Exodus 8:8

8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned ¹  Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray ²  to the Lord that he may take the frogs away ³  from me and my people, and I will release ⁴  the people that they may sacrifice ⁵  to the Lord.”

Exodus 8:15

8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, ⁶  he hardened ⁷  his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. ⁸ 

Psalms 66:3

66:3 Say to God:

“How awesome are your deeds!

Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear ⁹  before you.

Psalms 78:34-37

78:34 When he struck them down, ¹⁰  they sought his favor; ¹¹ 

they turned back and longed for God.

78:35 They remembered that God was their protector, ¹² 

and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. ¹³ 

78:36 But they deceived him with their words, ¹⁴ 

and lied to him. ¹⁵ 

78:37 They were not really committed to him, ¹⁶ 

and they were unfaithful to his covenant.

Jeremiah 42:20-21

42:20 You are making a fatal mistake. ¹⁷  For you sent me to the Lord your God and asked me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us what the Lord our God says and we will do it.’ ¹⁸  42:21 This day ¹⁹  I have told you what he said. ²⁰  But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. ²¹ 

Acts 5:3-4

5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled ²²  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of ²³  the land? 5:4 Before it was sold, ²⁴  did it not ²⁵  belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money ²⁶  not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? ²⁷  You have not lied to people ²⁸  but to God!”

Galatians 6:7

6:7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. ²⁹  For a person ³⁰  will reap what he sows,

[8:8]  ¹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has the meaning “to summon.”

[8:8]  ² tn The verb הַעְתִּירוּ (ha’tiru) is the Hiphil imperative of the verb עָתַר (’atar). It means “to pray, supplicate,” or “make supplication” – always addressed to God. It is often translated “entreat” to reflect that it is a more urgent praying.

[8:8]  ³ tn This form is the jussive with a sequential vav that provides the purpose of the prayer: pray…that he may turn away the frogs.

[8:8]  ⁴ tn The form is the Piel cohortative וַאֲשַׁלְּחָה (va’ashallÿkhah) with the vav (ו) continuing the sequence from the request and its purpose. The cohortative here stresses the resolve of the king: “and (then) I will release.”

[8:8]  ⁵ tn Here also the imperfect tense with the vav (ו) shows the purpose of the release: “that they may sacrifice.”

[8:15]  ⁶ tn The word רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah) means “respite, relief.” BDB 926 relates it to the verb רָוַח (ravakh, “to be wide, spacious”). There would be relief when there was freedom to move about.

[8:15]  ⁷ tn וְהַכְבֵּד (vÿhakhbed) is a Hiphil infinitive absolute, functioning as a finite verb. The meaning of the word is “to make heavy,” and so stubborn, sluggish, indifferent. It summarizes his attitude and the outcome, that he refused to keep his promises.

[8:15]  ⁸ sn The end of the plague revealed clearly God’s absolute control over Egypt’s life and deities – all at the power of the man who prayed to God. Yahweh had made life unpleasant for the people by sending the plague, but he was also the one who could remove it. The only recourse anyone has in such trouble is to pray to the sovereign Lord God. Everyone should know that there is no one like Yahweh.

[66:3]  ⁹ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).

[78:34]  ¹⁰ tn Or “killed them,” that is, killed large numbers of them.

[78:34]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they sought him.”

[78:35]  ¹² tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[78:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [that] God Most High [was] their redeemer.”

[78:36]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with their mouth.”

[78:36]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and with their tongue they lied to him.”

[78:37]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and their heart was not firm with him.”

[42:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you are erring at the cost of your own lives” (BDB 1073 s.v. תָּעָה Hiph.3 and HALOT 1626 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4, and cf. BDB 90 s.v. בְּ 3 and see parallels in 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Sam 23:17 for the nuance of “at the cost of your lives”). This fits the context better than “you are deceiving yourselves” (KBL 1035 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4). The reading here follows the Qere הִתְעֵיתֶם (hit’etem) rather than the Kethib which has a metathesis of י (yod) and ת (tav), i.e., הִתְעֵתֶים. The Greek text presupposes הֲרֵעֹתֶם (hare’otem, “you have done evil”), but that reading is generally rejected as secondary.

[42:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “According to all which the Lord our God says so tell us and we will do.” The restructuring of the sentence is intended to better reflect contemporary English style.

[42:21]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Today.”

[42:21]  ²⁰ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit and seem necessary for clarity.

[42:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “But you have not hearkened to the voice of [idiomatic for “obeyed” see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.m] the Lord your God, namely [cf. BDB 252 s.v. וְ 1.b] with respect [cf. BDB 514 s.v. לְ 5.f(c)] all which he has sent to us.” The verb is translated “don’t seem to want to obey” because they have not yet expressed their refusal or their actual disobedience. Several commentaries sensing this apparent discrepancy suggest that 42:19-22 are to be transposed after 43:1-3 (see, e.g., BHS note 18a, W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:275; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 252, 256, 258). However, there is absolutely no textual evidence for the transposition and little reason to suspect an early scribal error (in spite of Holladay’s suggestion). It is possible that Jeremiah here anticipates this answer in 43:1-3 through the response on their faces (so Bright, 256; F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 361). G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 249) also call attention to the stated intention in 41:17 and the fact that the strong warning in 42:15-17 seems to imply that a negative response is expected). The use of the perfect here is perhaps to be related to the perfect expressing resolve or determination (see IBHS 489 §30.5.1d). It is also conceivable that these two verses are part of a conditional sentence which has no formal introduction. I.e., “And if you will not obey…then you should know for certain that…” For examples of this kind of conditional clause introduced by two vavs (ו) see Joüon 2:628-29 §167.b, and compare Jer 18:4; Judg 6:13. However, though this interpretation is within the possibilities of Hebrew grammar, I know of no translation or commentary that follows it. So it has not been followed in the translation or given as an alternate translation.

[5:3]  ²² sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).

[5:3]  ²³ tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.

[5:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Remaining to you.”

[5:4]  ²⁵ tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).

[5:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ²⁷ tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.

[5:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.

[6:7]  ²⁹ tn Or “is not mocked,” “will not be ridiculed” (L&N 33.409). BDAG 660 s.v. μυκτηρίζω has “of God οὐ μ. he is not to be mocked, treated w. contempt, perh. outwitted Gal 6:7.”

[6:7]  ³⁰ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.