Genesis 37:18-20

37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers ¹  saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 37:19 They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams! ²  37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild ³  animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!” ⁴ 

Genesis 37:26-28

37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 37:27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, ⁵  for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. ⁶  37:28 So when the Midianite ⁷  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ⁸  him ⁹  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ¹⁰  then took Joseph to Egypt.

Genesis 50:20

50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, ¹¹  but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. ¹² 

Exodus 9:16-17

9:16 But ¹³  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ¹⁴  to show you ¹⁵  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ¹⁶  in all the earth. 9:17 You are still exalting ¹⁷  yourself against my people by ¹⁸  not releasing them.

Exodus 15:9-11

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ¹⁹  I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire ²⁰  will be satisfied on them.

I will draw ²¹  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ²² 

15:10 But ²³  you blew with your breath, and ²⁴  the sea covered them.

They sank ²⁵  like lead in the mighty waters.

15:11 Who is like you, ²⁶  O Lord, among the gods? ²⁷ 

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, ²⁸  working wonders?

Exodus 18:11

18:11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” ²⁹ 

Daniel 3:19-20

3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed ³⁰  toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders ³¹  to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated. 3:20 He ordered strong ³²  soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.

Acts 4:26-28

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ³³ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ³⁴  Christ.’ ³⁵ 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ³⁶  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ³⁷  4:28 to do as much as your power ³⁸  and your plan ³⁹  had decided beforehand ⁴⁰  would happen.

Revelation 11:18

11:18 The ⁴¹  nations ⁴²  were enraged,

but ⁴³  your wrath has come,

and the time has come for the dead to be judged,

and the time has come to give to your servants, ⁴⁴ 

the prophets, their reward,

as well as to the saints

and to those who revere ⁴⁵  your name, both small and great,

and the time has come ⁴⁶  to destroy those who destroy ⁴⁷  the earth.”

[37:18]  ¹ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:19]  ² tn Heb “Look, this master of dreams is coming.” The brothers’ words have a sarcastic note and indicate that they resent his dreams.

[37:20]  ³ tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.

[37:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”

[37:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”

[37:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “listened.”

[37:28]  ⁵ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

[37:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).

[37:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[50:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”

[50:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”

[9:16]  ⁷ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ⁸ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ⁹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[9:17]  ⁸ tn מִסְתּוֹלֵל (mistolel) is a Hitpael participle, from a root that means “raise up, obstruct.” So in the Hitpael it means to “raise oneself up,” “elevate oneself,” or “be an obstructionist.” See W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363; U. Cassuto, Exodus, 116.

[9:17]  ⁹ tn The infinitive construct with lamed here is epexegetical; it explains how Pharaoh has exalted himself – “by not releasing the people.”

[15:9]  ⁹ sn W. C. Kaiser observes the staccato phrases that almost imitate the heavy, breathless heaving of the Egyptians as, with what reserve of strength they have left, they vow, “I will…, I will…, I will…” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:395).

[15:9]  ¹⁰ tn The form is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”). But this word refers to the whole person, the body and the soul, or better, a bundle of appetites in a body. It therefore can figuratively refer to the desires or appetites (Deut 12:15; 14:26; 23:24). Here, with the verb “to be full” means “to be satisfied”; the whole expression might indicate “I will be sated with them” or “I will gorge myself.” The greedy appetite was to destroy.

[15:9]  ¹¹ tn The verb רִיק (riq) means “to be empty” in the Qal, and in the Hiphil “to empty.” Here the idea is to unsheathe a sword.

[15:9]  ¹² tn The verb is יָרַשׁ (yarash), which in the Hiphil means “to dispossess” or “root out.” The meaning “destroy” is a general interpretation.

[15:10]  ¹⁰ tn “But” has been supplied here.

[15:10]  ¹¹ tn Here “and” has been supplied.

[15:10]  ¹² tn The verb may have the idea of sinking with a gurgling sound, like water going into a whirlpool (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 124; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 136). See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, “The Song of Miriam,” JNES 14 (1955): 243-47.

[15:11]  ¹¹ tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.

[15:11]  ¹² sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.

[15:11]  ¹³ tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).

[18:11]  ¹² tn The end of this sentence seems not to have been finished, or it is very elliptical. In the present translation the phrase “he has destroyed them” is supplied. Others take the last prepositional phrase to be the completion and supply only a verb: “[he was] above them.” U. Cassuto (Exodus, 216) takes the word “gods” to be the subject of the verb “act proudly,” giving the sense of “precisely (כִּי, ki) in respect of these things of which the gods of Egypt boasted – He is greater than they (עֲלֵיהֶם, ‘alehem).” He suggests rendering the clause, “excelling them in the very things to which they laid claim.”

[3:19]  ¹³ tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”

[3:19]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “he answered and said.”

[3:20]  ¹⁴ tn This is sometimes taken as a comparative: “[some of the] strongest.”

[4:26]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ¹⁶ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ¹⁷ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[4:28]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ¹⁸ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ¹⁹ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

[11:18]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “The Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:18]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:18]  ²¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[11:18]  ²² tn Grk “who fear.”

[11:18]  ²³ tn The words “the time has come” do not occur except at the beginning of the verse; the phrase has been repeated for emphasis and contrast. The Greek has one finite verb (“has come”) with a compound subject (“your wrath,” “the time”), followed by three infinitive clauses (“to be judged,” “to give,” “to destroy”). The rhetorical power of the repetition of the finite verb in English thus emulates the rhetorical power of its lone instance in Greek.

[11:18]  ²⁴ tn Or “who deprave.” There is a possible wordplay here on two meanings for διαφθείρω (diafqeirw), with the first meaning “destroy” and the second meaning either “to ruin” or “to make morally corrupt.” See L&N 20.40.