Isaiah 51:1

There is Hope for the Future

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ¹ 

who seek the Lord!

Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,

at the quarry ²  from which you were dug! ³ 

Isaiah 51:4

51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!

Listen to me, my people!

For ⁴  I will issue a decree, ⁵ 

I will make my justice a light to the nations. ⁶ 

Isaiah 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ⁷ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Exodus 15:26

15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey ⁸  the Lord your God, and do what is right ⁹  in his sight, and pay attention ¹⁰  to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all ¹¹  the diseases ¹²  that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 11:13

11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ¹⁴  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ¹⁵  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ¹⁶ 

Psalms 34:11

34:11 Come children! Listen to me!

I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 1:33

1:33 But the one who listens ¹⁸  to me will live in security, ¹⁹ 

and will be at ease ²⁰  from the dread of harm.

Proverbs 7:23

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ²¹  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ²² 

Proverbs 8:32

8:32 “So now, children, ²³  listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

Mark 7:14

7:14 Then ²⁴  he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand.

Romans 10:17

10:17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word ²⁵  of Christ. ²⁶ 

[51:1]  ¹ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”

[51:1]  ² tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”

[51:1]  ³ sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.

[51:4]  ⁴ tn Or “certainly.”

[51:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”

[51:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”

[51:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[15:26]  ¹⁰ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of שָׁמַע (shama’). The meaning of the verb is idiomatic here because it is followed by “to the voice of Yahweh your God.” When this is present, the verb is translated “obey.” The construction is in a causal clause. It reads, “If you will diligently obey.” Gesenius points out that the infinitive absolute in a conditional clause also emphasizes the importance of the condition on which the consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[15:26]  ¹¹ tn The word order is reversed in the text: “and the right in his eyes you do,” or, “[if] you do what is right in his eyes.” The conditional idea in the first clause is continued in this clause.

[15:26]  ¹² tn Heb “give ear.” This verb and the next are both perfect tenses with the vav (ו) consecutive; they continue the sequence of the original conditional clause.

[15:26]  ¹³ tn The substantive כָּל־ (kol, “all of”) in a negative clause can be translated “none of.”

[15:26]  ¹⁴ sn The reference is no doubt to the plagues that Yahweh has just put on them. These will not come on God’s true people. But the interesting thing about a conditional clause like this is that the opposite is also true – “if you do not obey, then I will bring these diseases.”

[15:26]  ¹⁵ tn The form is רֹפְאֶךָ (rofÿ’ekha), a participle with a pronominal suffix. The word is the predicate after the pronoun “I”: “I [am] your healer.” The suffix is an objective genitive – the Lord heals them.

[11:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ¹⁴ tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[34:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord I will teach you.” In vv. 13-14 the psalmist explains to his audience what it means to “fear” the Lord.

[1:33]  ¹⁹ tn The participle is used substantivally here: “whoever listens” will enjoy the benefits of the instruction.

[1:33]  ²⁰ tn The noun בֶּטַח (betakh, “security”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “in security.” The phrase refers to living in a permanent settled condition without fear of danger (e.g., Deut 33:12; Ps 16:9). It is the antithesis of the dread of disaster facing the fool and the simple.

[1:33]  ²¹ tn The verb שַׁאֲנַן (sha’anan) is a Palel perfect of שָׁאַן (sha’an) which means “to be at ease; to rest securely” (BDB 983 s.v. שָׁאַן). Elsewhere it parallels the verb “to be undisturbed” (Jer 30:10), so it means “to rest undisturbed and quiet.” The reduplicated Palel stem stresses the intensity of the idea. The perfect tense functions in the so-called “prophetic perfect” sense, emphasizing the certainty of this blessing for the wise.

[7:23]  ²² sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).

[7:23]  ²³ tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.

[8:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[7:14]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:17]  ³¹ tn The Greek term here is ῥῆμα (rJhma), which often (but not exclusively) focuses on the spoken word.

[10:17]  ³² tc Most mss (א¹ A D¹ Ψ 33 1881 Ï sy) have θεοῦ (qeou) here rather than Χριστοῦ (Cristou; found in Ì^46vid א* B C D* 6 81 629 1506 1739 pc lat co). External evidence strongly favors the reading “Christ” here. Internal evidence is also on its side, for the expression ῥῆμα Χριστοῦ (rJhma Cristou) occurs nowhere else in the NT; thus scribes would be prone to change it to a known expression.