Isaiah 52:8

52:8 Listen, ¹  your watchmen shout;

in unison they shout for joy,

for they see with their very own eyes ² 

the Lord’s return to Zion.

Isaiah 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ³  are blind,

they are unaware. ⁴ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ⁵  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Isaiah 56:2

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ⁶ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ⁷ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ⁸ 

Isaiah 8:14

8:14 He will become a sanctuary, ⁹ 

but a stone that makes a person trip,

and a rock that makes one stumble –

to the two houses of Israel. ¹⁰ 

He will become ¹¹  a trap and a snare

to the residents of Jerusalem. ¹² 

The Song of Songs 3:3

3:3 The night watchmen found me – the ones who guard the city walls. ¹³ 

“Have you seen my beloved?” ¹⁴ 

The Song of Songs 5:7

5:7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.

They beat me, they bruised me;

they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!

Jeremiah 6:17

6:17 The Lord said, ¹⁵ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ¹⁶  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ¹⁷ 

But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

Ezekiel 3:17-21

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ¹⁸  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 3:18 When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” ¹⁹  and you do not warn him – you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live – that wicked person will die for his iniquity, ²⁰  but I will hold you accountable for his death. ²¹  3:19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. ²² 

3:20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle ²³  before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 3:21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he ²⁴  does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”

Ezekiel 33:2-9

33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people, ²⁵  and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman. 33:3 He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet, ²⁶  and warns the people, ²⁷  33:4 but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death. ²⁸  33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. ²⁹  If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. 33:6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, ³⁰  but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’ ³¹ 

33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman ³²  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. 33:8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ ³³  and you do not warn ³⁴  the wicked about his behavior, ³⁵  the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. ³⁶  33:9 But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, ³⁷  and he refuses to change, ³⁸  he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

Ezekiel 33:1

Ezekiel Israel’s Watchman

33:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Colossians 1:28

1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ³⁹  and teaching ⁴⁰  all people ⁴¹  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ⁴²  in Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-12

4:11 It was he ⁴³  who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ⁴⁴  4:12 to equip ⁴⁵  the saints for the work of ministry, that is, ⁴⁶  to build up the body of Christ,

Hebrews 13:17

13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ⁴⁷  Let them do this ⁴⁸  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

[52:8]  ¹ tn קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.

[52:8]  ² tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”

[56:10]  ³ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[56:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ⁸ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[8:14]  ⁹ tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) is probably a corruption of an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).

[8:14]  ¹⁰ sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

[8:14]  ¹¹ tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vÿhayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.

[8:14]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “those who go around the city” or “those who go around in the city.” The expression הַסֹּבְבִים בָּעִיר (hassovÿvim ba’ir, “those who go around the city”) probably refers to the watchmen of the city walls rather than night city street patrol (e.g., Ps 127:1; Song 5:7; Isa 21:11; 62:6). The Israelite night watchmen of the walls is paralleled by the Akkadian sahir duri (“one who goes around the wall”) which appears in a lexical text as the equivalent of ma-sar musi (“night watchman”) (CAD 4:192). See M. H. Pope, Song of Songs (AB), 419. There is a wordplay in 3:2-3 between the verb וַאֲסוֹבְבָה (va’asovÿvah, “I will go about”) and הַסֹּבְבִים (hassovÿvim, “those who go around”). This wordplay draws attention to the ironic similarity between the woman’s action and the action of the city’s watchmen. Ironically, she failed to find her beloved as she went around in the city, but the city watchmen found her. Rather than finding the one she was looking for, she was found.

[3:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the one whom my soul loves – have you seen [him]?” The normal Hebrew word-order (verb-subject-direct object) is reversed in 3:3 (direct object-verb-subject) to emphasize the object of her search: אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי רְאִיתֶם (’et she’ahavah nafshi rÿ’item, “The one whom my soul loves – have you seen [him]?”).

[6:17]  ¹⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

[6:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[3:17]  ¹⁸ tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[3:18]  ¹⁹ sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[3:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).

[3:19]  ²² tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.

[3:20]  ²³ tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.

[3:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the righteous man.”

[33:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “shofar,” a ram’s horn rather than a brass instrument (so throughout the chapter).

[33:3]  ²⁷ tn Sounding the trumpet was a warning of imminent danger (Neh 4:18-20; Jer 4:19; Amos 3:6).

[33:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his blood will be on his own head.”

[33:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “his blood will be on him.”

[33:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

[33:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”

[33:7]  ³² sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.

[33:8]  ³³ tn The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.

[33:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”

[33:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “way.”

[33:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”

[33:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from his way to turn from it.”

[33:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”

[1:28]  ³⁹ tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ⁴⁰ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ⁴¹ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ⁴² tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.

[4:11]  ⁴³ tn The emphasis on Christ is continued through the use of the intensive pronoun, αὐτός (autos), and is rendered in English as “it was he” as this seems to lay emphasis on the “he.”

[4:11]  ⁴⁴ sn Some interpreters have understood the phrase pastors and teachers to refer to one and the same group. This would mean that all pastors are teachers and that all teachers are pastors. This position is often taken because it is recognized that both nouns (i.e., pastors and teachers) are governed by one article in Greek. But because the nouns are plural, it is extremely unlikely that they refer to the same group, but only that the author is linking them closely together. It is better to regard the pastors as a subset of teachers. In other words, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. See ExSyn 284.

[4:12]  ⁴⁵ tn On the translation of πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων (pro" ton katartismon twn Jagiwn) as “to equip the saints” see BDAG 526 s.v. καταρτισμός. In this case the genitive is taken as objective and the direct object of the verbal idea implied in καταρτισμός (katartismo").

[4:12]  ⁴⁶ tn The εἰς (eis) clause is taken as epexegetical to the previous εἰς clause, namely, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας (ei" ergon diakonia").

[13:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “as ones who will give an account”; Grk “as giving an account.”

[13:17]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “that they may do this.”