Ezra 7:27

7:27 ¹ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem!

Psalms 105:25

105:25 He caused them ²  to hate his people,

and to mistreat ³  his servants.

Proverbs 21:1

21:1 The king’s heart ⁴  is in the hand ⁵  of the Lord like channels of water; ⁶ 

he turns it wherever he wants.

Jeremiah 32:40

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ⁷  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ⁸  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ⁹  they will never again turn ¹⁰  away from me.

Jeremiah 32:2

32:2 Now at that time, ¹¹  the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem. ¹²  The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse ¹³  attached to the royal palace of Judah.

Jeremiah 2:10-12

2:10 Go west ¹⁴  across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus ¹⁵  and see.

Send someone east to Kedar ¹⁶  and have them look carefully.

See if such a thing as this has ever happened:

2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods

(even though they are not really gods at all)?

But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, ¹⁷ 

for a god that cannot help them at all! ¹⁸ 

2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens! ¹⁹ 

Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”

says the Lord.

James 1:13-17

1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, ²⁰  and he himself tempts no one. 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. 1:16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. ²¹  1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ²²  is from above, coming down ²³  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ²⁴ 

[7:27]  ¹ sn At this point the language of the book reverts from Aramaic (7:12-26) back to Hebrew.

[105:25]  ² tn Heb “their heart.”

[105:25]  ³ tn Or “to deal deceptively.” The Hitpael of נָכַל (nakhal) occurs only here and in Gen 37:18, where it is used of Joseph’s brothers “plotting” to kill him.

[21:1]  ⁴ sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.

[21:1]  ⁵ sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.

[21:1]  ⁶ tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”

[32:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ⁸ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ⁹ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹⁰ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[32:2]  ¹¹ sn Jer 32:2-5 are parenthetical, giving the background for the actual report of what the Lord said in v. 7. The background is significant because it shows that Jeremiah was predicting the fall of the city and the kingdom and was being held prisoner for doing so. Despite this pessimistic outlook, the Lord wanted Jeremiah to demonstrate his assurance of the future restoration (which has been the topic of the two preceding chapters) by buying a field as a symbolic act that the Israelites would again one day regain possession of their houses, fields, and vineyards (vv. 15, 44). (For other symbolic acts with prophetic import see Jer 13, 19.)

[32:2]  ¹² sn According to Jer 39:1 the siege began in Zedekiah’s ninth year (i.e., in 589/88 b.c.). It had been interrupted while the Babylonian army was occupied with fighting against an Egyptian force that had invaded Judah. During this period of relaxed siege Jeremiah had attempted to go to his home town in Anathoth to settle some property matters, had been accused of treason, and been thrown into a dungeon (37:11-15). After appealing to Zedekiah he had been moved from the dungeon to the courtyard of the guardhouse connected to the palace (37:21) where he remained confined until Jerusalem was captured in 587/86 b.c. (38:28).

[32:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the courtyard of the guarding” or “place of guarding.” This expression occurs only in the book of Jeremiah (32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6, 12, 28; 39:14, 15) and in Neh 3:25. It is not the same as an enclosed prison which is where Jeremiah was initially confined (37:15-16; literally a “house of imprisoning” [בֵּית הָאֵסוּר, bet ha’esur] or “house of confining” [בֵּית הַכֶּלֶא, bet hakkele’]). It is said to have been in the palace compound (32:2) near the citadel or upper palace (Neh 3:25). Though it was a place of confinement (32:2; 33:1; 39:15) Jeremiah was able to receive visitors, e.g., his cousin Hanamel (32:8) and the scribe Baruch (32:12), and conduct business there (32:12). According to 32:12 other Judeans were also housed there. A cistern of one of the royal princes, Malkijah, was located in this courtyard, so this is probably not a “prison compound” as NJPS interpret but a courtyard adjacent to a guardhouse or guard post (so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 151, and compare Neh 12:39 where reference is made to a Gate of the Guard/Guardhouse) used here for housing political prisoners who did not deserve death or solitary confinement as some of the officials though Jeremiah did.

[2:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “For go west.”

[2:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “pass over to the coasts of Kittim.” The words “west across the sea” in this line and “east of” in the next are implicit in the text and are supplied in the translation to give geographical orientation.

[2:10]  ¹⁶ sn Kedar is the home of the Bedouin tribes in the Syro-Arabian desert. See Gen 25:18 and Jer 49:38. See also the previous note for the significance of the reference here.

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “have exchanged their glory [i.e., the God in whom they glory].” This is a case of a figure of speech where the attribute of a person or thing is put for the person or thing. Compare the common phrase in Isaiah, the Holy One of Israel, obviously referring to the Lord, the God of Israel.

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “what cannot profit.” The verb is singular and the allusion is likely to Baal. See the translator’s note on 2:8 for the likely pun or wordplay.

[2:12]  ¹⁹ sn In earlier literature the heavens (and the earth) were called on to witness Israel’s commitment to the covenant (Deut 30:12) and were called to serve as witnesses to Israel’s fidelity or infidelity to it (Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1).

[1:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “God must not be tested by evil people.”

[1:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[1:17]  ²² tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ²³ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).