Exodus 14:17

14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ¹  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ²  they will come after them, that I may be honored ³  because ⁴  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Psalms 83:17-18

83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! ⁵ 

May they die in shame! ⁶ 

83:18 Then they will know ⁷  that you alone are the Lord, ⁸ 

the sovereign king ⁹  over all the earth.

Proverbs 16:4

16:4 The Lord works ¹⁰  everything for its own ends ¹¹  –

even the wicked for the day of disaster. ¹² 

Romans 9:17

9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ¹³  “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁴ 

Romans 9:22

9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ¹⁵  of wrath ¹⁶  prepared for destruction? ¹⁷ 

Romans 9:1

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ¹⁸ I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ¹⁹  in the Holy Spirit –

Romans 2:8

2:8 but ²⁰  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²¹  and do not obey the truth but follow ²²  unrighteousness.

Romans 2:19

2:19 and if you are convinced ²³  that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

Jude 1:4

1:4 For certain men ²⁴  have secretly slipped in among you ²⁵  – men who long ago ²⁶  were marked out ²⁷  for the condemnation I am about to describe ²⁸  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ²⁹  and who deny our only Master ³⁰  and Lord, ³¹  Jesus Christ.

[14:17]  ¹ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.

[14:17]  ² tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.

[14:17]  ³ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

[14:17]  ⁴ tn Or “I will get glory over.”

[83:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.

[83:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.

[83:18]  ⁷ tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.

[83:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the Lord, you alone.”

[83:18]  ⁹ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[16:4]  ¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated “works” (פָּעַל, pa’al) means “to work out; to bring about; to accomplish.” It is used of God’s sovereign control of life (e.g., Num 23:23; Isa 26:12).

[16:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for its answer.” The term לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lamma’anehu) has been taken to mean either “for his purpose” or “for its answer.” The Hebrew word is מַעֲנֶה (ma’aneh, “answer”) and not לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “purpose”). So the suffix likely refers to “everything” (כֹּל, kol). God ensures that everyone’s actions and the consequences of those actions correspond – certainly the wicked for the day of calamity. In God’s order there is just retribution for every act.

[16:4]  ¹² sn This is an example of synthetic parallelism (“A, what’s more B”). The A-line affirms a truth, and the B-line expands on it with a specific application about the wicked – whatever disaster comes their way is an appropriate correspondent for their life.

[9:17]  ¹³ sn Paul uses a typical rabbinic formula here in which the OT scriptures are figuratively portrayed as speaking to Pharaoh. What he means is that the scripture he cites refers (or can be applied) to Pharaoh.

[9:17]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Exod 9:16.

[9:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ¹⁶ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:1]  ¹⁸ sn Rom 9:1–11:36. These three chapters are among the most difficult and disputed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One area of difficulty is the relationship between Israel and the church, especially concerning the nature and extent of Israel’s election. Many different models have been constructed to express this relationship. For a representative survey, see M. Barth, The People of God (JSNTSup), 22-27. The literary genre of these three chapters has been frequently identified as a diatribe, a philosophical discussion or conversation evolved by the Cynic and Stoic schools of philosophy as a means of popularizing their ideas (E. Käsemann, Romans, 261 and 267). But other recent scholars have challenged the idea that Rom 9–11 is characterized by diatribe. Scholars like R. Scroggs and E. E. Ellis have instead identified the material in question as midrash. For a summary and discussion of the rabbinic connections, see W. R. Stegner, “Romans 9.6-29 – A Midrash,” JSNT 22 (1984): 37-52.

[9:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

[2:8]  ²⁰ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ²² tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:19]  ²³ tn This verb is parallel to the verbs in vv. 17-18a, so it shares the conditional meaning even though the word “if” is not repeated.

[1:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “people.” However, if Jude is indeed arguing that Peter’s prophecy about false teachers has come true, these are most likely men in the original historical and cultural setting. See discussion of this point in the note on the phrase “these men” in 2 Pet 2:12.

[1:4]  ²⁵ tn “Among you” is not in the Greek text, but is obviously implied.

[1:4]  ²⁶ tn Or “in the past.” The adverb πάλαι (palai) can refer to either, though the meaning “long ago” is more common.

[1:4]  ²⁷ tn Grk “written about.”

[1:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “for this condemnation.” τοῦτο (touto) is almost surely a kataphoric demonstrative pronoun, pointing to what follows in vv. 5-18. Otherwise, the condemnation is only implied (in v. 3b) or is merely a statement of their sinfulness (“ungodly” in v. 4b), not a judgment of it.

[1:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “debauchery.” This is the same word Peter uses to predict what the false teachers will be like (2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18).

[1:4]  ³⁰ tc Most later witnesses (P Ψ Ï sy) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) after δεσπότην (despothn, “master”), which appears to be a motivated reading in that it explicitly links “Master” to “God” in keeping with the normal NT pattern (see Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Tim 2:21; Rev 6:10). In patristic Greek, δεσπότης (despoth") was used especially of God (cf. BDAG 220 s.v. 1.b.). The earlier and better witnesses (Ì^72,78 א A B C 0251 33 81 323 1241 1739 al co) lack θεόν; the shorter reading is thus preferred on both internal and external grounds.

[1:4]  ³¹ tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1