Discovery BoxIsaiah 3:9
Context3:9 The look on their faces 1 testifies to their guilt; 2
like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. 3
Too bad for them! 4
For they bring disaster on themselves.
Isaiah 3:11
Context3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!
For they will get exactly what they deserve. 5
Jeremiah 13:27
Context13:27 People of Jerusalem, 6 I have seen your adulterous worship,
your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. 7
I have seen your disgusting acts of worship 8
on the hills throughout the countryside.
You are doomed to destruction! 9
How long will you continue to be unclean?’”
Ezekiel 13:3
Context13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing!
Zechariah 11:17
Context11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock!
May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!
May his arm wither completely away,
and his right eye become completely blind!”
Matthew 11:21
Context11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! 10 Woe to you, Bethsaida! If 11 the miracles 12 done in you had been done in Tyre 13 and Sidon, 14 they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Matthew 23:13-16
Context23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law 15 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! 16 You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! 17 For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
23:14 [[EMPTY]] 1823:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law 19 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, 20 and when you get one, 21 you make him twice as much a child of hell 22 as yourselves!
23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. 23 But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’
Luke 11:42-47
Context11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! 24 You give a tenth 25 of your mint, 26 rue, 27 and every herb, yet you neglect justice 28 and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. 29 11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats 30 in the synagogues 31 and elaborate greetings 32 in the marketplaces! 11:44 Woe to you! 33 You are like unmarked graves, and people 34 walk over them without realizing it!” 35
11:45 One of the experts in religious law 36 answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult 37 us too.” 11:46 But Jesus 38 replied, 39 “Woe to you experts in religious law as well! 40 You load people 41 down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch 42 the burdens with even one of your fingers! 11:47 Woe to you! You build 43 the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors 44 killed.
[3:9] 1 sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.
[3:9] 2 tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”
[3:9] 3 tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”
[3:9] 4 tn Heb “woe to their soul.”
[3:11] 5 tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”
[13:27] 6 tn Heb “Jerusalem.” This word has been pulled up from the end of the verse to help make the transition. The words “people of” have been supplied in the translation here to ease the difficulty mentioned earlier of sustaining the personification throughout.
[13:27] 7 tn Heb “[I have seen] your adulteries, your neighings, and your shameless prostitution.” The meanings of the metaphorical references have been incorporated in the translation for the sake of clarity for readers of all backgrounds.
[13:27] 8 tn Heb “your disgusting acts.” This word is almost always used of idolatry or of the idols themselves. See BDB 1055 s.v. שִׁקֻּוּץ and Deut 29:17 and Jer 4:1; 7:30.
[13:27] 9 tn Heb “Woe to you!”
[11:21] 10 sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after
[11:21] 11 tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.
[11:21] 12 tn Or “powerful deeds.”
[11:21] 13 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[11:21] 14 sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”
[23:13] 15 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
[23:13] 16 tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).
[23:13] 17 tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”
[23:14] 18 tc The most important
[23:15] 19 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
[23:15] 20 tn Or “one proselyte.”
[23:15] 21 tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”
[23:15] 22 tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”
[23:16] 23 tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”
[11:42] 24 tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).
[11:42] 25 tn Or “you tithe mint.”
[11:42] 26 sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).
[11:42] 27 tn Grk “and rue.” Καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
[11:42] 28 sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).
[11:42] 29 tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.
[11:43] 30 tn Or “seats of honor.” The term here is plural and is not a reference only to the lead “seat of Moses” in the synagogue, but includes the front seats near the ark.
[11:43] 31 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.
[11:43] 32 tn Grk “and the greetings.”
[11:44] 33 tc Most
[11:44] 34 tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.
[11:44] 35 sn In Judaism to come into contact with the dead or what is associated with them, even without knowing it, makes one unclean (Num 19:11-22; Lev 21:1-3; Mishnah, m. Demai 2:3). To Pharisees, who would have been so sensitive about contracting ceremonial uncleanness, it would have been quite a stinging rebuke to be told they caused it.
[11:45] 36 sn That is, an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law. They worked closely with the Pharisees.
[11:45] 37 tn For this term, see Matt 22;6; Luke 18:32; Acts 14:5; 1 Thess 2:2.
[11:46] 38 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:46] 40 tn Here “as well” is used to translate καί (kai) at the beginning of the statement.
[11:46] 41 tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.
[11:46] 42 tn Grk “you yourselves do not touch.” This could mean one of two things: (1) Either they make others do what they themselves do not (through various technical exceptions) or (2) they make no effort to help the others fulfill what they are required to do. Considering the care these religious figures are said to have given to the law, the second option is more likely (see L&N 18.11).
[11:47] 43 sn The effect of what the experts in the law were doing was to deny the message of the prophets and thus honor their death by supporting those who had sought their removal. The charge that this is what previous generations did shows the problem is chronic. As T. W. Manson said, the charge here is “The only prophet you honor is a dead prophet!” (The Sayings of Jesus, 101).
