Genesis 1:3

1:3 God said, ¹  “Let there be ²  light.” ³  And there was light!

Genesis 1:9

1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place ⁴  and let dry ground appear.” ⁵  It was so.

Psalms 33:9

33:9 For he spoke, and it ⁶  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ⁷  and it stood firm.

Psalms 33:2

33:2 Give thanks to the Lord with the harp!

Sing to him to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument!

Psalms 5:10

5:10 Condemn them, ⁸  O God!

May their own schemes be their downfall! ⁹ 

Drive them away ¹⁰  because of their many acts of insurrection, ¹¹ 

for they have rebelled against you.

Psalms 5:1

Psalm 5 ¹² 

For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments; ¹³  a psalm of David.

5:1 Listen to what I say, ¹⁴  Lord!

Carefully consider my complaint! ¹⁵ 

Ezekiel 36:25-27

36:25 I will sprinkle you with pure water ¹⁶  and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. 36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone ¹⁷  from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ¹⁸  36:27 I will put my Spirit within you; ¹⁹  I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes ²⁰  and carefully observe my regulations. ²¹ 

Ezekiel 36:29

36:29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it; I will not bring a famine on you.

Hosea 14:4

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness ²² 

and love them freely, ²³ 

for my anger will turn ²⁴  away from them.

Matthew 9:29-30

9:29 Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 9:30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about this.”

[1:3]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the narrative sequence. Ten times in the chapter the decree of God in creation will be so expressed. For the power of the divine word in creation, see Ps 33:9, John 1:1-3, 1 Cor 8:6, and Col 1:16.

[1:3]  ² tn “Let there be” is the short jussive form of the verb “to be”; the following expression “and there was” is the short preterite form of the same verb. As such, יְהִי (yÿhi) and וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) form a profound wordplay to express both the calling into existence and the complete fulfillment of the divine word.

[1:3]  ³ sn Light. The Hebrew word simply means “light,” but it is used often in scripture to convey the ideas of salvation, joy, knowledge, righteousness, and life. In this context one cannot ignore those connotations, for it is the antithesis of the darkness. The first thing God does is correct the darkness; without the light there is only chaos.

[1:9]  ⁴ sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.

[1:9]  ⁵ tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.

[33:9]  ⁶ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

[33:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “he commanded.”

[5:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “declare/regard them as guilty.” Declaring the psalmist’s adversaries guilty is here metonymic for judging them or paying them back for their wrongdoing.

[5:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “may they fall from their plans.” The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation. The psalmist calls judgment down on the evildoers. Their plans will be their downfall in that God will judge them for their evil schemes.

[5:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “banish them.”

[5:10]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew noun used here, פֶּשַׁע (pesha’), refers to rebellious actions. The psalmist pictures his enemies as rebels against God (see the next line).

[5:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 5. Appealing to God’s justice and commitment to the godly, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from evildoers.

[5:1]  ¹³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word נְחִילוֹת (nÿkhilot), which occurs only here, is uncertain. Many relate the form to חָלִיל (khalil, “flute”).

[5:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my words.”

[5:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “sighing.” The word occurs only here and in Ps 39:3.

[36:25]  ¹⁶ sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.

[36:26]  ¹⁷ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).

[36:26]  ¹⁸ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.

[36:27]  ¹⁹ tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.

[36:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.

[36:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.

[14:4]  ²² sn The noun מְשׁוּבָתָה (mÿshuvatah, “waywardness”; cf. KJV “backsliding”) is from the same root as שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return!”) in 14:1[2]. This repetition of שׁוּב (shuv) creates a wordplay which emphasizes reciprocity: if Israel will return (שׁוּבָה, shuvah) to the Lord, he will cure her of the tendency to turn away (מְשׁוּבָתָה) from him.

[14:4]  ²³ tn The noun נְדָבָה (nÿdavah, “voluntariness; free-will offering”) is an adverbial accusative of manner: “freely, voluntarily” (BDB 621 s.v. נְדָבָה 1). Cf. CEV “without limit”; TEV “with all my heart”; NLT “my love will know no bounds.”

[14:4]  ²⁴ sn The verb שָׁב, shav, “will turn” (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) continues the wordplay on שׁוּב in 14:1-4[2-5]. If Israel will “return” (שׁוּב) to the Lord, he will heal Israel’s tendency to “turn away” (מְשׁוּבָתָה, mÿshuvatah) and “turn” (שָׁב) from his anger.