Jeremiah 18:18

Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him

18:18 Then some people ¹  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ²  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ³  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ⁴  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

Nehemiah 6:6-13

6:6 Written in it were the following words:

“Among the nations it is rumored ⁵  (and Geshem ⁶  has substantiated ⁷  this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors ⁸  you are going to become their king. 6:7 You have also established prophets to announce ⁹  in Jerusalem ¹⁰  on your behalf, ‘We have a king in Judah!’ Now the king is going to hear about these rumors. So come on! Let’s talk about this.” ¹¹ 

6:8 I sent word back to him, “We are not engaged in these activities you are describing. ¹²  All of this is a figment of your imagination.” ¹³ 

6:9 All of them were wanting ¹⁴  to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”

So now, strengthen my hands! ¹⁵ 

6:10 Then I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel. He was confined to his home. ¹⁶  He said, “Let’s set up a time to meet in the house of God, within the temple. Let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. It will surely be at night that they will come to kill you.”

6:11 But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life? ¹⁷  I will not go!” 6:12 I recognized the fact that God had not sent him, for he had spoken the prophecy against me as a hired agent of Tobiah and Sanballat. ¹⁸  6:13 He had been hired to scare me so that I would do this and thereby sin. They would thus bring reproach on me and I ¹⁹  would be discredited. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 10:18

10:18 The one who conceals hatred utters lies, ²¹ 

and the one who spreads ²²  slander ²³  is certainly ²⁴  a fool.

Isaiah 29:21

29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, ²⁵ 

who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate ²⁶ 

and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. ²⁷ 

Ezekiel 22:9

22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. ²⁸  Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; ²⁹  they commit obscene acts among you. ³⁰ 

Luke 20:20

Paying Taxes to Caesar

20:20 Then ³¹  they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. ³²  They wanted to take advantage of what he might say ³³  so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction ³⁴  of the governor.

Acts 6:11-15

6:11 Then they secretly instigated ³⁵  some men to say, “We have heard this man ³⁶  speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 6:12 They incited the people, the ³⁷  elders, and the experts in the law; ³⁸  then they approached Stephen, ³⁹  seized him, and brought him before the council. ⁴⁰  6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ⁴¹  and the law. ⁴²  6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs ⁴³  that Moses handed down to us.” 6:15 All ⁴⁴  who were sitting in the council ⁴⁵  looked intently at Stephen ⁴⁶  and saw his face was like the face of an angel. ⁴⁷ 

Acts 24:1-9

The Accusations Against Paul

24:1 After five days the high priest Ananias ⁴⁸  came down with some elders and an attorney ⁴⁹  named ⁵⁰  Tertullus, and they ⁵¹  brought formal charges ⁵²  against Paul to the governor. 24:2 When Paul ⁵³  had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, ⁵⁴  saying, “We have experienced a lengthy time ⁵⁵  of peace through your rule, ⁵⁶  and reforms ⁵⁷  are being made in this nation ⁵⁸  through your foresight. ⁵⁹  24:3 Most excellent Felix, ⁶⁰  we acknowledge this everywhere and in every way ⁶¹  with all gratitude. ⁶²  24:4 But so that I may not delay ⁶³  you any further, I beg ⁶⁴  you to hear us briefly ⁶⁵  with your customary graciousness. ⁶⁶  24:5 For we have found ⁶⁷  this man to be a troublemaker, ⁶⁸  one who stirs up riots ⁶⁹  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ⁷⁰  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁷¹  24:6 He ⁷²  even tried to desecrate ⁷³  the temple, so we arrested ⁷⁴  him. 24:7 [[EMPTY]] ⁷⁵  24:8 When you examine ⁷⁶  him yourself, you will be able to learn from him ⁷⁷  about all these things we are accusing him of doing.” ⁷⁸  24:9 The Jews also joined in the verbal attack, ⁷⁹  claiming ⁸⁰  that these things were true.

Acts 24:13

24:13 nor can they prove ⁸¹  to you the things ⁸²  they are accusing me of doing. ⁸³ 

[18:18]  ¹ tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.

[18:18]  ² tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.

[18:18]  ³ tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

[18:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “heard.”

[6:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “Gashmu”; in Neh 2:19 this name appears as Geshem. Since it is important for the modern reader to recognize that this is the same individual, the form of the name used here in the translation is the same as that in v. 19.

[6:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “is saying.”

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “words.” So also in v. 7.

[6:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “call.”

[6:7]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Let us consult together.”

[6:8]  ¹² tn Heb “We are not according to these matters that you are saying.”

[6:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “For from your heart you are inventing them.”

[6:9]  ¹⁴ tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.

[6:9]  ¹⁵ tn The statement “So now, strengthen my hands” is frequently understood as an implied prayer, but is taken differently by NAB (“But instead, I now redoubled my efforts”).

[6:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “shut in.” The reason for his confinement is not stated. BDB 783 s.v. עָצַר suggests that it had to do with the fulfillment of a vow or was related to an issue of ceremonial uncleanness.

[6:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “go into the temple and live.”

[6:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”

[6:13]  ¹⁹ tc The translation reads לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the MT reading לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”).

[6:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “would have a bad name.”

[10:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “lips of falsehood.” The genitive noun שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “falsehood”) functions as an attributive genitive. The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause for speech produced by lips. The one who shows friendliness while concealing hatred is a liar (e.g., Ps 28:3).

[10:18]  ²² tn Heb “causes to go out.” The Hiphil of יָצָא (yatsa) literally means “to cause to go out” (BDB 424 s.v. Hiph.1). This may refer to speech (“to utter”) in the sense of causing words to go out of one’s mouth, or it may refer to slander (“to spread”) in the sense of causing slander to go out to others.

[10:18]  ²³ tn The word דִבָּה (dibbah) means “whispering; defamation; evil report” (BDB 179 s.v.). Cf. NAB “accusations”; TEV “gossip.”

[10:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he is a fool.” The independent personal pronoun הוּא (hu’, “he”) is used for emphasis. This is reflected in the translation as “certainly.”

[29:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”

[29:21]  ²⁶ sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.

[29:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”

[22:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.

[22:9]  ³⁰ sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.

[20:20]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[20:20]  ³² tn Grk “righteous,” but in this context the point is their false sincerity.

[20:20]  ³³ tn Grk “so that they might catch him in some word.”

[20:20]  ³⁴ tn This word is often translated “authority” in other contexts, but here, in combination with ἀρχή (arch), it refers to the domain or sphere of the governor’s rule (L&N 37.36).

[6:11]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[6:12]  ³⁹ tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.

[6:13]  ⁴¹ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ⁴² 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.

[6:14]  ⁴³ tn Or “practices.”

[6:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[6:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[6:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “at him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:15]  ⁴⁷ sn His face was like the face of an angel. This narrative description of Stephen’s face adds to the mood of the passage. He had the appearance of a supernatural, heavenly messenger.

[24:1]  ⁴⁸ sn Ananias was in office from a.d. 47-59.

[24:1]  ⁴⁹ tn The term refers to a professional advocate (BDAG 905 s.v. ῥήτωρ).

[24:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “an attorney, a certain Tertullus.”

[24:1]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “who” (plural). Because in English the relative pronoun “who” could be understood to refer only to the attorney Tertullus and not to the entire group, it has been replaced with the third person plural pronoun “they.” “And” has been supplied to provide the connection to the preceding clause.

[24:1]  ⁵² tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”

[24:2]  ⁵³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “began to bring charges, saying.”

[24:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “experienced much peace.”

[24:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “through you” (“rule” is implied).

[24:2]  ⁵⁷ tn This term is used only once in the NT (a hapax legomenon). It refers to improvements in internal administration (BDAG 251 s.v. διόρθωμα).

[24:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “being made for this people.”

[24:2]  ⁵⁹ sn References to peaceful rule, reforms, and the governor’s foresight in the opening address by Tertullus represent an attempt to praise the governor and thus make him favorable to the case. Actual descriptions of his rule portray him as inept (Tacitus, Annals 12.54; Josephus, J. W. 2.13.2-7 [2.253-270]).

[24:3]  ⁶⁰ sn Most excellent Felix. See the note on Felix in 23:24.

[24:3]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “in every way and everywhere.”

[24:3]  ⁶² tn Or “with complete thankfulness.” BDAG 416 s.v. εὐχαριστία 1 has “μετὰ πάσης εὐ.…with all gratitude Ac 24:3.” L&N 31.26 has “‘we acknowledge this anywhere and everywhere with complete thankfulness’ Ac 24:3.”

[24:4]  ⁶³ tn Or “may not weary.” BDAG 274 s.v. ἐγκόπτω states, “ἵνα μὴ ἐπὶ πλεῖόν σε ἐγκόπτω Ac 24:4 is understood by Syr. and Armen. versions to mean in order not to weary you any further; cp. ἔγκοπος weary Diog. L. 4, 50; LXX; and ἔγκοπον ποιεῖν to weary Job 19:2; Is 43:23. But impose on is also prob.; detain NRSV.”

[24:4]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “request.”

[24:4]  ⁶⁵ tn This term is another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 976 s.v. συντόμως 2). Tertullus was asking for a brief hearing, and implying to the governor that he would speak briefly and to the point.

[24:4]  ⁶⁶ tn BDAG 371 s.v. ἐπιείκεια has “τῇ σῇ ἐ. with your (customary) indulgence Ac 24:4.”

[24:5]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “For having found.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:5]  ⁶⁸ tn L&N 22.6 has “(a figurative extension of meaning of λοιμός ‘plague,’ 23.158) one who causes all sorts of trouble – ‘troublemaker, pest.’ … ‘for we have found this man to be a troublemaker” Ac 24:5.”

[24:5]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “dissensions.” While BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3 translates this phrase “κινεῖν στάσεις (v.l. στάσιν) τισί create dissension among certain people Ac 24:5,” it is better on the basis of the actual results of Paul’s ministry to categorize this usage under section 2, “uprising, riot, revolt, rebellion” (cf. the use in Acts 19:40).

[24:5]  ⁷⁰ tn This term is yet another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 894 s.v. πρωτοστάτης).

[24:5]  ⁷¹ sn The sect of the Nazarenes is a designation for followers of Jesus the Nazarene, that is, Christians.

[24:6]  ⁷² tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the third person singular pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.

[24:6]  ⁷³ tn Or “profane” (BDAG 173 s.v. βεβηλόω). The term was also used of profaning the Sabbath.

[24:6]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “seized.” Grk “whom also we arrested.” Because of the awkwardness of a relative clause in English at this point, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” as object of the verb.

[24:7]  ⁷⁵ tc Some later mss include some material at the end of v. 6, all of 24:7, and some material at the beginning of v. 8: “and we wanted to judge him according to our law. 24:7 But Lysias the commanding officer came and took him out of our hands with a great deal of violence, 24:8 ordering those who accused him to come before you.” Acts 24:6b, 7, and 8a are lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A B H L P 049 81 1175 1241 pm and a few versional witnesses. They are included (with a few minor variations) in E Ψ 33 323 614 945 1505 1739 pm and a few versional witnesses. This verse (and parts of verses) is most likely not a part of the original text of Acts, for not only is it lacking from the better witnesses, there is no easy explanation as to how such could be missing from them. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

[24:8]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “question.”

[24:8]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “From whom when you examine him yourself, you will be able to learn…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the third person singular pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.

[24:8]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “about all these things of which we are accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“of which”) in the translation.

[24:9]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “joined in the attack,” but the adjective “verbal” has been supplied to clarify that this was not another physical assault on Paul. The verb is another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 969 s.v. συνεπιτίθημι).

[24:9]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “asserting” (BDAG 1050 s.v. φάσκω).

[24:13]  ⁸¹ tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 1.f has “οὐδὲ παραστῆσαι δύνανταί σοι περὶ ὧν νυνὶ κατηγοροῦσίν μου nor can they prove to you the accusations they are now making against me Ac 24:13.”

[24:13]  ⁸² tn The words “the things” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[24:13]  ⁸³ tn Grk “nor can they prove to you [the things] about which they are now accusing me.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“which”) in the translation.