Discovery BoxEzekiel 23:37-39
Context23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, 1 they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. 2 23:38 Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day 3 they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths. 23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.
Proverbs 21:27
Context21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice 4 is an abomination;
how much more 5 when he brings it with evil intent! 6
Isaiah 1:13-15
Context1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless 7 offerings;
I consider your incense detestable! 8
You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,
but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! 9
1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;
they are a burden
that I am tired of carrying.
1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I look the other way; 10
when you offer your many prayers,
I do not listen,
because your hands are covered with blood. 11
Isaiah 66:3
Context66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; 12
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; 13
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; 14
the one who offers incense also praises an idol. 15
They have decided to behave this way; 16
they enjoy these disgusting practices. 17
Jeremiah 7:9-11
Context7:9 You steal. 18 You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to 19 other gods whom you have not previously known. 7:10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own 20 and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! 21 7:11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own 22 is to be a hideout for robbers? 23 You had better take note! 24 I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.
Zephaniah 1:4-5
Contextand all who live in Jerusalem. 26
I will remove 27 from this place every trace of Baal worship, 28
as well as the very memory 29 of the pagan priests. 30
1:5 I will remove 31 those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops, 32
those who swear allegiance to the Lord 33 while taking oaths in the name of 34 their ‘king,’ 35
Matthew 6:24
Context6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate 36 the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise 37 the other. You cannot serve God and money. 38
Revelation 3:15-16
Context3:15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. 39 I wish you were either cold or hot! 3:16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going 40 to vomit 41 you out of my mouth!
[23:37] 1 sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.
[23:37] 2 tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.
[23:38] 3 tn Heb “in that day.”
[21:27] 4 tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.
[21:27] 5 sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.
[21:27] 6 tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.
[1:13] 7 tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”
[1:13] 8 sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).
[1:13] 9 tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).
[1:15] 10 tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”
[1:15] 11 sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.
[66:3] 12 tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.
[66:3] 13 tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.
[66:3] 14 tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.
[66:3] 15 tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.
[66:3] 16 tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”
[66:3] 17 tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”
[7:9] 18 tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.
[7:9] 19 tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
[7:10] 20 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
[7:10] 21 tn Or “‘We are safe!’ – safe, you think, to go on doing all those hateful things.” Verses 9-10 are all one long sentence in the Hebrew text. It has been broken up for English stylistic reasons. Somewhat literally it reads “Will you steal…then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe’ so as to/in order to do…” The Hebrew of v. 9 has a series of infinitives which emphasize the bare action of the verb without the idea of time or agent. The effect is to place a kind of staccato like emphasis on the multitude of their sins all of which are violations of one of the Ten Commandments. The final clause in v. 8 expresses purpose or result (probably result) through another infinitive. This long sentence is introduced by a marker (ה interrogative in Hebrew) introducing a rhetorical question in which God expresses his incredulity that they could do these sins, come into the temple and claim the safety of his protection, and then go right back out and commit the same sins. J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 52) catches the force nicely: “What? You think you can steal, murder…and then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe…’ just so that you can go right on…”
[7:11] 22 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
[7:11] 23 tn Heb “Is this house…a den/cave of robbers in your eyes?”
[1:4] 25 tn Heb “I will stretch out my hand against,” is an idiom for hostile action.
[1:4] 26 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:4] 28 tn Heb “the remnant of Baal.”
[1:4] 29 tn Heb “name.” Here the “name” is figurative for the memory of those who bear it.
[1:4] 30 tc Heb “of the pagan priests and priests.” The first word (כְּמָרִים, kÿmarim) refers to idolatrous priests in its two other appearances in the OT (2 Kgs 23:5, Hos 10:5), while the second word (כֹּהֲנִים, kohanim) is the normal term for “priest” and is used of both legitimate and illegitimate priests in the OT. It is likely that the second term, which is omitted in the LXX, is a later scribal addition to the Hebrew text, defining the extremely rare word that precedes (see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 167-68; cf. also NEB, NRSV). Some argue that both words are original; among the modern English versions that include both are NASB and NIV. Possibly the first word refers to outright pagan priests, while the second has in view once-legitimate priests of the Lord who had drifted into idolatrous practices. Another option is found in Adele Berlin, who translates, “the idolatrous priests among the priests,” understanding the second word as giving the general category of which the idolatrous priests are a part (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 75).
[1:5] 31 tn The words “I will remove” are repeated from v. 4b for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 4b-6 contain a long list of objects for the verb “I will remove” in v. 4b. In the present translation a new sentence was begun at the beginning of v. 5 in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences.
[1:5] 32 tn Heb “those who worship on their roofs the host of heaven.” The “host of heaven” included the sun, moon, planets, and stars, all of which were deified in the ancient Near East.
[1:5] 33 tc The MT reads, “those who worship, those who swear allegiance to the
[1:5] 34 tn Heb “those who swear by.”
[1:5] 35 tn The referent of “their king” is unclear. It may refer sarcastically to a pagan god (perhaps Baal) worshiped by the people. Some English versions (cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) prefer to emend the text to “Milcom,” the name of an Ammonite god (following some LXX
[6:24] 36 sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.
[6:24] 37 tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”
[6:24] 38 tn Grk “God and mammon.”
[3:15] 39 sn Laodicea was near two other towns, each of which had a unique water source. To the north was Hierapolis which had a natural hot spring, often used for medicinal purposes. To the east was Colossae which had cold, pure waters. In contrast to these towns, Laodicea had no permanent supply of good water. Efforts to pipe water to the city from nearby springs were successful, but it would arrive lukewarm. The metaphor in the text is not meant to relate spiritual fervor to temperature. This would mean that Laodicea would be commended for being spiritually cold, but it is unlikely that Jesus would commend this. Instead, the metaphor condemns Laodicea for not providing spiritual healing (being hot) or spiritual refreshment (being cold) to those around them. It is a condemnation of their lack of works and lack of witness.
[3:16] 41 tn This is the literal meaning of the Greek verb ἐμέω (emew). It is usually translated with a much weaker term like “spit out” due to the unpleasant connotations of the English verb “vomit,” as noted by L&N 23.44. The situation confronting the Laodicean church is a dire one, however, and such a term is necessary if the modern reader is to understand the gravity of the situation.
