Joshua 2:9

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ¹  We are absolutely terrified of you, ²  and all who live in the land are cringing before ³  you. ⁴ 

Jude 1:21

1:21 maintain ⁵  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ⁶  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁷ 

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁸ 

Jude 1:6-7

1:6 You also know that ⁹  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ¹⁰  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ¹¹  in eternal chains ¹²  in utter ¹³  darkness, locked up ¹⁴  for the judgment of the great Day. 1:7 So also ¹⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ¹⁶  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ¹⁷  in a way similar to ¹⁸  these angels, ¹⁹  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Job 18:11

18:11 Terrors ²⁰  frighten him on all sides

and dog ²¹  his every step.

Psalms 14:5

14:5 They are absolutely terrified, ²² 

for God defends the godly. ²³ 

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

[2:9]  ² tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

[2:9]  ³ tn Or “melting away because of.”

[2:9]  ⁴ tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the Lord…and that terror of you…and that all the inhabitants….”

[1:21]  ⁵ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ⁶ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

[1:6]  ¹¹ sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

[1:6]  ¹² sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

[1:6]  ¹³ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

[1:6]  ¹⁴ tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ¹⁹ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[18:11]  ²⁰ sn Bildad is referring here to all the things that afflict a person and cause terror. It would then be a metonymy of effect, the cause being the afflictions.

[18:11]  ²¹ tn The verb פּוּץ (puts) in the Hiphil has the meaning “to pursue” and “to scatter.” It is followed by the expression “at his feet.” So the idea is easily derived: they chase him at his feet. But some commentators have other proposals. The most far-fetched is that of Ehrlich and Driver (ZAW 24 [1953]: 259-60) which has “and compel him to urinate on his feet,” one of many similar readings the NEB accepted from Driver.

[14:5]  ²² tn Heb “there they are afraid [with] fear.” The perfect verbal form is probably used in a rhetorical manner; the psalmist describes the future demise of the oppressors as if it were already occurring. The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is also used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the wicked standing in fear at a spot that is this vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.). The cognate accusative following the verb emphasizes the degree of their terror.

[14:5]  ²³ tn Heb “for God is with a godly generation.” The Hebrew noun דּוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the general class of people who are characterized by godliness. See BDB 190 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.