Isaiah 27:9

27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, ¹ 

and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: ² 

They will make all the stones of the altars ³ 

like crushed limestone,

and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. ⁴ 

Numbers 14:21-23

14:21 But truly, as I live, ⁵  all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. 14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ⁶  me now these ten times, ⁷  and have not obeyed me, ⁸  14:23 they will by no means ⁹  see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.

Psalms 58:11

58:11 Then ¹⁰  observers ¹¹  will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! ¹² 

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges ¹³  in the earth!”

Psalms 64:9

64:9 and all people will fear. ¹⁴ 

They will proclaim ¹⁵  what God has done,

and reflect on his deeds.

Psalms 83:18

83:18 Then they will know ¹⁶  that you alone are the Lord, ¹⁷ 

the sovereign king ¹⁸  over all the earth.

Hosea 5:15

5:15 Then I will return again to my lair

until they have suffered their punishment. ¹⁹ 

Then they will seek me; ²⁰ 

in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Revelation 11:13

11:13 Just then ²¹  a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people ²²  were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

[27:9]  ¹ tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”

[27:9]  ² tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).

[27:9]  ³ tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.

[27:9]  ⁴ sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.

[14:21]  ⁵ sn This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.

[14:22]  ⁶ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

[14:22]  ⁷ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

[14:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[14:23]  ⁹ tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see…,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.

[58:11]  ¹⁰ tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.

[58:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.

[58:11]  ¹² tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”

[58:11]  ¹³ tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC 428-29 §132.h). It is possible that the final mem (ם) on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.

[64:9]  ¹⁴ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyir’u, “and they will see”) instead of וַיִּירְאוּ (vayyirÿ’u, “and they will proclaim”).

[64:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.

[83:18]  ¹⁶ tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.

[83:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the Lord, you alone.”

[83:18]  ¹⁸ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[5:15]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “seek my face” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “seek my presence.”

[11:13]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:13]  ²² tn Grk “seven thousand names of men.”