Isaiah 40:19

40:19 A craftsman casts ¹  an idol;

a metalsmith overlays it with gold

and forges silver chains for it.

Isaiah 44:12

44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool ² 

and forges metal over the coals.

He forms it ³  with hammers;

he makes it with his strong arm.

He gets hungry and loses his energy; ⁴ 

he drinks no water and gets tired.

Isaiah 44:1

The Lord Will Renew Israel

44:1 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen!”

Isaiah 4:1

4:1 Seven women will grab hold of

one man at that time. ⁵ 

They will say, “We will provide ⁶  our own food,

we will provide ⁷  our own clothes;

but let us belong to you ⁸  –

take away our shame!” ⁹ 

Isaiah 5:3-5

5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, ¹⁰ 

people ¹¹  of Judah,

you decide between me and my vineyard!

5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard

beyond what I have already done?

When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,

why did it produce sour ones instead?

5:5 Now I will inform you

what I am about to do to my vineyard:

I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, ¹² 

I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. ¹³ 

Daniel 3:1-7

Daniel’s Friends Are Tested

3:1 ¹⁴ King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden ¹⁵  statue made. ¹⁶  It was ninety feet ¹⁷  tall and nine feet ¹⁸  wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 3:2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent out a summons to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, ¹⁹  and all the other authorities of the province to attend the dedication of the statue that he ²⁰  had erected. 3:3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial authorities assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. They were standing in front of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected. ²¹ 

3:4 Then the herald ²²  made a loud ²³  proclamation: “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given: ²⁴  3:5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, ²⁵  trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must ²⁶  bow down and pay homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has erected. 3:6 Whoever does not bow down and pay homage will immediately ²⁷  be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire!” 3:7 Therefore when they all ²⁸  heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, ²⁹  and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and language groups began bowing down and paying homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

Acts 19:24-28

19:24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines ³⁰  of Artemis, ³¹  brought a great deal ³²  of business ³³  to the craftsmen. 19:25 He gathered ³⁴  these ³⁵  together, along with the workmen in similar trades, ³⁶  and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ³⁷  comes from this business. 19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ³⁸  and turned away ³⁹  a large crowd, ⁴⁰  not only in Ephesus ⁴¹  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ⁴²  by saying ⁴³  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ⁴⁴  19:27 There is danger not only that this business of ours will come into disrepute, ⁴⁵  but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis ⁴⁶  will be regarded as nothing, ⁴⁷  and she whom all the province of Asia ⁴⁸  and the world worship will suffer the loss of her greatness.” ⁴⁹ 

19:28 When ⁵⁰  they heard ⁵¹  this they became enraged ⁵²  and began to shout, ⁵³  “Great is Artemis ⁵⁴  of the Ephesians!”

[40:19]  ¹ tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”

[44:12]  ² tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.

[44:12]  ³ tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.

[44:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Or “in that day” (ASV).

[4:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28, and BDB 896 s.v. I ָקרָא Niph. 2.d.(4). The language reflects the cultural reality of ancient Israel, where women were legally the property of their husbands.

[4:1]  ⁹ sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.

[5:3]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:5]  ¹² tn Heb “and it will become [a place for] grazing.” בָּעַר (ba’ar, “grazing”) is a homonym of the more often used verb “to burn.”

[5:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it will become a trampled place” (NASB “trampled ground”).

[3:1]  ¹⁴ sn The LXX introduces this chapter with the following chronological note: “in the eighteenth year of.” Such a date would place these events at about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8). However, there seems to be no real basis for associating the events of Daniel 3 with this date.

[3:1]  ¹⁵ sn There is no need to think of Nebuchadnezzar’s image as being solid gold. No doubt the sense is that it was overlaid with gold (cf. Isa 40:19; Jer 10:3-4), with the result that it presented a dazzling self-compliment to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements.

[3:1]  ¹⁶ sn According to a number of patristic authors, the image represented a deification of Nebuchadnezzar himself. This is not clear from the biblical text, however.

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “sixty cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 90 feet (27.4 m) high.

[3:1]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “six cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 9 feet (2.74 m) wide.

[3:2]  ¹⁹ sn The specific duties of the seven types of officials listed here (cf. vv. 3, 27) are unclear. The Aramaic words that are used are transliterations of Akkadian or Persian technical terms whose exact meanings are uncertain. The translations given here follow suggestions set forth in BDB.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Aram “Nebuchadnezzar the king.” The proper name and title have been replaced by the relative pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:3]  ²¹ tc The LXX and Theodotion lack the words “that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.”

[3:4]  ²² tn According to BDB 1097 s.v. כָּרוֹז the Aramaic word used here is a Greek loanword, but other scholars have argued instead for a Persian derivation (HALOT 1902 s.v. *כָּרוֹז).

[3:4]  ²³ tn Aram “in strength.”

[3:4]  ²⁴ tn Aram “they are saying.”

[3:5]  ²⁵ sn The word zither (Aramaic קִיתָרוֹס [qitaros]), and the words for harp (Aramaic פְּסַנְתֵּרִין [pÿsanterin]) and pipes (Aramaic סוּמְפֹּנְיָה [sumponÿyah]), are of Greek derivation. Though much has been made of this in terms of suggesting a date in the Hellenistic period for the writing of the book, it is not surprising that a few Greek cultural terms, all of them the names of musical instruments, should appear in this book. As a number of scholars have pointed out, the bigger surprise (if, in fact, the book is to be dated to the Hellenistic period) may be that there are so few Greek loanwords in Daniel.

[3:5]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect Aramaic verbs have here an injunctive nuance.

[3:6]  ²⁷ tn Aram “in that hour.”

[3:7]  ²⁸ tn Aram “all the peoples.”

[3:7]  ²⁹ tc Though not in the Aramaic text of BHS, this word appears in many medieval Hebrew MSS, some LXX MSS, and Vulgate. Cf. vv. 5, 10, 15.

[19:24]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 665 s.v. ναός 1.a states, “Specif. of temples: of replicas of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus 19:24…but here, near ἱερόν vs. 27…ναός can be understood in the more restricted sense shrine, where the image of the goddess stood.”

[19:24]  ³¹ sn Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:24]  ³² tn Grk “brought not a little business” (an idiom).

[19:24]  ³³ sn A great deal of business. The charge that Christianity brought economic and/or social upheaval was made a number of times in Acts: 16:20-21; 17:6-7; 18:13.

[19:25]  ³⁴ tn Grk “gathering.” The participle συναθροίσας (sunaqroisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:25]  ³⁵ tn Grk “whom”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a pronoun (“these”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[19:25]  ³⁶ sn Workmen in similar trades. In effect, Demetrius gathered the Ephesian chamber of commerce together to hear about the threat to their prosperity.

[19:25]  ³⁷ tn Another possible meaning is “that this business is an easy way for us to earn a living.”

[19:26]  ³⁸ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:26]  ³⁹ tn Or “misled.”

[19:26]  ⁴⁰ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

[19:26]  ⁴¹ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:26]  ⁴² tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

[19:26]  ⁴³ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

[19:26]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[19:27]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “come under public criticism.” BDAG 101 s.v. ἀπελεγμός has “come into disrepute Ac 19:27.”

[19:27]  ⁴⁶ sn Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:27]  ⁴⁷ tn BDAG 597 s.v. λογίζομαι 1.b has “εἰς οὐθὲν λογισθῆναι be looked upon as nothing…Ac 19:27.”

[19:27]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

[19:27]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “her magnificence.” BDAG 488 s.v. καθαιρέω 2.b has “καθαιρεῖσθαι τῆς μεγαλειότητος αὐτῆς suffer the loss of her magnificence Ac 19:27”; L&N 13.38 has “‘and to have her greatness done away with’ Ac 19:27.”

[19:28]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[19:28]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “And hearing.” The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[19:28]  ⁵² tn Grk “they became filled with rage” (an idiom). The reaction of the Ephesians here is like that of the Jews earlier, though Luke referred to “zeal” or “jealousy” in the former case (Acts 7:54).

[19:28]  ⁵³ tn Grk “and began shouting, saying.” The imperfect verb ἔκραζον (ekrazon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[19:28]  ⁵⁴ sn Artemis was a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.