Isaiah 18:4

18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will wait ¹  and watch from my place,

like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, ² 

like a cloud of mist ³  in the heat ⁴  of harvest.” ⁵ 

Isaiah 57:17-18

57:17 I was angry because of their sinful greed;

I attacked them and angrily rejected them, ⁶ 

yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. ⁷ 

57:18 I have seen their behavior, ⁸ 

but I will heal them and give them rest,

and I will once again console those who mourn. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 31:18-20

31:18 I have indeed ¹⁰  heard the people of Israel ¹¹  say mournfully,

‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ¹² 

You disciplined us and we learned from it. ¹³ 

Let us come back to you and we will do so, ¹⁴ 

for you are the Lord our God.

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented.

After we came to our senses ¹⁵  we beat our breasts in sorrow. ¹⁶ 

We are ashamed and humiliated

because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ ¹⁷ 

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ¹⁸ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ¹⁹ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁰ 

Hosea 5:15--6:2

5:15 Then I will return again to my lair

until they have suffered their punishment. ²¹ 

Then they will seek me; ²² 

in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Superficial Repentance Breeds False Assurance of God’s Forgiveness

6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!

He himself has torn us to pieces,

but he will heal us!

He has injured ²³  us,

but he will bandage our wounds!

6:2 He will restore ²⁴  us in a very short time; ²⁵ 

he will heal us in a little while, ²⁶ 

so that we may live in his presence.

Hosea 11:8-9

The Divine Dilemma: Judgment or Mercy?

11:8 How can I give you up, ²⁷  O Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, O Israel?

How can I treat you like Admah?

How can I make you like Zeboiim?

I have had a change of heart! ²⁸ 

All my tender compassions are aroused! ²⁹ 

11:9 I cannot carry out ³⁰  my fierce anger!

I cannot totally destroy Ephraim!

Because I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you –

I will not come in wrath!

Jonah 3:4-10

3:4 When Jonah began to enter the city one day’s walk, he announced, “At the end of forty days, ³¹  Nineveh will be overthrown!” ³² 

3:5 The people ³³  of Nineveh believed in God, ³⁴  and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ³⁵  3:6 When the news ³⁶  reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes. 3:7 He issued a proclamation and said, ³⁷  “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water. 3:8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly ³⁸  to God, and everyone ³⁹  must turn from their ⁴⁰  evil way of living ⁴¹  and from the violence that they do. ⁴²  3:9 Who knows? ⁴³  Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent ⁴⁴  and turn from his fierce anger ⁴⁵  so that we might not die.” ⁴⁶  3:10 When God saw their actions – they turned ⁴⁷  from their evil way of living! ⁴⁸  – God relented concerning the judgment ⁴⁹  he had threatened them with ⁵⁰  and he did not destroy them. ⁵¹ 

Matthew 15:22-28

15:22 A ⁵²  Canaanite woman from that area came ⁵³  and cried out, ⁵⁴  “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” 15:23 But he did not answer her a word. Then ⁵⁵  his disciples came and begged him, ⁵⁶  “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.” 15:24 So ⁵⁷  he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 15:25 But she came and bowed down ⁵⁸  before him and said, ⁵⁹  “Lord, help me!” 15:26 “It is not right ⁶⁰  to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” ⁶¹  he said. ⁶²  15:27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, ⁶³  “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 15:28 Then ⁶⁴  Jesus answered her, “Woman, ⁶⁵  your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Luke 15:20

15:20 So ⁶⁶  he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home ⁶⁷  his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; ⁶⁸  he ran and hugged ⁶⁹  his son ⁷⁰  and kissed him.

Romans 9:22

9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ⁷¹  of wrath ⁷²  prepared for destruction? ⁷³ 

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ⁷⁴ 

Romans 3:9

The Condemnation of the World

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin,

Romans 3:15

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

[18:4]  ¹ tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”

[18:4]  ² tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.

[18:4]  ³ tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”

[18:4]  ⁴ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss, with support from the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, read “the day.”

[18:4]  ⁵ sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.

[57:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “and I struck him, hiding, and I was angry.” פָּנַיִם (panayim, “face”) is the implied object of “hiding.”

[57:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he walked [as an] apostate in the way of his heart.”

[57:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”

[57:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”

[31:18]  ¹⁰ tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).

[31:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.

[31:18]  ¹² tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).

[31:18]  ¹³ tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.

[31:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.

[31:19]  ¹⁵ tn For this meaning of the verb see HAL 374 s.v. יָדַע Nif 5 or W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 129. REB translates “Now that I am submissive” relating the verb to a second root meaning “be submissive.” (See HALOT 375 s.v. II יָדַע and J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 19-21, for evidence for this verb. Other passages cited with this nuance are Judg 8:16; Prov 10:9; Job 20:20.)

[31:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I struck my thigh.” This was a gesture of grief and anguish (cf. Ezek 21:12 [21:17 HT]). The modern equivalent is “to beat the breast.”

[31:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “because I bear the reproach of my youth.” For the plural referents see the note at the beginning of v. 18.

[31:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[5:15]  ²¹ tn The verb יֶאְשְׁמוּ (ye’shÿmu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from אָשַׁם, ’asham, “to be guilty”) means “to bear their punishment” (Ps 34:22-23; Prov 30:10; Isa 24:6; Jer 2:3; Hos 5:15; 10:2; 14:1; Zech 11:5; Ezek 6:6; BDB 79 s.v. אָשַׁם 3). Many English versions translate this as “admit their guilt” (NIV, NLT) or “acknowledge their guilt” (NASB, NRSV), but cf. NAB “pay for their guilt” and TEV “have suffered enough for their sins.”

[5:15]  ²² tn Heb “seek my face” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “seek my presence.”

[6:1]  ²³ tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”

[6:2]  ²⁴ tn The Piel of חָיָה (khayah) may mean: (1) to keep/preserve persons alive from the threat of premature death (1 Kgs 20:31; Ezek 13:18; 18:27); (2) to restore the dead to physical life (Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; cf. NCV “will put new life in us”); or (3) to restore the dying back to life from the threat of death (Ps 71:20; BDB 311 s.v. חָיָה).

[6:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “after two days” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV). The expression “after two days” is an idiom meaning “after a short time” (see, e.g., Judg 11:4; BDB 399 s.v. יוֹם 5.a).

[6:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “on the third day” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV), which parallels “after two days” and means “in a little while.” The “2-3” sequence is an example of graded numerical parallelism (Prov 30:15-16, 18-19, 21-23, 24-28, 29-31). This expresses the unrepentant overconfidence of Israel that the Lord’s discipline of Israel would be relatively short and that he would restore them quickly.

[11:8]  ²⁷ tn The imperfect verbs in 11:8 function as imperfects of capability. See IBHS 564 §34.1a.

[11:8]  ²⁸ tn The phrase נֶהְפַּךְ עָלַי לִבִּי (nehpakh ’alay libbi) is an idiom that can be taken in two ways: (1) emotional sense: to describe a tumult of emotions, not just a clash of ideas, that are afflicting a person (Lam 1:20; HALOT 253 s.v. הפך 1.c) and (2) volitional sense: to describe a decisive change of policy, that is, a reversal of sentiment from amity to hatred (Exod 14:5; Ps 105:25; BDB 245 s.v. הָפַךְ 1; HALOT 253 s.v. 3). The English versions alternate between these two: (1) emotional discomfort and tension over the prospect of destroying Israel: “mine heart is turned within me” (KJV), “my heart recoils within me” (RSV, NRSV), “My heart is turned over within Me” (NASB), “My heart is torn within me” (NLT); and (2) volitional reversal of previous decision to totally destroy Israel: “I have had a change of heart” (NJPS), “my heart is changed within me” (NIV), and “my heart will not let me do it!” (TEV). Both BDB 245 s.v. 1.b and HALOT 253 s.v. 3 suggest that the idiom describes a decisive change of heart (reversal of decision to totally destroy Israel once and for all) rather than emotional turbulence of God shifting back and forth between whether to destroy or spare Israel. This volitional nuance is supported by the modal function of the 1st person common singular imperfects in 11:8 (“I will not carry out my fierce anger…I will not destroy Ephraim…I will not come in wrath”) and by the prophetic announcement of future restoration in 11:10-11. Clearly, a dramatic reversal both in tone and in divine intention occurs between 11:5-11.

[11:8]  ²⁹ tn The Niphal of כָּמַר (kamar) means “to grow warm, tender” (BDB 485 s.v. כָּמַר), as its use in a simile with the oven demonstrates (Lam 5:10). It is used several times to describe the arousal of the most tender affection (Gen 43:30; 1 Kgs 3:26; Hos 11:8; BDB 485 s.v. 1; HALOT 482 s.v. כמר 1). Cf. NRSV “my compassion grows warm and tender.”

[11:9]  ³⁰ tn The three imperfect verbs function as imperfects of capability, similar to the imperfects of capability in 11:8. See IBHS 564 §34.1a.

[3:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown!” The adverbial use of עוֹד (’od, “yet”) denotes limited temporal continuation (BDB 728 s.v. עוֹד 1.a; Gen 29:7; Isa 10:32). Tg. Jonah 3:4 rendered it as “at the end of [forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown].”

[3:4]  ³² tn Heb “be overturned.” The Niphal נֶהְפָּכֶת (nehpakhet, “be overturned”) refers to a city being overthrown and destroyed (BDB 246 s.v. הָפַךְ 2.d). The related Qal form refers to the destruction of a city by military conquest (Judg 7:3; 2 Sam 10:3; 2 Kgs 21:13; Amos 4:11) or divine intervention as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:21, 25, 29; Deut 29:22; Jer 20:16; Lam 4:6; BDB 245 s.v. 1.b). The participle form used here depicts an imminent future action (see IBHS 627-28 §37.6f) which is specified as only “forty days” away.

[3:5]  ³³ tn Heb “men.” The term is used generically here for “people” (so KJV, ASV, and many other English versions); cf. NIV “the Ninevites.”

[3:5]  ³⁴ sn The people of Nineveh believed in God…. Verse 5 provides a summary of the response in Nineveh; the people of all ranks believed and gave evidence of contrition by fasting and wearing sackcloth (2 Sam 12:16, 19-23; 1 Kgs 21:27-29; Neh 9:1-2). Then vv. 6-9 provide specific details, focusing on the king’s reaction. The Ninevites’ response parallels the response of the pagan sailors in 1:6 and 13-16.

[3:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “from the greatest of them to the least of them.”

[3:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “word” or “matter.”

[3:7]  ³⁷ tn Contrary to many modern English versions, the present translation understands the king’s proclamation to begin after the phrase “and he said” (rather than after “in Nineveh”), as do quotations in 1:14; 2:2, 4; 4:2, 8, 9. In Jonah where the quotation does not begin immediately after “said” (אָמַר, ’amar), it is only the speaker or addressee or both that come between “said” and the start of the quotation (1:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 4:4, 9, 10; cf. 1:1; 3:1).

[3:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “with strength”; KJV, NRSV “mightily”; NAB, NCV “loudly”; NIV “urgently.”

[3:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “let them turn, a man from his evil way.” The alternation between the plural verb וְיָשֻׁבוּ (vÿyashuvu, “and let them turn”) and the singular noun אִישׁ (’ish, “a man, each one”) and the singular suffix on מִדַּרְכּוֹ (middarko, “from his way”) emphasizes that each and every person in the collective unity is called to repent.

[3:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “his.” See the preceding note on “one.”

[3:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “evil way.” For other examples of “way” as “way of living,” see Judg 2:17; Ps 107:17-22; Prov 4:25-27; 5:21.

[3:8]  ⁴² tn Heb “that is in their hands.” By speaking of the harm they did as “in their hands,” the king recognized the Ninevites’ personal awareness and immediate responsibility. The term “hands” is either a synecdoche of instrument (e.g., “Is not the hand of Joab in all this?” 2 Sam 14:19) or a synecdoche of part for the whole. The king's descriptive figure of speech reinforces their guilt.

[3:9]  ⁴³ sn The king expresses his uncertainty whether Jonah’s message constituted a conditional announcement or an unconditional decree. Jeremiah 18 emphasizes that God sometimes gives people an opportunity to repent when they hear an announcement of judgment. However, as Amos and Isaiah learned, if a people refused to repent over a period of time, the patience of God could be exhausted. The offer of repentance in a conditional announcement of judgment can be withdrawn and in its place an unconditional decree of judgment issued. In many cases it is difficult to determine on the front end whether or not a prophetic message of coming judgment is conditional or unconditional, thus explaining the king’s uncertainty.

[3:9]  ⁴⁴ tn “he might turn and relent.” The two verbs יָשׁוּב וְנִחַם (yashub vÿnikham) may function independently (“turn and repent”) or form a verbal hendiadys (“be willing to turn”; see IBHS 540 §32.3b). The imperfect יָשׁוּב and the perfect with prefixed vav וְנִחַם form a future-time narrative sequence. Both verbs function in a modal sense, denoting possibility, as the introductory interrogative suggests (“Who knows…?”). When used in reference to past actions, שׁוּב (shub) can mean “to be sorry” or “to regret” that someone did something in the past, and when used in reference to future planned actions, it can mean “to change one’s mind” about doing something or “to relent” from sending judgment (BDB 997 s.v. שׁוּב 6). The verb נִחַם (nikham) can mean “to be sorry” about past actions (e.g., Gen 6:6, 7; 1 Sam 15:11, 35) and “to change one’s mind” about future actions (BDB 637 s.v. נחם 2). These two verbs are used together elsewhere in passages that consider the question of whether or not God will change his mind and relent from judgment he has threatened (e.g., Jer 4:28). The verbal root שׁוּב is used four times in vv. 8-10, twice of the Ninevites “repenting” from their moral evil and twice of God “relenting” from his threatened calamity. This repetition creates a wordplay that emphasizes the appropriateness of God’s response: if the people repent, God might relent.

[3:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “from the burning of his nose/face.” See Exod 4:14; 22:24; 32:12; Num 25:4; 32:14; Deut 9:19.

[3:9]  ⁴⁶ tn The imperfect verb נֹאבֵד (no’ved, “we might not die”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility. The king’s hope parallels that of the ship’s captain in 1:6. See also Exod 32:7-14; 2 Sam 12:14-22; 1 Kgs 8:33-43; 21:17-29; Jer 18:6-8; Joel 2:11-15.

[3:10]  ⁴⁷ tn This clause is introduced by כִּי (ki, “that”) and functions as an epexegetical, explanatory clause.

[3:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “from their evil way” (so KJV, ASV, NAB); NASB “wicked way.”

[3:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “calamity” or “disaster.” The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “calamity, disaster”) functions as a metonymy of result – the cause being the threatened judgment (e.g., Exod 32:12, 14; 2 Sam 24:16; Jer 18:8; 26:13, 19; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 6). The root רָעָה is repeated three times in vv. 8 and 10. Twice it refers to the Ninevites’ moral “evil” (vv. 8 and 10a) and here it refers to the “calamity” or “disaster” that the Lord had threatened (v. 10b). This repetition of the root forms a polysemantic wordplay that exploits this broad range of meanings of the noun. The wordplay emphasizes that God’s response was appropriate: because the Ninevites repented from their moral “evil” God relented from the “calamity” he had threatened.

[3:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “the disaster that he had spoken to do to them.”

[3:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and he did not do it.” See notes on 3:8-9.

[15:22]  ⁵² tn Grk “And behold a Canaanite.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[15:22]  ⁵³ tn Grk The participle ἐξελθοῦσα (exelqousa) is here translated as a finite verb. The emphasis is upon her crying out to Jesus.

[15:22]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “cried out, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[15:23]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The construction in Greek is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ request.

[15:25]  ⁵⁸ tn In this context the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew), which often describes worship, probably means simply bowing down to the ground in an act of reverence or supplication (see L&N 17.21).

[15:25]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “she bowed down to him, saying.”

[15:26]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “And answering, he said, ‘It is not right.’” The introductory phrase “answering, he said” has been simplified and placed at the end of the English sentence for stylistic reasons. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[15:26]  ⁶¹ tn Or “lap dogs, house dogs,” as opposed to dogs on the street. The diminutive form originally referred to puppies or little dogs, then to house pets. In some Hellenistic uses κυνάριον (kunarion) simply means “dog.”

[15:26]  ⁶² tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[15:27]  ⁶³ tn Grk “she said.”

[15:28]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “Then answering, Jesus said to her.” This expression has been simplified in the translation.

[15:28]  ⁶⁵ sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.

[15:20]  ⁶⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the son’s decision to return home. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[15:20]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “a long way off from [home].” The word “home” is implied (L&N 85.16).

[15:20]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “felt great affection for him,” “felt great pity for him.”

[15:20]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “he fell on his neck,” an idiom for showing special affection for someone by throwing one’s arms around them. The picture is of the father hanging on the son’s neck in welcome.

[15:20]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:22]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ⁷² tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ⁷³ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:2]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”