Discovery BoxMalachi 2:8
Context2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; 1 you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” 2 says the Lord who rules over all.
Malachi 2:11
Context2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. 3 For Judah has profaned 4 the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! 5
Exodus 34:10-16
Context34:10 He said, “See, I am going to make 6 a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done 7 in all the earth, nor in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you. 8
34:11 “Obey 9 what I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out 10 before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 34:12 Be careful not to make 11 a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare 12 among you. 34:13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. 13 34:14 For you must not worship 14 any other god, 15 for the Lord, whose name 16 is Jealous, is a jealous God. 34:15 Be careful 17 not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when 18 they prostitute themselves 19 to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, 20 you will eat from his sacrifice; 34:16 and you then take 21 his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.
Joshua 23:12-16
Context23:12 But if you ever turn away and make alliances with 22 these nations that remain near you, 23 and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, 24 23:13 know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; 25 they will be a whip that tears 26 your sides and thorns that blind 27 your eyes until you disappear 28 from this good land the Lord your God gave you.
23:14 “Look, today I am about to die. 29 You know with all your heart and being 30 that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized – not one promise is unfulfilled! 31 23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, 32 it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment 33 until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you. 23:16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, 34 and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, 35 the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear 36 quickly from the good land which he gave to you.”
Ezra 9:11-14
Context9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: 37 ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! 38 With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness. 9:12 Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not take their daughters in marriage for your sons. Do not ever seek their peace or welfare, so that you may be strong and may eat the good of the land and may leave it as an inheritance for your children 39 forever.’
9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint 40 toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this. 9:14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?
Ezra 10:2-3
Context10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, 41 addressed Ezra:
“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying 42 foreign women from the local peoples. 43 Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. 44 10:3 Therefore let us enact 45 a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, 46 and that of those who respect 47 the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.
Nehemiah 13:29
Context13:29 Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, 48 and the Levites.
[2:8] 1 tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).
[2:8] 2 tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”
[2:11] 3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[2:11] 4 tn Or perhaps “secularized”; cf. NIV “desecrated”; TEV, NLT “defiled”; CEV “disgraced.”
[2:11] 5 tn Heb “has married the daughter of a foreign god.” Marriage is used here as a metaphor to describe Judah’s idolatry, that is, her unfaithfulness to the
[34:10] 6 tn Here again is a use of the futur instans participle; the deictic particle plus the pronoun precedes the participle, showing what is about to happen.
[34:10] 7 tn The verb here is בָּרָא (bara’, “to create”). The choice of this verb is to stress that these wonders would be supernaturally performed, for the verb is used only with God as the subject.
[34:10] 8 sn The idea is that God will be doing awesome things in dealing with them, i.e., to fulfill his program.
[34:11] 9 tn The covenant duties begin with this command to “keep well” what is being commanded. The Hebrew expression is “keep for you”; the preposition and the suffix form the ethical dative, adding strength to the imperative.
[34:11] 10 tn Again, this is the futur instans use of the participle.
[34:12] 11 tn The exact expression is “take heed to yourself lest you make.” It is the second use of this verb in the duties, now in the Niphal stem. To take heed to yourself means to watch yourself, be sure not to do something. Here, if they failed to do this, they would end up making entangling treaties.
[34:12] 12 sn A snare would be a trap, an allurement to ruin. See Exod 23:33.
[34:13] 13 tn Or “images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “their Asherah idols.”
[34:14] 15 sn In Exod 20:3 it was “gods.”
[34:14] 16 sn Here, too, the emphasis on God’s being a jealous God is repeated (see Exod 20:5). The use of “name” here is to stress that this is his nature, his character.
[34:15] 17 tn The sentence begins simply “lest you make a covenant”; it is undoubtedly a continuation of the imperative introduced earlier, and so that is supplied here.
[34:15] 18 tn The verb is a perfect with a vav consecutive. In the literal form of the sentence, this clause tells what might happen if the people made a covenant with the inhabitants of the land: “Take heed…lest you make a covenant…and then they prostitute themselves…and sacrifice…and invite…and you eat.” The sequence lays out an entire scenario.
[34:15] 19 tn The verb זָנָה (zanah) means “to play the prostitute; to commit whoredom; to be a harlot” or something similar. It is used here and elsewhere in the Bible for departing from pure religion and engaging in pagan religion. The use of the word in this figurative sense is fitting, because the relationship between God and his people is pictured as a marriage, and to be unfaithful to it was a sin. This is also why God is described as a “jealous” or “impassioned” God. The figure may not be merely a metaphorical use, but perhaps a metonymy, since there actually was sexual immorality at the Canaanite altars and poles.
[34:15] 20 tn There is no subject for the verb. It could be rendered “and one invites you,” or it could be made a passive.
[34:16] 21 tn In the construction this verb would follow as a possible outcome of the last event, and so remain in the verbal sequence. If the people participate in the festivals of the land, then they will intermarry, and that could lead to further involvement with idolatry.
[23:12] 23 tn Heb “the remnant of the these nations, these nations that are with you.”
[23:12] 24 tn Heb “and go into them, and they into you.”
[23:13] 25 tn Heb “be a trap and a snare to you.”
[23:13] 27 tn Heb “thorns in your eyes.”
[23:14] 29 tn Heb “go the way of all the earth.”
[23:14] 31 tn Heb “one word from all these words which the
[23:15] 32 tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the
[23:15] 33 tn Heb “so the
[23:16] 34 tn Heb “when you violate the covenant of the
[23:16] 35 tn Heb “and you walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[9:11] 37 tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”
[9:11] 38 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
[9:12] 39 tn Heb “sons”; cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NLT “children”; NCV, TEV “descendants.”
[9:13] 40 tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).
[10:2] 41 tc The translation reads with the Qere, many medieval Hebrew
[10:2] 42 tn Heb “in that we have given a dwelling to.” So also in vv. 14, 17, 18.
[10:2] 43 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
[10:3] 46 tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.
[10:3] 47 tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”
[13:29] 48 tc One medieval Hebrew
