Isaiah 37:30

37:30 ¹ “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: ²  This year you will eat what grows wild, ³  and next year ⁴  what grows on its own. But the year after that ⁵  you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁶ 

Isaiah 38:7-8

38:7 Isaiah replied, ⁷  “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said: 38:8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” ⁸  And then the shadow went back ten steps. ⁹ 

Isaiah 38:22

38:22 Hezekiah said, “What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”

Jude 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ¹⁰  a slave ¹¹  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ¹²  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ¹³  God the Father and kept for ¹⁴  Jesus Christ. 1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ¹⁵ 

Jude 1:8-11

1:8 Yet these men, ¹⁶  as a result of their dreams, ¹⁷  defile the flesh, reject authority, ¹⁸  and insult ¹⁹  the glorious ones. ²⁰  1:9 But even ²¹  when Michael the archangel ²²  was arguing with the devil and debating with him ²³  concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 1:10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. ²⁴  1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ²⁵  and because of greed ²⁶  have abandoned themselves ²⁷  to ²⁸  Balaam’s error; hence, ²⁹  they will certainly perish ³⁰  in Korah’s rebellion.

Jeremiah 19:1

An Object Lesson from a Broken Clay Jar

19:1 The Lord told Jeremiah, ³¹  “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. ³²  Take with you ³³  some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders ³⁴  of the priests.

Jeremiah 19:10

19:10 The Lord continued, ³⁵  “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you.

Jeremiah 51:63-64

51:63 When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. ³⁶  51:64 Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments ³⁷  I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.’”

The prophecies of Jeremiah end here. ³⁸ 

Matthew 12:38-40

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ³⁹  along with some Pharisees ⁴⁰  answered him, ⁴¹  “Teacher, we want to see a sign ⁴²  from you.” 12:39 But he answered them, ⁴³  “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ⁴⁴  for three days and three nights, ⁴⁵  so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Matthew 16:1-4

The Demand for a Sign

16:1 Now when the Pharisees ⁴⁶  and Sadducees ⁴⁷  came to test Jesus, ⁴⁸  they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ⁴⁹  16:2 He ⁵⁰  said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ 16:3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ ⁵¹  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, ⁵²  but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times. 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then ⁵³  he left them and went away.

[37:30]  ¹ tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).

[37:30]  ² tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

[37:30]  ³ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[37:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).

[37:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).

[37:30]  ⁶ tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.

[38:7]  ⁷ tn The words “Isaiah replied” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the present form of the Hebrew text v. 7 is joined directly to v. 6, but vv. 21-22, if original to Isaiah 38, must be inserted here. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8.

[38:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the shadow on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, with the sun, back ten steps.”

[38:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the sun returned ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.”

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹¹ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ¹² sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[1:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:8]  ¹⁶ tn The reference is now to the false teachers.

[1:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “dreaming.” The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι (enupniazomenoi, “dreaming”) is adverbial to the pronoun οὗτοι (|outoi, “these”), though the particular relationship is not clear. It could mean, “while dreaming,” “by dreaming,” or “because of dreaming.” This translation has adopted the last option as Jude’s meaning, partially for syntactical reasons (the causal participle usually precedes the main verb) and partially for contextual reasons (these false teachers must derive their authority from some source, and the dreams provide the most obvious base). The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι was sometimes used of apocalyptic visions, both of true and false prophets. This seems to be the meaning here.

[1:8]  ¹⁸ tn Most likely, the authority of the Lord is in view. This verse, then, echoes the indictment of v. 4: “they deny our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

[1:8]  ¹⁹ tn The construction with the three verbs (“defile, “reject,” and “insult”) involves the particles μέν, δέ, δέ (men, de, de). A more literal (and pedantic) translation would be: “on the one hand, they defile the flesh, on the other hand, they reject authority, and on another hand, they insult the glorious ones.”

[1:8]  ²⁰ sn The glorious ones refers to angelic beings rather than mere human beings, just as in 2 Pet 2:10 (on which this passage apparently depends). Whether the angelic beings are good or evil, however, is difficult to tell (hence, the translation is left ambiguous). However, both in 2 Pet 2:11 and here, in Jude 9, the wicked angels seem to be in view (for not even Michael insults them).

[1:9]  ²¹ tn The word “even” is not in Greek; it is implied by the height of the contrast.

[1:9]  ²² sn According to Jewish intertestamental literature (such as 1 En. 20), Michael was one of seven archangels.

[1:9]  ²³ tn The sentence structure is a bit different in Greek. Literally it reads: “But Michael the archangel, when arguing with the devil and disputing.”

[1:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “they should naturally comprehend.” The present tense in this context may have a conative force.

[1:11]  ²⁵ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ²⁷ tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).

[1:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ³⁰ tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).

[19:1]  ³¹ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. Some Hebrew mss and some of the versions have “to me.” This section, 19:1–20:6 appears to be one of the biographical sections of the book of Jeremiah where incidents in his life are reported in third person. See clearly 9:14 and 20:1-3. The mss and versions do not represent a more original text but are translational or interpretive attempts to fill in a text which had no referent. They are like the translational addition that has been supplied on the basis of contextual indicators.

[19:1]  ³² tn Heb “an earthenware jar of the potter.”

[19:1]  ³³ tc The words “Take with you” follow the reading of the Syriac version and to a certain extent the reading of the Greek version (the latter does not have “with you”). The Hebrew text does not have these words but they are undoubtedly implicit.

[19:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “elders” both here and before “of the people.”

[19:10]  ³⁵ tn The words “And the Lord continued” are not in the text. However, they are necessary to take us clearly back to the flow of the narrative begun in vv. 1-2 and interrupted by the long speech in vv. 3-9.

[51:63]  ³⁶ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

[51:64]  ³⁷ tn Or “disaster”; or “calamity.”

[51:64]  ³⁸ sn The final chapter of the book of Jeremiah does not mention Jeremiah or record any of his prophecies.

[12:38]  ³⁹ tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[12:38]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.

[12:38]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.

[12:38]  ⁴² sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

[12:39]  ⁴³ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[12:40]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “large sea creature.”

[12:40]  ⁴⁵ sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.

[16:1]  ⁴⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[16:1]  ⁴⁷ sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

[16:1]  ⁴⁸ tn The object of the participle πειράζοντες (peirazontes) is not given in the Greek text but has been supplied here for clarity.

[16:1]  ⁴⁹ sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

[16:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” The construction has been simplified in the translation and δέ (de) has not been translated.

[16:3]  ⁵¹ tn Or “red and gloomy” (L&N 14.56).

[16:3]  ⁵² tn Grk “The face of the sky you know how to discern.”

[16:4]  ⁵³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.