Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹ 

and sinful people their plans. ² 

They should return ³  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ⁴ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 42:19-22

42:19 “The Lord has told you people who remain in Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be very sure of this: I warn you ⁶  here and now. ⁷  42:20 You are making a fatal mistake. ⁸  For you sent me to the Lord your God and asked me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us what the Lord our God says and we will do it.’ ⁹  42:21 This day ¹⁰  I have told you what he said. ¹¹  But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. ¹²  42:22 So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”

Ezekiel 14:1-6

Well-Deserved Judgment

14:1 Then some men from Israel’s elders came to me and sat down in front of me. 14:2 The word of the Lord came to me: 14:3 “Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity ¹³  right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek ¹⁴  me? 14:4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When any one from the house of Israel erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally according to the enormity of his idolatry. ¹⁵  14:5 I will do this in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who have alienated themselves from me on account of all their idols.’

14:6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Return! Turn from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations.

Ezekiel 18:30-32

18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, ¹⁶  O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent ¹⁷  and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. ¹⁸  18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ¹⁹  Why should you die, O house of Israel? 18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, ²⁰  declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Acts 2:37-38

The Response to Peter’s Address

2:37 Now when they heard this, ²¹  they were acutely distressed ²²  and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized ²³  in the name of Jesus Christ ²⁴  for ²⁵  the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ²⁶ 

Acts 17:19-20

17:19 So they took Paul and ²⁷  brought him to the Areopagus, ²⁸  saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? 17:20 For you are bringing some surprising things ²⁹  to our ears, so we want to know what they ³⁰  mean.”

Acts 17:30-32

17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked ³¹  such times of ignorance, ³²  he now commands all people ³³  everywhere to repent, ³⁴  17:31 because he has set ³⁵  a day on which he is going to judge the world ³⁶  in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, ³⁷  having provided proof to everyone by raising ³⁸  him from the dead.”

17:32 Now when they heard about ³⁹  the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, ⁴⁰  but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

[55:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ² tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ³ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ⁴ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ⁵ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[42:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “Know for certain that I warn you…” The idea of “for certain” is intended to reflect the emphatic use of the infinitive absolute before the volitive use of the imperfect (see IBHS 587-88 §35.3.1h and 509 §31.5b). The substitution “of this:” for “that” has been made to shorten the sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.

[42:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “today.”

[42:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you are erring at the cost of your own lives” (BDB 1073 s.v. תָּעָה Hiph.3 and HALOT 1626 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4, and cf. BDB 90 s.v. בְּ 3 and see parallels in 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Sam 23:17 for the nuance of “at the cost of your lives”). This fits the context better than “you are deceiving yourselves” (KBL 1035 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4). The reading here follows the Qere הִתְעֵיתֶם (hit’etem) rather than the Kethib which has a metathesis of י (yod) and ת (tav), i.e., הִתְעֵתֶים. The Greek text presupposes הֲרֵעֹתֶם (hare’otem, “you have done evil”), but that reading is generally rejected as secondary.

[42:20]  ¹² tn Heb “According to all which the Lord our God says so tell us and we will do.” The restructuring of the sentence is intended to better reflect contemporary English style.

[42:21]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Today.”

[42:21]  ¹⁷ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit and seem necessary for clarity.

[42:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “But you have not hearkened to the voice of [idiomatic for “obeyed” see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.m] the Lord your God, namely [cf. BDB 252 s.v. וְ 1.b] with respect [cf. BDB 514 s.v. לְ 5.f(c)] all which he has sent to us.” The verb is translated “don’t seem to want to obey” because they have not yet expressed their refusal or their actual disobedience. Several commentaries sensing this apparent discrepancy suggest that 42:19-22 are to be transposed after 43:1-3 (see, e.g., BHS note 18a, W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:275; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 252, 256, 258). However, there is absolutely no textual evidence for the transposition and little reason to suspect an early scribal error (in spite of Holladay’s suggestion). It is possible that Jeremiah here anticipates this answer in 43:1-3 through the response on their faces (so Bright, 256; F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 361). G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 249) also call attention to the stated intention in 41:17 and the fact that the strong warning in 42:15-17 seems to imply that a negative response is expected). The use of the perfect here is perhaps to be related to the perfect expressing resolve or determination (see IBHS 489 §30.5.1d). It is also conceivable that these two verses are part of a conditional sentence which has no formal introduction. I.e., “And if you will not obey…then you should know for certain that…” For examples of this kind of conditional clause introduced by two vavs (ו) see Joüon 2:628-29 §167.b, and compare Jer 18:4; Judg 6:13. However, though this interpretation is within the possibilities of Hebrew grammar, I know of no translation or commentary that follows it. So it has not been followed in the translation or given as an alternate translation.

[14:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.

[14:3]  ²² tn Or “I will not reveal myself to them.” The Hebrew word is used in a technical sense here of seeking an oracle from a prophet (2 Kgs 1:16; 3:11; 8:8).

[14:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”

[18:30]  ³¹ tn Heb “ways.”

[18:30]  ³² tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.

[18:30]  ³³ tn Or “leading to punishment.”

[18:31]  ³⁶ sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.

[18:32]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the death of the one dying.”

[2:37]  ⁴⁶ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[2:37]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “they were pierced to the heart” (an idiom for acute emotional distress).

[2:38]  ⁵¹ tn The verb is a third person imperative, but the common translation “let each of you be baptized” obscures the imperative force in English, since it sounds more like a permissive (“each of you may be baptized”) to the average English reader.

[2:38]  ⁵² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:38]  ⁵³ tn There is debate over the meaning of εἰς in the prepositional phrase εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν (eis afesin twn Jamartiwn Jumwn, “for/because of/with reference to the forgiveness of your sins”). Although a causal sense has been argued, it is difficult to maintain here. ExSyn 369-71 discusses at least four other ways of dealing with the passage: (1) The baptism referred to here is physical only, and εἰς has the meaning of “for” or “unto.” Such a view suggests that salvation is based on works – an idea that runs counter to the theology of Acts, namely: (a) repentance often precedes baptism (cf. Acts 3:19; 26:20), and (b) salvation is entirely a gift of God, not procured via water baptism (Acts 10:43 [cf. v. 47]; 13:38-39, 48; 15:11; 16:30-31; 20:21; 26:18); (2) The baptism referred to here is spiritual only. Although such a view fits well with the theology of Acts, it does not fit well with the obvious meaning of “baptism” in Acts – especially in this text (cf. 2:41); (3) The text should be repunctuated in light of the shift from second person plural to third person singular back to second person plural again. The idea then would be, “Repent for/with reference to your sins, and let each one of you be baptized…” Such a view is an acceptable way of handling εἰς, but its subtlety and awkwardness count against it; (4) Finally, it is possible that to a first-century Jewish audience (as well as to Peter), the idea of baptism might incorporate both the spiritual reality and the physical symbol. That Peter connects both closely in his thinking is clear from other passages such as Acts 10:47 and 11:15-16. If this interpretation is correct, then Acts 2:38 is saying very little about the specific theological relationship between the symbol and the reality, only that historically they were viewed together. One must look in other places for a theological analysis. For further discussion see R. N. Longenecker, “Acts,” EBC 9:283-85; B. Witherington, Acts, 154-55; F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary, 129-30; BDAG 290 s.v. εἰς 4.f.

[2:38]  ⁵⁴ tn Here the genitive τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (tou Jagiou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the gift consists of the Holy Spirit.

[17:19]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:19]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “to the council of the Areopagus.” See also the term in v. 22.

[17:20]  ⁶¹ tn BDAG 684 s.v. ξενίζω 2 translates the substantival participle ξενίζοντα (xenizonta) as “astonishing things Ac 17:20.”

[17:20]  ⁶² tn Grk “these things”; but since the referent (“surprising things”) is so close, the repetition of “these things” sounds redundant in English, so the pronoun “they” was substituted in the translation.

[17:30]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”

[17:30]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “times when people did not know.”

[17:30]  ⁶⁸ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[17:30]  ⁶⁹ sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.

[17:31]  ⁷¹ tn Or “fixed.”

[17:31]  ⁷² sn The world refers to the whole inhabited earth.

[17:31]  ⁷³ tn Or “appointed.” BDAG 723 s.v. ὁρίζω 2.b has “of persons appoint, designate, declare: God judges the world ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν through a man whom he has appointed Ac 17:31.”

[17:31]  ⁷⁴ tn The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") indicates means here.

[17:32]  ⁷⁶ tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[17:32]  ⁷⁷ tn L&N 33.408 has “some scoffed (at him) Ac 17:32” for ἐχλεύαζον (ecleuazon) here; the imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to scoff”).