Isaiah 2:2

2:2 In the future ¹ 

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ² 

as the most important of mountains,

and will be the most prominent of hills. ³ 

All the nations will stream to it,

Numbers 24:14

24:14 And now, I am about to go ⁴  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 4:30

4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, ⁶  if you return to the Lord your God and obey him ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 31:29

31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally ⁸  corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly ⁹  before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” ¹⁰ 

Job 19:25

19:25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer ¹¹  lives,

and that as the last ¹² 

he will stand upon the earth. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 23:20

23:20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. ¹⁴ 

In days to come ¹⁵ 

you people will come to understand this clearly. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 48:47

48:47 Yet in days to come

I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.” ¹⁷ 

says the Lord. ¹⁸ 

The judgment against Moab ends here.

Ezekiel 38:16

38:16 You will advance ¹⁹  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ²⁰  through you, O Gog.

Hosea 3:5

3:5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. ²¹  Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings ²²  in the future. ²³ 

Hosea 3:1

An Illustration of God’s Love for Idolatrous Israel

3:1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to ²⁴  your wife ²⁵  again, even though she loves ²⁶  another man ²⁷  and continually commits adultery. ²⁸  Likewise, the Lord loves ²⁹  the Israelites ³⁰  although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.” ³¹ 

Hosea 4:1-2

The Lord’s Covenant Lawsuit against the Nation Israel

4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites! ³² 

For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit ³³  against the people of Israel. ³⁴ 

For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land,

nor do they acknowledge God. ³⁵ 

4:2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.

They resort to violence and bloodshed. ³⁶ 

Hosea 3:3

3:3 Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with ³⁷  another man, and I also will wait for you.”

Jude 1:18

1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ³⁸  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ³⁹ 

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.

[2:2]  ² tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.

[24:14]  ⁴ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

[24:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.

[4:30]  ⁶ sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.

[4:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.

[31:29]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”

[31:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “do the evil.”

[31:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

[19:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “my Vindicator.” The word is the active participle from גָּאַל (ga’al, “to redeem, protect, vindicate”). The word is well-known in the OT because of its identification as the kinsman-redeemer (see the Book of Ruth). This is the near kinsman who will pay off one’s debts, defend the family, avenge a killing, marry the widow of the deceased. The word “redeemer” evokes the wrong connotation for people familiar with the NT alone; a translation of “Vindicator” would capture the idea more. The concept might include the description of the mediator already introduced in Job 16:19, but surely here Job is thinking of God as his vindicator. The interesting point to be stressed here is that Job has said clearly that he sees no vindication in this life, that he is going to die. But he knows he will be vindicated, and even though he will die, his vindicator lives. The dilemma remains though: his distress lay in God’s hiding his face from him, and his vindication lay only in beholding God in peace.

[19:25]  ¹² tn The word אַחֲרוּן (’akharon, “last”) has triggered a good number of interpretations. Here it is an adjectival form and not adverbial; it is an epithet of the vindicator. Some commentators, followed by the RSV, change the form to make it adverbial, and translate it “at last.” T. H. Gaster translates it “even if he were the last person to exist” (“Short notes,” VT 4 [1954]: 78).

[19:25]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew has “and he will rise/stand upon [the] dust.” The verb קוּם (qum) is properly “to rise; to arise,” and certainly also can mean “to stand.” Both English ideas are found in the verb. The concept here is that of God rising up to mete out justice. And so to avoid confusion with the idea of resurrection (which although implicit in these words which are pregnant with theological ideas yet to be revealed, is not explicitly stated or intended in this context) the translation “stand” has been used. The Vulgate had “I will rise,” which introduced the idea of Job’s resurrection. The word “dust” is used as in 41:33. The word “dust” is associated with death and the grave, the very earthly particles. Job assumes that God will descend from heaven to bring justice to the world. The use of the word also hints that this will take place after Job has died and returned to dust. Again, the words of Job come to mean far more than he probably understood.

[23:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “until he has done and until he has carried out the purposes of his heart.”

[23:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in the latter days.” However, as BDB 31 s.v. אַחֲרִית b suggests, the meaning of this idiom must be determined from the context. Sometimes it has remote, even eschatological, reference and other times it has more immediate reference as it does here and in Jer 30:23 where it refers to the coming days of Babylonian conquest and exile.

[23:20]  ¹⁶ tn The translation is intended to reflect a Hebrew construction where a noun functions as the object of a verb from the same root word (the Hebrew cognate accusative).

[48:47]  ¹⁷ tn See 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[48:47]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[38:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “come up.”

[38:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “reveal my holiness.”

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”

[3:5]  ²² tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”

[3:5]  ²³ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”

[3:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Go again! Love!” Cf. NAB “Give your love to.”

[3:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a woman.” The probable referent is Gomer. Some English translations (e.g., NIV, NLT) specify the referent as “your wife.”

[3:1]  ²⁶ tc The MT vocalizes אֲהֻבַת (’ahuvat) as a construct form of the Qal passive participle and takes רֵעַ (rea’) as a genitive of agent: “who is loved by רֵעַ.” However, the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) all vocalize אֲהֻבַת as an absolute form of the Qal active participle, and take רֵעַ as the accusative direct object: “who loves רֵעַ.” The English translations consistently follow the MT. The editors of BHS suggest the revocalization but with some reservation. For discussion of the vocalization, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:230.

[3:1]  ²⁷ tn The meaning of the noun רֵעַ (rea’) is debated because it has a broad range of meanings: (1) “friend,” (2) “lover,” (3) “companion,” (4) “neighbor,” and (5) “another” (HALOT 1253-55 s.v. II רֵעַ; BDB 945-46 s.v. II רֵעַ). The Hebrew lexicons favor the nuance “lover; paramour” here (HALOT 1255 s.v. 2; BDB 946 s.v. 1). Most scholars adopt the same approach; however, a few suggest that רֵעַ does not refer to another man, but to her husband (Hosea). Both approaches are reflected in English translations: NASB “a woman who is loved by her husband”; NIV “though she is loved by another”; NAB “a woman beloved of a paramour”; KJV “a woman beloved of her friend”; NJPS “a woman who, while befriended by a companion”; TEV “a woman who is committing adultery with a lover”; CEV “an unfaithful woman who has a lover.”

[3:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “love a woman who is loved of a lover and is an adulteress.”

[3:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “like the love of the Lord.” The genitive after the construct functions as a subjective genitive.

[3:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB “people of Israel.”

[3:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “they are lovers of cakes of raisins.” A number of English translations render this literally (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[4:1]  ³² tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB, NRSV “people of Israel.”

[4:1]  ³³ tn The noun רִיב (riv, “dispute, lawsuit”) is used in two contexts: (1) nonlegal contexts: (a) “dispute” between individuals (e.g., Gen 13:7; Isa 58:1; Jer 15:10) or (b) “brawl; quarrel” between people (e.g., Exod 17:7; Deut 25:1); and (2) legal contexts: (a) “lawsuit; legal process” (e.g., Exod 23:3-6; Deut 19:17; 21:5; Ezek 44:24; Ps 35:23), (b) “lawsuit; legal case” (e.g., Deut 1:12; 17:8; Prov 18:17; 25:9), and (c) God’s “lawsuit” on behalf of a person or against his own people (Hos 4:1; 12:3; Mic 6:2; HALOT 1225-26 s.v. רִיב). The term in Hosea refers to a covenant lawsuit in which Yahweh the suzerain lodges a legal case against his disobedient vassal, accusing Israel and Judah of breach of covenant which will elicit the covenant curses.

[4:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “with the inhabitants of the land” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “against the inhabitants of the land.”

[4:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “there is no truthfulness nor loyalty nor knowledge of God in the land.” Here “knowledge of God” refers to recognition of his authority and obedience to his will.

[4:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “they break out and bloodshed touches bloodshed.” The Hebrew term פָּרַץ (parats, “to break out”) refers to violent and wicked actions (BDB 829 s.v. פָּרַץ 7; HALOT 972 s.v. פרץ 6.c). It is used elsewhere in a concrete sense to describe breaking through physical barriers. Here it is used figuratively to describe breaking moral barriers and restraints (cf. TEV “Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another”).

[3:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and you will not be for”; NIV “be intimate with.”

[1:18]  ³⁸ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ³⁹ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”