Job 20:24

20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,

then an arrow ¹  from a bronze bow pierces him.

Exodus 14:25-28

14:25 He jammed ²  the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, ³  and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee ⁴  from Israel, for the Lord fights ⁵  for them against Egypt!”

14:26 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sea, so that the waters may flow ⁶  back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen!” 14:27 So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state ⁷  when the sun began to rise. ⁸  Now the Egyptians were fleeing ⁹  before it, but the Lord overthrew ¹⁰  the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 14:28 The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea ¹¹  – not so much as one of them survived! ¹² 

Jude 1:17-21

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ¹³  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁴  1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ¹⁵  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁶  1:19 These people are divisive, ¹⁷  worldly, ¹⁸  devoid of the Spirit. ¹⁹  1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ²⁰  1:21 maintain ²¹  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ²²  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ²³ 

Isaiah 10:3

10:3 What will you do on judgment day, ²⁴ 

when destruction arrives from a distant place?

To whom will you run for help?

Where will you leave your wealth?

Amos 2:14

2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; ²⁵ 

strong men will have no strength left; ²⁶ 

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

Amos 9:1-3

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ²⁷  standing by the altar ²⁸  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ²⁹  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ³⁰ 

and I will kill the survivors ³¹  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ³² 

no one will be able to escape. ³³ 

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ³⁴ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ³⁵  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ³⁶  I would command the Sea Serpent ³⁷  to bite them.

[20:24]  ¹ tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.

[14:25]  ² tn The word in the text is וַיָּסַר (vayyasar), which would be translated “and he turned aside” with the sense perhaps of removing the wheels. The reading in the LXX, Smr, and Syriac suggests a root אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). The sense here might be “clogged – presumably by their sinking in the wet sand” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 120).

[14:25]  ³ tn The clause is וַיְנַהֲגֵהוּ בִּכְבֵדֻת (vaynahagehu bikhvedut). The verb means “to drive a chariot”; here in the Piel it means “cause to drive.” The suffix is collective, and so the verbal form can be translated “and caused them to drive.” The idea of the next word is “heaviness” or “hardship”; it recalls the previous uses of related words to describe Pharaoh’s heart. Here it indicates that the driving of the crippled chariots was with difficulty.

[14:25]  ⁴ tn The cohortative has the hortatory use here, “Let’s flee.” Although the form is singular, the sense of it is plural and so hortatory can be used. The form is singular to agree with the singular subject, “Egypt,” which obviously means the Egyptian army. The word for “flee” is used when someone runs from fear of immanent danger and is a different word than the one used in 14:5.

[14:25]  ⁵ tn The form is the Niphal participle; it is used as the predicate here, that is, the verbal use: “the Lord is fighting.” This corresponds to the announcement in v. 14.

[14:26]  ⁶ tn The verb, “and they will return,” is here subordinated to the imperative preceding it, showing the purpose of that act.

[14:27]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term לְאֵיתָנוֹ (lÿ’etano) means “to its place,” or better, “to its perennial state.” The point is that the sea here had a normal level, and now when the Egyptians were in the sea on the dry ground the water would return to that level.

[14:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “at the turning of the morning”; NASB, NIV, TEV, CEV “at daybreak.”

[14:27]  ⁹ tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) on the noun, signaling either a circumstantial clause or a new beginning. It could be rendered, “Although the Egyptians…Yahweh…” or “as the Egyptians….”

[14:27]  ¹⁰ tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13 or Job 38:13.

[14:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “that was coming after them into the sea.” The referent of “them” (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:28]  ¹² tn Heb “not was left among them as much as one.”

[1:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ¹⁴ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[1:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:20]  ²⁰ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ²¹ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ²² tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ²³ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[10:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the day of visitation” (so KJV, ASV), that is, the day when God arrives to execute justice on the oppressors.

[2:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”

[2:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”

[9:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ²⁸ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ³² tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ³³ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[9:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ³⁶ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ³⁷ sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.