Job 24:13-17

24:13 There are those ¹  who rebel against the light;

they do not know its ways

and they do not stay on its paths.

24:14 Before daybreak ²  the murderer rises up;

he kills the poor and the needy;

in the night he is ³  like a thief. ⁴ 

24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,

thinking, ⁵  ‘No eye can see me,’

and covers his face with a mask.

24:16 In the dark the robber ⁶  breaks into houses, ⁷ 

but by day they shut themselves in; ⁸ 

they do not know the light. ⁹ 

24:17 For all of them, ¹⁰  the morning is to them

like deep darkness;

they are friends with the terrors of darkness.

Job 34:22

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves. ¹¹ 

Luke 12:1-3

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ¹²  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ¹³  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ¹⁴  the yeast of the Pharisees, ¹⁵  which is hypocrisy. ¹⁶  12:2 Nothing is hidden ¹⁷  that will not be revealed, ¹⁸  and nothing is secret that will not be made known. 12:3 So then ¹⁹  whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered ²⁰  in private rooms ²¹  will be proclaimed from the housetops. ²² 

John 3:19

3:19 Now this is the basis for judging: ²³  that the light has come into the world and people ²⁴  loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

John 3:1

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ²⁵  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ²⁶ 

Colossians 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ²⁷  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

[24:13]  ¹ tn Heb “They are among those who.”

[24:14]  ² tn The text simply has לָאוֹר (la’or, “at light” or “at daylight”), probably meaning just at the time of dawn.

[24:14]  ³ tn In a few cases the jussive is used without any real sense of the jussive being present (see GKC 323 §109.k).

[24:14]  ⁴ sn The point is that he is like a thief in that he works during the night, just before the daylight, when the advantage is all his and the victim is most vulnerable.

[24:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “saying.”

[24:16]  ⁶ tn The phrase “the robber” has been supplied in the English translation for clarification.

[24:16]  ⁷ tc This is not the idea of the adulterer, but of the thief. So some commentators reverse the order and put this verse after v. 14.

[24:16]  ⁸ tc The verb חִתְּמוּ (khittÿmu) is the Piel from the verb חָתַם (khatam, “to seal”). The verb is now in the plural, covering all the groups mentioned that work under the cover of darkness. The suggestion that they “seal,” i.e., “mark” the house they will rob, goes against the meaning of the word “seal.”

[24:16]  ⁹ tc Some commentators join this very short colon to the beginning of v. 17: “they do not know the light. For together…” becomes “for together they have not known the light.”

[24:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “together.”

[34:22]  ¹¹ tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”

[12:1]  ¹² tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

[12:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.

[12:1]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[12:1]  ¹⁶ sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

[12:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “concealed.”

[12:2]  ¹⁸ sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known, though the stress with the images of darkness and what is hidden in vv. 2-3 is on the attempt to conceal.

[12:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “because.” Understanding this verse as a result of v. 2 is a slightly better reading of the context. Knowing what is coming should impact our behavior now.

[12:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “spoken in the ear,” an idiom. The contemporary expression is “whispered.”

[12:3]  ²¹ sn The term translated private rooms refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).

[12:3]  ²² tn The expression “proclaimed from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.

[3:19]  ²³ tn Or “this is the reason for God judging,” or “this is how judgment works.”

[3:19]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and men,” but in a generic sense, referring to people of both genders (as “everyone” in v. 20 makes clear).

[3:1]  ²⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[4:5]  ²⁷ tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).