.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “they fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁵ sn Frankincense refers to the aromatic resin of certain trees, used as a sweet-smelling incense (L&N 6.212).

[2:11]  ⁴⁶ sn Myrrh consisted of the aromatic resin of certain shrubs (L&N 6.208). It was used in preparing a corpse for burial.

[12:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[12:3]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “But they”; the referent (the tenants, v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:3]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “seizing him, they beat and sent away empty-handed.” The referent of the direct object of “seizing” (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The objects of the verbs “beat” and “sent away” have been supplied in the translation to conform to English style. Greek often omits direct objects when they are clear from the context.

[12:3]  ⁵⁰ sn The image of the tenants beating up the owner’s slave pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[12:3]  ⁵¹ sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.