Jeremiah 18:8

18:8 But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong, ¹  I will cancel the destruction ²  I intended to do to it.

Jeremiah 18:11

18:11 So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem ³  this: The Lord says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. ⁴  So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. ⁵  Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’ ⁶ 

Jeremiah 23:14

23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem ⁷ 

doing something just as shocking.

They are unfaithful to me

and continually prophesy lies. ⁸ 

So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,

with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. ⁹ 

I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,

and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 24:7

24:7 I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I ¹¹  am the Lord. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly ¹²  return to me.’

Jeremiah 35:15

35:15 I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said, “Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right. ¹³  Do not pay allegiance to other gods ¹⁴  and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay any attention or listen to me.

Deuteronomy 30:2

30:2 Then if you and your descendants ¹⁵  turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ¹⁶  just as ¹⁷  I am commanding you today,

Deuteronomy 30:8

30:8 You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving ¹⁸  you today.

Deuteronomy 30:1

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses ¹⁹  I have set before you, you will reflect upon them ²⁰  in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you.

Deuteronomy 7:3

7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

Deuteronomy 7:1

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, ²¹  Girgashites, ²²  Amorites, ²³  Canaanites, ²⁴  Perizzites, ²⁵  Hivites, ²⁶  and Jebusites, ²⁷  seven ²⁸  nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 8:1-2

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ²⁹  I am giving ³⁰  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ³¹  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ³²  8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ³³  has brought you these forty years through the desert ³⁴  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ³⁵  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ³⁶ 

Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ³⁷  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ³⁸ 

Nehemiah 1:9

1:9 But if you repent ³⁹  and obey ⁴⁰  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ⁴¹  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’

Isaiah 55:6-7

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ⁴² 

call to him while he is nearby!

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ⁴³ 

and sinful people their plans. ⁴⁴ 

They should return ⁴⁵  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ⁴⁶ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ⁴⁷ 

Ezekiel 18:23

18:23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

Jonah 3:8-10

3:8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly ⁴⁸  to God, and everyone ⁴⁹  must turn from their ⁵⁰  evil way of living ⁵¹  and from the violence that they do. ⁵²  3:9 Who knows? ⁵³  Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent ⁵⁴  and turn from his fierce anger ⁵⁵  so that we might not die.” ⁵⁶  3:10 When God saw their actions – they turned ⁵⁷  from their evil way of living! ⁵⁸  – God relented concerning the judgment ⁵⁹  he had threatened them with ⁶⁰  and he did not destroy them. ⁶¹ 

Acts 26:20

26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, ⁶²  and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, ⁶³  performing deeds consistent with ⁶⁴  repentance.

[18:8]  ¹ tn Heb “turns from its wickedness.”

[18:8]  ² tn There is a good deal of debate about how the word translated here “revoke” should be translated. There is a good deal of reluctance to translate it “change my mind” because some see that as contradicting Num 23:19 and thus prefer “relent.” However, the English word “relent” suggests the softening of an attitude but not necessarily the change of course. It is clear that in many cases (including here) an actual change of course is in view (see, e.g., Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9; Jer 26:19; Exod 13:17; 32:14). Several of these passages deal with “conditional” prophecies where a change in behavior of the people or the mediation of a prophet involves the change in course of the threatened punishment (or the promised benefit). “Revoke” or “forgo” may be the best way to render this in contemporary English idiom.

[18:11]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[18:11]  ⁴ sn Heb “I am forming disaster and making plans against you.” The word translated “forming” is the same as that for “potter,” so there is a wordplay taking the reader back to v. 5. They are in his hands like the clay in the hands of the potter. Since they have not been pliable he forms new plans. He still offers them opportunity to repent; but their response is predictable.

[18:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “Turn, each one from his wicked way.” See v. 8.

[18:11]  ⁶ tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” See the same expression in 7:3, 5.

[23:14]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[23:14]  ⁸ tn Or “they commit adultery and deal falsely.” The word “shocking” only occurs here and in 5:30 where it is found in the context of prophesying lies. This almost assures that the reference to “walking in lies” (Heb “in the lie”) is referring to false prophesy. Moreover the references to the prophets in 5:13 and in 14:13-15 are all in the context of false prophesy as are the following references in this chapter in 23:24, 26, 32 and in 28:15. This appears to be the theme of this section. This also makes it likely that the reference to adultery is not literal adultery, though two of the false prophets in Babylon were guilty of this (29:23). The reference to “encouraging those who do evil” that follows also makes more sense if they were preaching messages of comfort rather than messages of doom. The verbs here are infinitive absolutes in place of the finite verb, probably used to place greater emphasis on the action (cf. Hos 4:2 in a comparable judgment speech.)

[23:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “So they strengthen the hands of those doing evil so that they do not turn back from their evil.” For the use of the figure “strengthen the hands” meaning “encourage” see Judg 9:24; Ezek 13:22 (and cf. BDB 304 s.v. חָזַק Piel.2). The vav consecutive on the front of the form gives the logical consequence equivalent to “so” in the translation.

[23:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “All of them are to me like Sodom and its [Jerusalem’s] inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

[24:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord.” For the use of “heart” here referring to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will” see BDB 525 s.v. לֵב 4 and compare the usage in 2 Chr 12:14. For the use of “know” to mean “acknowledge” see BDB 384 s.v. יָדַע Qal.1.f and compare the usage in Jer 39:4. For the construction “know ‘someone’ that he…” = “know that ‘someone’…” see GKC 365 §117.h and compare the usage in 2 Sam 3:25.

[24:7]  ¹² tn Heb “with all their heart.”

[35:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “Turn, each of you, from his [= your] wicked way and make good your deeds.” Compare 18:11 where the same idiom occurs with the added term of “make good your ways.”

[35:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Don’t go after/follow other gods.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom and see 11:10; 13:10; 25:6 for the same idiom.

[30:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”

[30:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).

[30:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “according to all.”

[30:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I now enjoin on you.”

[30:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”

[30:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”

[7:1]  ²¹ sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

[7:1]  ²² sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).

[7:1]  ²³ sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

[7:1]  ²⁴ sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

[7:1]  ²⁵ sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

[7:1]  ²⁶ sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

[7:1]  ²⁷ sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).

[7:1]  ²⁸ sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.

[8:1]  ²⁹ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ³² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[8:2]  ³³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[6:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[6:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[1:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “turn to me.”

[1:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “at the end of the heavens.”

[55:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

[55:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ⁴⁶ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[3:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “with strength”; KJV, NRSV “mightily”; NAB, NCV “loudly”; NIV “urgently.”

[3:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “let them turn, a man from his evil way.” The alternation between the plural verb וְיָשֻׁבוּ (vÿyashuvu, “and let them turn”) and the singular noun אִישׁ (’ish, “a man, each one”) and the singular suffix on מִדַּרְכּוֹ (middarko, “from his way”) emphasizes that each and every person in the collective unity is called to repent.

[3:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “his.” See the preceding note on “one.”

[3:8]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “evil way.” For other examples of “way” as “way of living,” see Judg 2:17; Ps 107:17-22; Prov 4:25-27; 5:21.

[3:8]  ⁵² tn Heb “that is in their hands.” By speaking of the harm they did as “in their hands,” the king recognized the Ninevites’ personal awareness and immediate responsibility. The term “hands” is either a synecdoche of instrument (e.g., “Is not the hand of Joab in all this?” 2 Sam 14:19) or a synecdoche of part for the whole. The king's descriptive figure of speech reinforces their guilt.

[3:9]  ⁵³ sn The king expresses his uncertainty whether Jonah’s message constituted a conditional announcement or an unconditional decree. Jeremiah 18 emphasizes that God sometimes gives people an opportunity to repent when they hear an announcement of judgment. However, as Amos and Isaiah learned, if a people refused to repent over a period of time, the patience of God could be exhausted. The offer of repentance in a conditional announcement of judgment can be withdrawn and in its place an unconditional decree of judgment issued. In many cases it is difficult to determine on the front end whether or not a prophetic message of coming judgment is conditional or unconditional, thus explaining the king’s uncertainty.

[3:9]  ⁵⁴ tn “he might turn and relent.” The two verbs יָשׁוּב וְנִחַם (yashub vÿnikham) may function independently (“turn and repent”) or form a verbal hendiadys (“be willing to turn”; see IBHS 540 §32.3b). The imperfect יָשׁוּב and the perfect with prefixed vav וְנִחַם form a future-time narrative sequence. Both verbs function in a modal sense, denoting possibility, as the introductory interrogative suggests (“Who knows…?”). When used in reference to past actions, שׁוּב (shub) can mean “to be sorry” or “to regret” that someone did something in the past, and when used in reference to future planned actions, it can mean “to change one’s mind” about doing something or “to relent” from sending judgment (BDB 997 s.v. שׁוּב 6). The verb נִחַם (nikham) can mean “to be sorry” about past actions (e.g., Gen 6:6, 7; 1 Sam 15:11, 35) and “to change one’s mind” about future actions (BDB 637 s.v. נחם 2). These two verbs are used together elsewhere in passages that consider the question of whether or not God will change his mind and relent from judgment he has threatened (e.g., Jer 4:28). The verbal root שׁוּב is used four times in vv. 8-10, twice of the Ninevites “repenting” from their moral evil and twice of God “relenting” from his threatened calamity. This repetition creates a wordplay that emphasizes the appropriateness of God’s response: if the people repent, God might relent.

[3:9]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “from the burning of his nose/face.” See Exod 4:14; 22:24; 32:12; Num 25:4; 32:14; Deut 9:19.

[3:9]  ⁵⁶ tn The imperfect verb נֹאבֵד (no’ved, “we might not die”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility. The king’s hope parallels that of the ship’s captain in 1:6. See also Exod 32:7-14; 2 Sam 12:14-22; 1 Kgs 8:33-43; 21:17-29; Jer 18:6-8; Joel 2:11-15.

[3:10]  ⁵⁷ tn This clause is introduced by כִּי (ki, “that”) and functions as an epexegetical, explanatory clause.

[3:10]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “from their evil way” (so KJV, ASV, NAB); NASB “wicked way.”

[3:10]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “calamity” or “disaster.” The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “calamity, disaster”) functions as a metonymy of result – the cause being the threatened judgment (e.g., Exod 32:12, 14; 2 Sam 24:16; Jer 18:8; 26:13, 19; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 6). The root רָעָה is repeated three times in vv. 8 and 10. Twice it refers to the Ninevites’ moral “evil” (vv. 8 and 10a) and here it refers to the “calamity” or “disaster” that the Lord had threatened (v. 10b). This repetition of the root forms a polysemantic wordplay that exploits this broad range of meanings of the noun. The wordplay emphasizes that God’s response was appropriate: because the Ninevites repented from their moral “evil” God relented from the “calamity” he had threatened.

[3:10]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “the disaster that he had spoken to do to them.”

[3:10]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and he did not do it.” See notes on 3:8-9.

[26:20]  ⁶² tn BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b states, “of the provincial name (1 Macc 8:3) ἡ χώρα τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας Ac 26:20.”

[26:20]  ⁶³ sn That they should repent and turn to God. This is the shortest summary of Paul’s message that he preached.

[26:20]  ⁶⁴ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b, “καρποὶ ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας fruits in keeping with your repentance…Lk 3:8; Mt 3:8. For this ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα Ac 26:20.” Note how Paul preached the gospel offer and the issue of response together, side by side.