Isaiah 56:9-10

The Lord Denounces Israel’s Paganism

56:9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour,

all you wild animals in the forest!

56:10 All their watchmen ¹  are blind,

they are unaware. ² 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ³  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Isaiah 62:6

62:6 I ⁴  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ⁵ 

You who pray to ⁶  the Lord, don’t be silent!

Jeremiah 6:17

6:17 The Lord said, ⁷ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ⁸  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ⁹ 

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

Ezekiel 3:17

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ¹⁰  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me.

Ezekiel 33:2

33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people, ¹¹  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.

Ezekiel 33:7

33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman ¹²  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf.

Mark 13:34

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ¹³  in charge, assigning ¹⁴  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

Mark 13:37

13:37 What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!”

Luke 12:37

12:37 Blessed are those slaves ¹⁵  whom their master finds alert ¹⁶  when he returns! I tell you the truth, ¹⁷  he will dress himself to serve, ¹⁸  have them take their place at the table, ¹⁹  and will come ²⁰  and wait on them! ²¹ 

Acts 20:30-31

20:30 Even from among your own group ²²  men ²³  will arise, teaching perversions of the truth ²⁴  to draw the disciples away after them. 20:31 Therefore be alert, ²⁵  remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning ²⁶  each one of you with tears.

Acts 20:1

Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece

20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging ²⁷  them and saying farewell, ²⁸  he left to go to Macedonia. ²⁹ 

Acts 5:6

5:6 So the young men came, ³⁰  wrapped him up, ³¹  carried him out, and buried ³²  him.

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. ³³  Let them do this ³⁴  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

Revelation 3:2

3:2 Wake up then, and strengthen what remains that was about ³⁵  to die, because I have not found your deeds complete ³⁶  in the sight ³⁷  of my God.

[56:10]  ¹ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ² tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ³ 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.

[62:6]  ⁴ sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

[62:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

[62:6]  ⁶ tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”

[6:17]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

[6:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[3:17]  ¹⁰ tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[33:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:7]  ¹² sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.

[13:34]  ¹³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “giving.”

[12:37]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[12:37]  ¹⁶ tn Or “watching”; Grk “awake,” but in context this is not just being awake but alert and looking out.

[12:37]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[12:37]  ¹⁸ tn See v. 35 (same verb).

[12:37]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “have them recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[12:37]  ²⁰ tn The participle παρελθών (parelqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:37]  ²¹ sn He…will come and wait on them is a reversal of expectation, but shows that what Jesus asks for he is willing to do as well; see John 13:5 and 15:18-27, although those instances merely foreshadow what is in view here.

[20:30]  ²² tn Grk “from among yourselves.”

[20:30]  ²³ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only rarely is used in a generic sense to refer to both males and females. Since Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders at this point and there is nothing in the context to suggest women were included in that group (“from among your own group”), it is most likely Paul was not predicting that these false teachers would include women.

[20:30]  ²⁴ tn Grk “speaking crooked things”; BDAG 237 s.v. διαστρέφω 2 has “λαλεῖν διεστραμμένα teach perversions (of the truth) Ac 20:30.”

[20:31]  ²⁵ tn Or “be watchful.”

[20:31]  ²⁶ tn Or “admonishing.”

[20:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “exhorting.”

[20:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “and taking leave of them.”

[20:1]  ²⁹ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[5:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “arose.”

[5:6]  ³¹ tn The translation “wrapped up” for συνέστειλαν (sunesteilan) is suggested by L&N 79.119, but another interpretation is possible. The same verb could also be translated “removed” (see L&N 15.200), although that sense appears somewhat redundant and out of sequence with the following verb and participle (“carried him out and buried him”).

[5:6]  ³² sn Buried. Same day burial was a custom in the Jewish world of the first century (cf. also Deut 21:23).

[13:17]  ³³ tn Or “as ones who will give an account”; Grk “as giving an account.”

[13:17]  ³⁴ tn Grk “that they may do this.”

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn The verb ἔμελλον (emellon) is in the imperfect tense.

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn The perfect passive participle has been translated as an intensive (resultative) perfect here.

[3:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “in the judgment.” BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 3 states, “in the opinion/judgment of…As a rule…of θεός or κύριος; so after…πεπληρωμένος Rv 3:2.”