Leviticus 24:15-16

24:15 Moreover, ¹  you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If any man curses his God ²  he will bear responsibility for his sin, 24:16 and one who misuses ³  the name of the Lord must surely be put to death. The whole congregation must surely stone him, whether he is a foreigner or a native citizen; when he misuses the Name he must be put to death.

Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ⁴  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ⁵  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ⁶  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 20:2

20:2 “I, ⁷  the Lord, am your God, ⁸  who brought you ⁹  from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹⁰ 

Exodus 12:14

12:14 This day will become ¹¹  a memorial ¹²  for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival ¹³  to the Lord – you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance. ¹⁴ 

Exodus 12:1

The Institution of the Passover

12:1 ¹⁵ The Lord said ¹⁶  to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ¹⁷ 

Exodus 21:10

21:10 If he takes another wife, ¹⁸  he must not diminish the first one’s food, ¹⁹  her clothing, or her marital rights. ²⁰ 

Exodus 21:13

21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, ²¹  but it happens by accident, ²²  then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Exodus 21:2

Hebrew Servants

21:2 ²³ “If you buy ²⁴  a Hebrew servant, ²⁵  he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free ²⁶  without paying anything. ²⁷ 

Exodus 18:1

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 ²⁸ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ²⁹  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ³⁰ 

Exodus 18:1

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 ³¹ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ³²  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ³³ 

Exodus 18:1-2

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 ³⁴ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ³⁵  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ³⁶ 

18:2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back,

Exodus 19:1-3

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ³⁷ In the third month after the Israelites went out ³⁸  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ³⁹  they came to the Desert of Sinai. 19:2 After they journeyed ⁴⁰  from Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ⁴¹ 

19:3 Moses ⁴²  went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people ⁴³  of Israel:

Exodus 19:6

19:6 and you will be to me ⁴⁴  a kingdom of priests ⁴⁵  and a holy nation.’ ⁴⁶  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Exodus 19:10

19:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them ⁴⁷  today and tomorrow, and make them wash ⁴⁸  their clothes

Exodus 19:22

19:22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through ⁴⁹  against them.”

Exodus 19:2

19:2 After they journeyed ⁵⁰  from Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ⁵¹ 

Exodus 32:14-17

32:14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

32:15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with ⁵²  the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides – they were written on the front and on the back. 32:16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 32:17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, ⁵³  he said to Moses, “It is the sound of war in the camp!”

Psalms 74:18

74:18 Remember how ⁵⁴  the enemy hurls insults, O Lord, ⁵⁵ 

and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name!

Psalms 74:22

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ⁵⁶ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ⁵⁷ 

Matthew 26:65

26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, ⁵⁸  “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now ⁵⁹  you have heard the blasphemy!

Acts 6:11-13

6:11 Then they secretly instigated ⁶⁰  some men to say, “We have heard this man ⁶¹  speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 6:12 They incited the people, the ⁶²  elders, and the experts in the law; ⁶³  then they approached Stephen, ⁶⁴  seized him, and brought him before the council. ⁶⁵  6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ⁶⁶  and the law. ⁶⁷ 

Romans 2:24

2:24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ⁶⁸ 

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ⁶⁹ Therefore ⁷⁰  you are without excuse, ⁷¹  whoever you are, ⁷²  when you judge someone else. ⁷³  For on whatever grounds ⁷⁴  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Romans 1:13

1:13 I do not want you to be unaware, ⁷⁵  brothers and sisters, ⁷⁶  that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles. ⁷⁷ 

Revelation 16:11

16:11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings ⁷⁸  and because of their sores, ⁷⁹  but nevertheless ⁸⁰  they still refused to repent ⁸¹  of their deeds.

Revelation 16:21

16:21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds ⁸²  each, fell from heaven ⁸³  on people, ⁸⁴  but they ⁸⁵  blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it ⁸⁶  was so horrendous. ⁸⁷ 

[24:15]  ¹ tn Heb “And.”

[24:15]  ² sn See the note on v. 11 above and esp. Exod 22:28 [27 HT].

[24:16]  ³ sn See the note on v. 11 above.

[20:7]  ⁴ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ⁵ tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ⁶ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[20:2]  ⁷ sn The revelation of Yahweh here begins with the personal pronoun. “I” – a person, a living personality, not an object or a mere thought. This enabled him to address “you” – Israel, and all his people, making the binding stipulations for them to conform to his will (B. Jacob, Exodus, 544).

[20:2]  ⁸ tn Most English translations have “I am Yahweh your God.” But the preceding chapters have again and again demonstrated how he made himself known to them. Now, the emphasis is on “I am your God” – and what that would mean in their lives.

[20:2]  ⁹ tn The suffix on the verb is second masculine singular. It is this person that will be used throughout the commandments for the whole nation. God addresses them all as his people, but he addresses them individually for their obedience. The masculine form is not, thereby, intended to exclude women.

[20:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the house of slaves” meaning “the land of slavery.”

[12:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and this day will be.”

[12:14]  ¹² tn The expression “will be for a memorial” means “will become a memorial.”

[12:14]  ¹³ tn The verb וְחַגֹּתֶם (vÿkhaggotem), a perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive to continue the instruction, is followed by the cognate accusative חַג (khag), for emphasis. As the wording implies and the later legislation required, this would involve a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Yahweh.

[12:14]  ¹⁴ tn Two expressions show that this celebration was to be kept perpetually: the line has “for your generations, [as] a statute forever.” “Generations” means successive generations (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, perpetual” – no end in sight.

[12:1]  ¹⁵ sn Chapter 12 details the culmination of the ten plagues on Egypt and the beginning of the actual deliverance from bondage. Moreover, the celebration of this festival of Passover was to become a central part of the holy calendar of Israel. The contents of this chapter have significance for NT studies as well, since the Passover was a type of the death of Jesus. The structure of this section before the crossing of the sea is as follows: the institution of the Passover (12:1-28), the night of farewell and departure (12:29-42), slaves and strangers (12:43-51), and the laws of the firstborn (13:1-16). In this immediate section there is the institution of the Passover itself (12:1-13), then the Unleavened Bread (12:14-20), and then the report of the response of the people (12:21-28).

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[21:10]  ¹⁸ tn “wife” has been supplied.

[21:10]  ¹⁹ tn The translation of “food” does not quite do justice to the Hebrew word. It is “flesh.” The issue here is that the family she was to marry into is wealthy, they ate meat. She was not just to be given the basic food the ordinary people ate, but the fine foods that this family ate.

[21:10]  ²⁰ sn See S. Paul, “Exodus 21:10, A Threefold Maintenance Clause,” JNES 28 (1969): 48-53. Paul suggests that the third element listed is not marital rights but ointments since Sumerian and Akkadian texts list food, clothing, and oil as the necessities of life. The translation of “marital rights” is far from certain, since the word occurs only here. The point is that the woman was to be cared for with all that was required for a woman in that situation.

[21:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “if he does not lie in wait” (NASB similar).

[21:13]  ²² tn Heb “and God brought into his hand.” The death is unintended, its circumstances outside human control.

[21:2]  ²³ sn See H. L. Elleson, “The Hebrew Slave: A Study in Early Israelite Society,” EvQ 45 (1973): 30-35; N. P. Lemche, “The Manumission of Slaves – The Fallow Year – The Sabbatical Year – The Jobel Year,” VT 26 (1976): 38-59, and “The ‘Hebrew Slave,’ Comments on the Slave Law – Ex. 21:2-11,” VT 25 (1975): 129-44.

[21:2]  ²⁴ tn The verbs in both the conditional clause and the following ruling are imperfect tense: “If you buy…then he will serve.” The second imperfect tense (the ruling) could be taken either as a specific future or an obligatory imperfect. Gesenius explains how the verb works in the conditional clauses here (see GKC 497 §159.bb).

[21:2]  ²⁵ sn The interpretation of “Hebrew” in this verse is uncertain: (l) a gentilic ending, (2) a fellow Israelite, (3) or a class of mercenaries of the population (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:431). It seems likely that the term describes someone born a Hebrew, as opposed to a foreigner (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 210). The literature on this includes: M. P. Gray, “The Habiru-Hebrew Problem,” HUCA 29 (1958): 135-202.

[21:2]  ²⁶ sn The word חָפְשִׁי (khofshi) means “free.” It is possible that there is some connection between this word and a technical term used in other cultures for a social class of emancipated slaves who were freemen again (see I. Mendelsohn, “New Light on the Hupsu,” BASOR 139 [1955]: 9-11).

[21:2]  ²⁷ tn The adverb חִנָּם (hinnam) means “gratis, free”; it is related to the verb “to be gracious, show favor” and the noun “grace.”

[18:1]  ²⁸ sn This chapter forms the transition to the Law. There has been the deliverance, the testing passages, the provision in the wilderness, and the warfare. Any God who can do all this for his people deserves their allegiance. In chap. 18 the Lawgiver is giving advice, using laws and rulings, but then he is given advice to organize the elders to assist. Thus, when the Law is fully revealed, a system will be in place to administer it. The point of the passage is that a great leader humbly accepts advice from other godly believers to delegate responsibility. He does not try to do it all himself; God does not want one individual to do it all. The chapter has three parts: vv. 1-12 tell how Jethro heard and came and worshiped and blessed; vv. 13-23 have the advice of Jethro, and then vv. 24-27 tell how Moses implemented the plan and Jethro went home. See further E. J. Runions, “Exodus Motifs in 1 Samuel 7 and 8,” EvQ 52 (1980): 130-31; and also see for another idea T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15.

[18:1]  ²⁹ tn This clause beginning with כִּי (ki) answers the question of what Jethro had heard; it provides a second, explanatory noun clause that is the object of the verb – “he heard (1) all that God had done… (2) that he had brought….” See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490.

[18:1]  ³⁰ sn This is an important report that Jethro has heard, for the claim of God that he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt will be the foundation of the covenant stipulations (Exod 20).

[18:1]  ³¹ sn This chapter forms the transition to the Law. There has been the deliverance, the testing passages, the provision in the wilderness, and the warfare. Any God who can do all this for his people deserves their allegiance. In chap. 18 the Lawgiver is giving advice, using laws and rulings, but then he is given advice to organize the elders to assist. Thus, when the Law is fully revealed, a system will be in place to administer it. The point of the passage is that a great leader humbly accepts advice from other godly believers to delegate responsibility. He does not try to do it all himself; God does not want one individual to do it all. The chapter has three parts: vv. 1-12 tell how Jethro heard and came and worshiped and blessed; vv. 13-23 have the advice of Jethro, and then vv. 24-27 tell how Moses implemented the plan and Jethro went home. See further E. J. Runions, “Exodus Motifs in 1 Samuel 7 and 8,” EvQ 52 (1980): 130-31; and also see for another idea T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15.

[18:1]  ³² tn This clause beginning with כִּי (ki) answers the question of what Jethro had heard; it provides a second, explanatory noun clause that is the object of the verb – “he heard (1) all that God had done… (2) that he had brought….” See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490.

[18:1]  ³³ sn This is an important report that Jethro has heard, for the claim of God that he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt will be the foundation of the covenant stipulations (Exod 20).

[18:1]  ³⁴ sn This chapter forms the transition to the Law. There has been the deliverance, the testing passages, the provision in the wilderness, and the warfare. Any God who can do all this for his people deserves their allegiance. In chap. 18 the Lawgiver is giving advice, using laws and rulings, but then he is given advice to organize the elders to assist. Thus, when the Law is fully revealed, a system will be in place to administer it. The point of the passage is that a great leader humbly accepts advice from other godly believers to delegate responsibility. He does not try to do it all himself; God does not want one individual to do it all. The chapter has three parts: vv. 1-12 tell how Jethro heard and came and worshiped and blessed; vv. 13-23 have the advice of Jethro, and then vv. 24-27 tell how Moses implemented the plan and Jethro went home. See further E. J. Runions, “Exodus Motifs in 1 Samuel 7 and 8,” EvQ 52 (1980): 130-31; and also see for another idea T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15.

[18:1]  ³⁵ tn This clause beginning with כִּי (ki) answers the question of what Jethro had heard; it provides a second, explanatory noun clause that is the object of the verb – “he heard (1) all that God had done… (2) that he had brought….” See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490.

[18:1]  ³⁶ sn This is an important report that Jethro has heard, for the claim of God that he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt will be the foundation of the covenant stipulations (Exod 20).

[19:1]  ³⁷ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ³⁸ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “on this day.”

[19:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The form is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, “and they journeyed.” It is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause. But since the action of this temporal clause preceded the actions recorded in v. 1, a translation of “after” will keep the sequence in order. Verse 2 adds details to the summary in v. 1.

[19:2]  ⁴¹ sn The mountain is Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, the place where God had met and called Moses and had promised that they would be here to worship him. If this mountain is Jebel Musa, the traditional site of Sinai, then the plain in front of it would be Er-Rahah, about a mile and a half long by half a mile wide, fronting the mountain on the NW side (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 169). The plain itself is about 5000 feet above sea level. A mountain on the west side of the Arabian Peninsula has also been suggested as a possible site.

[19:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “and Moses went up.”

[19:3]  ⁴³ tn This expression is normally translated as “Israelites” in this translation, but because in this place it is parallel to “the house of Jacob” it seemed better to offer a fuller rendering.

[19:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).

[19:6]  ⁴⁵ tn The construction “a kingdom of priests” means that the kingdom is made up of priests. W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:417) offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., “kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, “royal priesthood”; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, “priestly kingdom”; and 4) reading with an unexpressed “and” – “kings and priests.” He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests. (Other references are R. B. Y. Scott, “A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6),” OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, “A Kingdom of Priests,” The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10).

[19:6]  ⁴⁶ tn They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, “Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel,” North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.

[19:10]  ⁴⁷ tn This verb is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the force of the imperative preceding it. This sanctification would be accomplished by abstaining from things that would make them defiled or unclean, and then by ritual washings and ablutions.

[19:10]  ⁴⁸ tn The form is a perfect 3cpl with a vav (ו) consecutive. It is instructional as well, but now in the third person it is like a jussive, “let them wash, make them wash.”

[19:22]  ⁴⁹ tn The verb יִפְרֹץ (yifrots) is the imperfect tense from פָּרַץ (parats, “to make a breach, to break through”). The image of Yahweh breaking forth on them means “work destruction” (see 2 Sam 6:8; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 174).

[19:2]  ⁵⁰ tn The form is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, “and they journeyed.” It is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause. But since the action of this temporal clause preceded the actions recorded in v. 1, a translation of “after” will keep the sequence in order. Verse 2 adds details to the summary in v. 1.

[19:2]  ⁵¹ sn The mountain is Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, the place where God had met and called Moses and had promised that they would be here to worship him. If this mountain is Jebel Musa, the traditional site of Sinai, then the plain in front of it would be Er-Rahah, about a mile and a half long by half a mile wide, fronting the mountain on the NW side (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 169). The plain itself is about 5000 feet above sea level. A mountain on the west side of the Arabian Peninsula has also been suggested as a possible site.

[32:15]  ⁵² tn The disjunctive vav (ו) serves here as a circumstantial clause indicator.

[32:17]  ⁵³ sn See F. C. Fensham, “New Light from Ugaritica V on Ex, 32:17 (br’h),” JNSL 2 (1972): 86-7.

[74:18]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “remember this.”

[74:18]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “[how] the enemy insults the Lord.”

[74:22]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”

[26:65]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”

[26:65]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “Behold now.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[6:11]  ⁶⁰ tn Another translation would be “they suborned” (but this term is not in common usage). “Instigate (secretly), suborn” is given by BDAG 1036 s.v. ὑποβάλλω.

[6:11]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “heard him”; but since this is direct discourse, it is more natural (and clearer) to specify the referent (Stephen) as “this man.”

[6:12]  ⁶² tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:12]  ⁶³ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[6:12]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.

[6:13]  ⁶⁶ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ⁶⁷ sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

[2:24]  ⁶⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.

[2:1]  ⁶⁹ sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ⁷⁰ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ⁷¹ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ⁷² tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ⁷³ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[1:13]  ⁷⁵ sn The expression “I do not want you to be unaware [Grk ignorant]” also occurs in 1 Cor 10:1; 12:1; 1 Thess 4:13. Paul uses the phrase to signal that he is about to say something very important.

[1:13]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:13]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “in order that I might have some fruit also among you just as also among the rest of the Gentiles.”

[16:11]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “pains” (the same term in Greek [πόνος, ponos] as the last word in v. 11, here translated “sufferings” because it is plural). BDAG 852 s.v. 2 states, “ἐκ τοῦ π. in pain…Rv 16:10; pl. (Gen 41:51; Jos., C. Ap. 2, 146; Test. Jud. 18:4) ἐκ τῶν π. …because of their sufferings vs. 11.”

[16:11]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “ulcerated sores” (see 16:2).

[16:11]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “and they did not repent.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but nevertheless” to express the contrast here.

[16:11]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “they did not repent” The addition of “still refused” reflects the hardness of people’s hearts in the context.

[16:21]  ⁸² tn Here BDAG 988 s.v. ταλαντιαῖος states, “weighing a talent…χάλαζα μεγάλη ὡς ταλαντιαία a severe hailstorm with hailstones weighing a talent (the talent=125 librae, or Roman pounds of c. 343 gr. or 12 ounces each) (weighing about a hundred pounds NRSV) Rv 16:21.” This means each hailstone would weigh just under 100 pounds or 40 kilograms.

[16:21]  ⁸³ tn Or “the sky.” Due to the apocalyptic nature of this book, it is probably best to leave the translation as “from heaven,” since God is ultimately the source of the judgment.

[16:21]  ⁸⁴ tn Grk “on men,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense to refer to people in general (the hailstones did not single out adult males, but would have also fallen on women and children).

[16:21]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “the men”; for stylistic reasons the pronoun “they” is used here.

[16:21]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “the plague of it.”

[16:21]  ⁸⁷ tn Grk “since the plague of it was exceedingly great.”