Genesis 6:9

The Judgment of the Flood

6:9 This is the account of Noah. ¹ 

Noah was a godly man; he was blameless ² 

among his contemporaries. ³  He ⁴  walked with ⁵  God.

Genesis 19:32-36

19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine ⁶  so we can have sexual relations ⁷  with him and preserve ⁸  our family line through our father.” ⁹ 

19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, ¹⁰  and the older daughter ¹¹  came and had sexual relations with her father. ¹²  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ¹³  19:34 So in the morning the older daughter ¹⁴  said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. ¹⁵  Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ¹⁶  19:35 So they made their father drunk ¹⁷  that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. ¹⁸  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ¹⁹ 

19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

Proverbs 20:1

20:1 Wine ²⁰  is a mocker ²¹  and strong drink is a brawler;

whoever goes astray by them is not wise. ²² 

Proverbs 23:31-32

23:31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,

when it sparkles ²³  in the cup,

when it goes down smoothly. ²⁴ 

23:32 Afterward ²⁵  it bites like a snake,

and stings like a viper.

Ecclesiastes 7:20

7:20 For ²⁶  there is not one truly ²⁷  righteous person on the earth

who continually does good and never sins.

Luke 22:3-4

22:3 Then ²⁸  Satan ²⁹  entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve. ³⁰  22:4 He went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers of the temple guard ³¹  how he might ³²  betray Jesus, ³³  handing him over to them. ³⁴ 

Romans 13:13

13:13 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy.

Romans 13:1

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ³⁵  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ³⁶  in the saints’ ³⁷  inheritance in the light.

Galatians 5:21

5:21 envying, ³⁸  murder, ³⁹  drunkenness, carousing, ⁴⁰  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Titus 2:2

2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, ⁴¹  sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. ⁴² 

[6:9]  ¹ sn There is a vast body of scholarly literature about the flood story. The following studies are particularly helpful: A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels; M. Kessler, “Rhetorical Criticism of Genesis 7,” Rhetorical Criticism: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg (PTMS), 1-17; I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; A. R. Millard, “A New Babylonian ‘Genesis Story’,” TynBul 18 (1967): 3-18; G. J. Wenham, “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” VT 28 (1978): 336-48.

[6:9]  ² tn The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “blameless”) is used of men in Gen 17:1 (associated with the idiom “walk before,” which means “maintain a proper relationship with,” see 24:40); Deut 18:13 (where it means “blameless” in the sense of not guilty of the idolatrous practices listed before this; see Josh 24:14); Pss 18:23, 26 (“blameless” in the sense of not having violated God’s commands); 37:18 (in contrast to the wicked); 101:2, 6 (in contrast to proud, deceitful slanderers; see 15:2); Prov 2:21; 11:5 (in contrast to the wicked); 28:10; Job 12:4.

[6:9]  ³ tn Heb “Noah was a godly man, blameless in his generations.” The singular “generation” can refer to one’s contemporaries, i.e., those living at a particular point in time. The plural “generations” can refer to successive generations in the past or the future. Here, where it is qualified by “his” (i.e., Noah’s), it refers to Noah’s contemporaries, comprised of the preceding generation (his father’s generation), those of Noah’s generation, and the next generation (those the same age as his children). In other words, “his generations” means the generations contemporary with him. See BDB 190 s.v. דוֹר.

[6:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Noah.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:9]  ⁵ tn The construction translated “walked with” is used in Gen 5:22, 24 (see the note on this phrase in 5:22) and in 1 Sam 25:15, where it refers to David’s and Nabal’s men “rubbing shoulders” in the fields. Based on the use in 1 Sam 25:15, the expression seems to mean “live in close proximity to,” which may, by metonymy, mean “maintain cordial relations with.”

[19:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “and we will lie down.” The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive is subordinated to the preceding cohortative and indicates purpose/result.

[19:32]  ⁸ tn Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.

[19:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:33]  ¹² tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[19:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”

[19:34]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:34]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”

[19:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:35]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lied down with him.”

[19:35]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”

[20:1]  ²⁰ sn The drinks are wine and barley beer (e.g., Lev 10:9; Deut 14:26; Isa 28:7). These terms here could be understood as personifications, but better as metonymies for those who drink wine and beer. The inebriated person mocks and brawls.

[20:1]  ²¹ tn The two participles לֵץ (lets, “mocker”) and הֹמֶה (homeh, “brawler”) are substantives; they function as predicates in the sentence. Excessive use of intoxicants excites the drinker to boisterous behavior and aggressive attitudes – it turns them into mockers and brawlers.

[20:1]  ²² sn The proverb does not prohibit the use of wine or beer; in fact, strong drink was used at festivals and celebrations. But intoxication was considered out of bounds for a member of the covenant community (e.g., 23:20-21, 29-35; 31:4-7). To be led astray by their use is not wise.

[23:31]  ²³ tn Heb “its eye gives.” With CEV’s “bubbling up in the glass” one might think champagne was in view.

[23:31]  ²⁴ tn The expression is difficult, and is suspected of having been added from Song 7:10, although the parallel is not exact. The verb is the Hitpael imperfect of הָלַךְ (halakh); and the prepositional phrase uses the word “upright; equity; pleasing,” from יָשָׁר (yashar). KJV has “when it moveth itself aright”; much more helpful is ASV: “when it goeth down smoothly.” Most recent English versions are similar to ASV. The phrase obviously refers to the pleasing nature of wine.

[23:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “its end”; NASB “At the last”; TEV (interpretively) “The next morning.”

[7:20]  ²⁶ tn The introductory particle כִּי (ki) is rendered variously: “for” (KJV); “indeed” (NASB); not translated (NIV); “for” (NJPS). The particle functions in an explanatory sense, explaining the need for wisdom in v. 19. Righteousness alone cannot always protect a person from calamity (7:15-16); therefore, something additional, such as wisdom, is needed. The need for wisdom as protection from calamity is particularly evident in the light of the fact that no one is truly righteous (7:19-20).

[7:20]  ²⁷ tn The term “truly” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Qoheleth does not deny the existence of some people who are relatively righteous.

[22:3]  ²⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:3]  ²⁹ sn The cross is portrayed as part of the cosmic battle between Satan and God; see Luke 4:1-13; 11:14-23.

[22:3]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.”

[22:4]  ³¹ tn The full title στρατηγὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ (strathgo" tou Jierou; “officer of the temple” or “captain of the temple guard”) is sometimes shortened to στρατηγός as here (L&N 37.91).

[22:4]  ³² tn Luke uses this frequent indirect question to make his point (BDF §267.2).

[22:4]  ³³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:4]  ³⁴ tn Grk “how he might hand him over to them,” in the sense of “betray him.”

[13:1]  ³⁵ tn Grk “by God.”

[1:12]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[5:21]  ³⁸ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

[5:21]  ³⁹ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

[5:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).

[2:2]  ⁴¹ tn Or “sensible.”

[2:2]  ⁴² sn Temperate…in endurance. See the same cluster of virtues in 1 Thess 1:3 and 1 Cor 13:13.