Job 18:18

18:18 He is driven ¹  from light into darkness

and is banished from the world.

Job 27:20-22

27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood; ² 

at night a whirlwind carries him off.

27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

27:22 It hurls itself against him without pity ³ 

as he flees headlong from its power.

Psalms 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ⁴ 

he ⁵  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ⁶ 

Daniel 5:26-30

5:26 This is the interpretation of the words: ⁷  As for mene ⁸  – God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end. 5:27 As for teqel – you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking. 5:28 As for peres ⁹  – your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

5:29 Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, ¹⁰  Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom. 5:30 And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, ¹¹  was killed. ¹² 

John 8:21

Where Jesus Came From and Where He is Going

8:21 Then Jesus ¹³  said to them again, ¹⁴  “I am going away, and you will look for me ¹⁵  but will die in your sin. ¹⁶  Where I am going you cannot come.”

John 8:24

8:24 Thus I told you ¹⁷  that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, ¹⁸  you will die in your sins.”

Romans 9:22

9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ¹⁹  of wrath ²⁰  prepared for destruction? ²¹ 

Romans 9:1

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ²² I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ²³  in the Holy Spirit –

Romans 5:3

5:3 Not ²⁴  only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

[18:18]  ¹ tn The verbs in this verse are plural; without the expressed subject they should be taken in the passive sense.

[27:20]  ² tn Many commentators want a word parallel to “in the night.” And so we are offered בַּיּוֹם (bayyom, “in the day”) for כַמַּיִם (khammayim, “like waters”) as well as a number of others. But “waters” sometimes stand for major calamities, and so may be retained here. Besides, not all parallel structures are synonymous.

[27:22]  ³ tn The verb is once again functioning in an adverbial sense. The text has “it hurls itself against him and shows no mercy.”

[58:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ⁵ tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[5:26]  ⁷ tn Or “word” or “event.” See HALOT 1915 s.v. מִלָּה.

[5:26]  ⁸ tn The Aramaic term מְנֵא (mÿne’) is a noun referring to a measure of weight. The linkage here to the verb “to number” (Aram. מְנָה, mÿnah) is a case of paronomasia rather than strict etymology. So also with תְּקֵל (tÿqel) and פַרְסִין (farsin). In the latter case there is an obvious wordplay with the name “Persian.”

[5:28]  ⁹ sn Peres (פְּרֵס) is the singular form of פַרְסִין (pharsin) in v. 25.

[5:29]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”

[5:30]  ¹¹ tn Aram “king of the Chaldeans.”

[5:30]  ¹² sn The year was 539 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been approximately eighty-one years old. The relevant extra-biblical records describing the fall of Babylon include portions of Herodotus, Xenophon, Berossus (cited in Josephus), the Cyrus Cylinder, and the Babylonian Chronicle.

[8:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:21]  ¹⁴ tn The expression οὖν πάλιν (oun palin) indicates some sort of break in the sequence of events, but it is not clear how long. The author does not mention the interval between 8:12-20 and this next recorded dialogue. The feast of Tabernacles is past, and the next reference to time is 10:22, where the feast of the Dedication is mentioned. The interval is two months, and these discussions could have taken place at any time within that interval, as long as one assumes something of a loose chronological framework. However, if the material in the Fourth Gospel is arranged theologically or thematically, such an assumption would not apply.

[8:21]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “you will seek me.”

[8:21]  ¹⁶ tn The expression ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖσθε (en th Jamartia Jumwn apoqaneisqe) is similar to an expression found in the LXX at Ezek 3:18, 20 and Prov 24:9. Note the singular of ἁμαρτία (the plural occurs later in v. 24). To die with one’s sin unrepented and unatoned would be the ultimate disaster to befall a person. Jesus’ warning is stern but to the point.

[8:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “thus I said to you.”

[8:24]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “unless you believe that I am.” In this context there is an implied predicate nominative (“he”) following the “I am” phrase. What Jesus’ hearers had to acknowledge is that he was who he claimed to be, i.e., the Messiah (cf. 20:31). This view is also reflected in English translations like NIV (“if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be”), NLT (“unless you believe that I am who I say I am”), and CEV (“if you don’t have faith in me for who I am”). For a different view that takes this “I am” and the one in 8:28 as nonpredicated (i.e., absolute), see R. E. Brown, John (AB), 1:533-38. Such a view refers sees the nonpredicated “I am” as a reference to the divine Name revealed in Exod 3:14, and is reflected in English translations like NAB (“if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins”) and TEV (“you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I Am Who I Am’”).

[9:22]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ²⁰ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ²¹ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:1]  ²² sn Rom 9:1–11:36. These three chapters are among the most difficult and disputed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One area of difficulty is the relationship between Israel and the church, especially concerning the nature and extent of Israel’s election. Many different models have been constructed to express this relationship. For a representative survey, see M. Barth, The People of God (JSNTSup), 22-27. The literary genre of these three chapters has been frequently identified as a diatribe, a philosophical discussion or conversation evolved by the Cynic and Stoic schools of philosophy as a means of popularizing their ideas (E. Käsemann, Romans, 261 and 267). But other recent scholars have challenged the idea that Rom 9–11 is characterized by diatribe. Scholars like R. Scroggs and E. E. Ellis have instead identified the material in question as midrash. For a summary and discussion of the rabbinic connections, see W. R. Stegner, “Romans 9.6-29 – A Midrash,” JSNT 22 (1984): 37-52.

[9:1]  ²³ tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

[5:3]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.