Discovery BoxEzekiel 3:6-7
Context3:6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand 1 – surely if 2 I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 3:7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, 3 because they are not willing to listen to me, 4 for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. 5
Acts 28:25-28
Context28:25 So they began to leave, 6 unable to agree among themselves, after Paul made one last statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly to your ancestors 7 through the prophet Isaiah 28:26 when he said,
‘Go to this people and say,
“You will keep on hearing, 8 but will never understand,
and you will keep on looking, 9 but will never perceive.
28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, 10
and their ears are hard of hearing, 11
and they have closed their eyes,
so that they would not see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, 12 and I would heal them.”’ 13
28:28 “Therefore be advised 14 that this salvation from God 15 has been sent to the Gentiles; 16 they 17 will listen!”
Romans 9:29-33
Context9:29 Just 18 as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of armies 19 had not left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” 20
9:30 What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, 9:31 but Israel even though pursuing 21 a law of righteousness 22 did not attain it. 23 9:32 Why not? Because they pursued 24 it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. 25 They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 26 9:33 just as it is written,
“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble
and a rock that will make them fall, 27
yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 28
Romans 11:8-11
Context11:8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
to this very day.” 29
11:9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,
and make their backs bend continually.” 30
11:11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, 31 did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel 32 jealous.
Romans 11:1
Context11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
Romans 4:2
Context4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous 33 by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God.
[3:6] 2 tc The MT reads “if not” but most ancient versions translate only “if.” The expression occurs with this sense in Isa 5:9; 14:24. See also Ezek 34:8; 36:5; 38:19.
[3:7] 3 sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.
[3:7] 4 sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.
[3:7] 5 tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”
[28:25] 6 tn The imperfect verb ἀπελύοντο (apeluonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
[28:25] 7 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
[28:26] 8 tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).
[28:26] 9 tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).
[28:27] 10 tn Or “insensitive.”
[28:27] 11 tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).
[28:27] 12 sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.
[28:27] 13 sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.
[28:28] 14 tn Grk “Therefore let it be known to you.”
[28:28] 16 sn The term Gentiles is in emphatic position in the Greek text of this clause. Once again there is the pattern: Jewish rejection of the gospel leads to an emphasis on Gentile inclusion (Acts 13:44-47).
[28:28] 17 tn Grk “they also.”
[9:29] 18 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[9:29] 19 tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”
[9:29] 20 sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.
[9:31] 21 tn Or “who pursued.” The participle could be taken adverbially or adjectivally.
[9:31] 22 tn Or “a legal righteousness,” that is, a righteousness based on law. This translation would treat the genitive δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") as an attributed genitive (see ExSyn 89-91).
[9:31] 23 tn Grk “has not attained unto the law.”
[9:32] 24 tn Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.
[9:32] 25 tc Most
[9:32] 26 tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”
[9:33] 27 tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”
[9:33] 28 sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.
[11:8] 29 sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.
[11:10] 30 sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.
[11:11] 31 tn Grk “that they might fall.”
[11:11] 32 tn Grk “them”; the referent (Israel, cf. 11:7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
