Luke 13:3

13:3 No, I tell you! But unless you repent, ¹  you will all perish as well! ² 

Isaiah 28:10-13

28:10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ³ 

28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue

he will speak to these people. ⁴ 

28:12 In the past he said to them, ⁵ 

“This is where security can be found.

Provide security for the one who is exhausted!

This is where rest can be found.” ⁶ 

But they refused to listen.

28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like

meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ⁷ 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ⁸ 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ⁹ 

Ezekiel 18:30

18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, ¹⁰  O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent ¹¹  and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. ¹² 

[13:3]  ¹ sn Jesus was stressing that all stand at risk of death, if they do not repent and receive life.

[13:3]  ² tn Or “you will all likewise perish,” but this could be misunderstood to mean that they would perish by the same means as the Galileans. Jesus’ point is that apart from repentance all will perish.

[28:10]  ³ tn The meaning of this verse has been debated. The text has literally “indeed [or “for”] a little there, a little there” ( כִּי צַו לָצָו צַו לָצָו קַו לָקָו קַו, ki tsav latsav, tsav latsav, qav laqav, qav laqav). The present translation assumes that the repetitive syllables are gibberish that resembles baby talk (cf v. 9b) and mimics what the people will hear when foreign invaders conquer the land (v. 11). In this case זְעֵיר (zÿ’er, “a little”) refers to the short syllabic structure of the babbling (cf. CEV). Some take צַו (tsav) as a derivative of צָוָה (tsavah, “command”) and translate the first part of the statement as “command after command, command after command.” Proponents of this position (followed by many English versions) also take קַו (qav) as a noun meaning “measuring line” (see v. 17), understood here in the abstract sense of “standard” or “rule.”

[28:11]  ⁴ sn This verse alludes to the coming Assyrian invasion, when the people will hear a foreign language that sounds like gibberish to them. The Lord is the subject of the verb “will speak,” as v. 12 makes clear. He once spoke in meaningful terms, but in the coming judgment he will speak to them, as it were, through the mouth of foreign oppressors. The apparent gibberish they hear will be an outward reminder that God has decreed their defeat.

[28:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “who said to them.”

[28:12]  ⁶ sn This message encapsulates the Lord’s invitation to his people to find security in his protection and blessing.

[28:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.

[28:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.

[28:13]  ⁹ sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[18:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ways.”

[18:30]  ¹¹ tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.

[18:30]  ¹² tn Or “leading to punishment.”