Jeremiah 13:15-17

13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, ¹ 

“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!

For the Lord has spoken.

13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. ² 

Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. ³ 

Do it before you stumble ⁴  into distress

like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. ⁵ 

Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for

into the darkness and gloom of exile. ⁶ 

13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ⁷ 

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ⁸ 

because you, the Lord’s flock, ⁹  will be carried ¹⁰  into exile.”

Genesis 37:22

37:22 Reuben continued, ¹¹  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ¹²  (Reuben said this ¹³  so he could rescue Joseph ¹⁴  from them ¹⁵  and take him back to his father.)

Genesis 37:26-28

37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 37:27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, ¹⁶  for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. ¹⁷  37:28 So when the Midianite ¹⁸  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ¹⁹  him ²⁰  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ²¹  then took Joseph to Egypt.

Matthew 27:4

27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!”

Matthew 27:24-25

Jesus is Condemned and Mocked

27:24 When ²²  Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!” ²³  27:25 In ²⁴  reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Acts 5:34-39

5:34 But a Pharisee ²⁵  whose name was Gamaliel, ²⁶  a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up ²⁷  in the council ²⁸  and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 5:35 Then he said to the council, ²⁹  “Men of Israel, ³⁰  pay close attention to ³¹  what you are about to do to these men. 5:36 For some time ago ³²  Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He ³³  was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. ³⁴  5:37 After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, ³⁵  and incited people to follow him in revolt. ³⁶  He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered. 5:38 So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, ³⁷  it will come to nothing, ³⁸  5:39 but if ³⁹  it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found ⁴⁰  fighting against God.” He convinced them, ⁴¹ 

[13:15]  ¹ tn The words “Then I said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit from the address in v. 15 and the content of v. 17. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift from the Lord speaking to Jeremiah.

[13:16]  ² tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the Lord your God.” For this nuance of the word “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod), see BDB 459 s.v. כָּבוֹד 6.b and compare the usage in Mal 1:6 and Josh 7:19.

[13:16]  ³ tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.

[13:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “your feet stumble.”

[13:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.

[13:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.

[13:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.

[13:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”

[13:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “because the Lord’s flock will…” The pronoun “you” is supplied in the translation to avoid the shift in English from the second person address at the beginning to the third person affirmation at the end. It also helps explain the metaphor of the people of Israel as God’s flock for some readers who may be unfamiliar with that metaphor.

[13:17]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[37:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”

[37:22]  ¹² sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.

[37:22]  ¹³ tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.

[37:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”

[37:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “listened.”

[37:28]  ¹⁸ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

[37:28]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).

[37:28]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:24]  ²² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:24]  ²³ sn You take care of it yourselves! Compare the response of the chief priests and elders to Judas in 27:4. The expression is identical except that in 27:4 it is singular and here it is plural.

[27:25]  ²⁴ tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[5:34]  ²⁵ sn A Pharisee was a member of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[5:34]  ²⁶ sn Gamaliel was a famous Jewish scholar and teacher mentioned here in v. 34 and in Acts 22:3. He had a grandson of the same name and is referred to as “Gamaliel the Elder” to avoid confusion. He is quoted a number of times in the Mishnah, was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.

[5:34]  ²⁷ tn Grk “standing up in the council, ordered.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:34]  ²⁸ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:35]  ²⁹ tn Grk “said to them”; the referent (the council) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:35]  ³⁰ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is highly unlikely that this is a generic usage, since Gamaliel was addressing the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council, which would have been exclusively male.

[5:35]  ³¹ tn Or “men, be careful.”

[5:36]  ³² tn Grk “For before these days.”

[5:36]  ³³ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.

[5:36]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and they came to nothing.” Gamaliel’s argument is that these two insurrectionists were taken care of by natural events.

[5:37]  ³⁵ tn Or “registration.”

[5:37]  ³⁶ tn The verb ἀφίστημι (afisthmi) as a transitive means “cause to revolt” as used in Josephus, Ant. 8.7.5 (8.198), 20.5.2 (20.102); see BDAG 157 s.v. 1.

[5:38]  ³⁷ tn Here ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[5:38]  ³⁸ tn Or “it will be put to an end.”

[5:39]  ³⁹ tn This is expressed in a first class condition, in contrast to the condition in v. 38b, which is third class. As such, v. 39 is rhetorically presented as the more likely option.

[5:39]  ⁴⁰ tn According to L&N 39.32, the verb εὑρεθῆτε (Jeureqhte, an aorist passive subjunctive) may also be translated “find yourselves” – “lest you find yourselves fighting against God.” The Jewish leader Gamaliel is shown contemplating the other possible alternative about what is occurring.

[5:39]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “They were convinced by him.” This passive construction was converted to an active one (“He convinced them”) in keeping with contemporary English style. The phrase “He convinced them” is traditionally placed in Acts 5:40 by most English translations; the standard Greek critical text (represented by NA²⁷ and UBS⁴) places it at the end of v. 39.