Discovery BoxIsaiah 59:3-4
Context59:3 For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
59:4 No one is concerned about justice; 1
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words 2 and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression 3
and give birth to sin.
Isaiah 59:1
Context59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak 4 to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you. 5
Isaiah 21:10-14
Context21:10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, 6
what I have heard
from the Lord who commands armies,
the God of Israel,
I have reported to you.
21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: 7
Someone calls to me from Seir, 8
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?” 9
21:12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but then night. 10
If you want to ask, ask;
come back again.” 11
21:13 Here is a message about Arabia:
In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night,
you Dedanite caravans.
21:14 Bring out some water for the thirsty.
You who live in the land of Tema,
bring some food for the fugitives.
Acts 6:11-13
Context6:11 Then they secretly instigated 12 some men to say, “We have heard this man 13 speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 6:12 They incited the people, the 14 elders, and the experts in the law; 15 then they approached Stephen, 16 seized him, and brought him before the council. 17 6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place 18 and the law. 19
[59:4] 1 tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”
[59:4] 2 tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”
[59:4] 3 tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”
[59:1] 4 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[59:1] 5 tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”
[21:10] 6 tn Heb “My trampled one, and the son of the threshing floor.”
[21:11] 7 tn The noun דּוּמָה (dumah) means “silence,” but here it is a proper name, probably referring to a site in northern Arabia or to the nation of Edom. See BDB 189 s.v. II דּוּמָה. If Dumah was an area in northern Arabia, it would be of interest to the Edomites because of its strategic position on trade routes which they used. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:398.
[21:11] 8 sn Seir is another name for Edom. See BDB 973 s.v. שֵׂעִיר.
[21:11] 9 sn The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.
[21:12] 10 sn Dumah will experience some relief, but it will be short-lived as night returns.
[21:12] 11 sn The point of the watchman’s final instructions (“if you want to ask, ask; come again”) is unclear. Perhaps they are included to add realism to the dramatic portrayal. The watchman sends the questioner away with the words, “Feel free to come back and ask again.”
[6:11] 12 tn Another translation would be “they suborned” (but this term is not in common usage). “Instigate (secretly), suborn” is given by BDAG 1036 s.v. ὑποβάλλω.
[6:11] 13 tn Grk “heard him”; but since this is direct discourse, it is more natural (and clearer) to specify the referent (Stephen) as “this man.”
[6:12] 14 tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
[6:12] 15 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.
[6:12] 16 tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:12] 17 tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.
[6:13] 18 sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.
[6:13] 19 sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.
