Exodus 9:11

9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

Genesis 41:8

41:8 In the morning he ¹  was troubled, so he called for ²  all the diviner-priests ³  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ⁴  but no one could interpret ⁵  them for him. ⁶ 

Isaiah 19:12

19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? ⁷ 

Let them tell you, let them find out

what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

Isaiah 47:12-13

47:12 Persist ⁸  in trusting ⁹  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ¹⁰  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ¹¹  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ¹² 

47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹³ 

Let them take their stand –

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions –

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ¹⁴ 

Daniel 2:10-11

2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, ¹⁵  for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man. 2:11 What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods – but they don’t live among mortals!” ¹⁶ 

Daniel 4:7

4:7 When the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners entered, I recounted the dream for them. But they were unable to make known its interpretation to me.

Daniel 5:8

5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its ¹⁷  interpretation to the king.

Luke 10:18

10:18 So ¹⁸  he said to them, “I saw ¹⁹  Satan fall ²⁰  like lightning ²¹  from heaven.

Luke 10:2

10:2 He ²²  said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest ²³  to send out ²⁴  workers into his harvest.

Luke 3:8-9

3:8 Therefore produce ²⁵  fruit ²⁶  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ²⁷  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ²⁸  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ²⁹  3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, ³⁰  and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be ³¹  cut down and thrown into the fire.”

[41:8]  ¹ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[41:8]  ² tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

[41:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.

[41:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).

[41:8]  ⁵ tn “there was no interpreter.”

[41:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.

[47:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ⁹ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ¹² tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.

[47:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”

[47:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”

[2:10]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “matter, thing.”

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

[5:8]  ¹⁷ tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.

[10:18]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ reply in vv. 18-20 follows from the positive report of the messengers in v. 17.

[10:18]  ¹⁹ tn This is an imperfect tense verb.

[10:18]  ²⁰ tn In Greek, this is a participle and comes at the end of the verse, making it somewhat emphatic.

[10:18]  ²¹ tn This is probably best taken as allusion to Isa 14:12; the phrase in common is ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (ek tou ouranou). These exorcisms in Jesus’ name are a picture of Satan’s greater defeat at Jesus’ hands (D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 2:1006-7).

[10:2]  ²² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:2]  ²³ sn The phrase Lord of the harvest recognizes God’s sovereignty over the harvest process.

[10:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “to thrust out.”

[3:8]  ²⁵ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ²⁶ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

[3:8]  ²⁷ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ²⁸ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

[3:8]  ²⁹ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

[3:9]  ³⁰ sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).

[3:9]  ³¹ tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.