Job 8:7

8:7 Your beginning ¹  will seem so small,

since your future will flourish. ² 

Isaiah 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ³ 

men of ⁴  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ⁵  the Holy One of Israel. ⁶ 

Isaiah 60:22

60:22 The least of you will multiply into ⁷  a thousand;

the smallest of you will become a large nation.

When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!” ⁸ 

Daniel 2:34-35

2:34 You were watching as ⁹  a stone was cut out, ¹⁰  but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces. 2:35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction ¹¹  and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth.

Zechariah 4:10

4:10 For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes ¹²  will joyfully look on the tin tablet ¹³  in Zerubbabel’s hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.)

Matthew 13:31-32

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

13:31 He gave ¹⁴  them another parable: ¹⁵  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed ¹⁶  that a man took and sowed in his field. 13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ¹⁷  so that the wild birds ¹⁸  come and nest in its branches.” ¹⁹ 

[8:7]  ¹ tn The reference to “your beginning” is a reference to Job’s former estate of wealth and peace. The reference to “latter end” is a reference to conditions still in the future. What Job had before will seem so small in comparison to what lies ahead.

[8:7]  ² tn The verb has the idea of “to grow”; here it must mean “to flourish; to grow considerably” or the like. The statement is not so much a prophecy; rather Bildad is saying that “if Job had recourse to God, then….” This will be fulfilled, of course, at the end of the book.

[41:14]  ³ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ⁴ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[60:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).

[60:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “I, the Lord, in its time, I will quickly do it.”

[2:34]  ⁹ tn Aram “until.”

[2:34]  ¹⁰ tc The LXX, Theodotion, and the Vulgate have “from a mountain,” though this is probably a harmonization with v. 45.

[2:35]  ¹¹ tn Aram “as one.” For the meaning “without distinction” see the following: F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 36, §64, and p. 93; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 60.

[4:10]  ¹² tn Heb “these seven.” Eyes are clearly intended in the ellipsis as v. 10b shows. As in 3:9 the idea is God’s omniscience. He who knows the end from the beginning rejoices at the completion of his purposes.

[4:10]  ¹³ tn This term is traditionally translated “plumb line” (so NASB, NIV, NLT; cf. KJV, NRSV “plummet”), but it is more likely that the Hebrew בְּדִיל (bÿdil) is to be derived not from בָּדַל (badal), “to divide,” but from a root meaning “tin.” This finds support in the ancient Near Eastern custom of placing inscriptions on tin plates in dedicatory foundation deposits.

[13:31]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “put before.”

[13:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[13:31]  ¹⁶ sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.

[13:32]  ¹⁷ sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty-five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:32]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:32]  ¹⁹ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.