Discovery BoxMatthew 21:45-46
Context21:45 When 1 the chief priests and the Pharisees 2 heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 21:46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds 3 regarded him as a prophet.
Psalms 2:1-2
Context2:1 Why 5 do the nations rebel? 6
Why 7 are the countries 8 devising 9 plots that will fail? 10
2:2 The kings of the earth 11 form a united front; 12
the rulers collaborate 13
against the Lord and his anointed king. 14
Psalms 56:6
Context56:6 They stalk 15 and lurk; 16
they watch my every step, 17
as 18 they prepare to take my life. 19
Psalms 64:4-6
Context64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent 20 in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. 21
64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. 22
They plan how to hide 23 snares,
and boast, 24 “Who will see them?” 25
64:6 They devise 26 unjust schemes;
they disguise 27 a well-conceived plot. 28
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. 29
Psalms 94:20-21
Context94:20 Cruel rulers 30 are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws. 31
94:21 They conspire against 32 the blameless, 33
and condemn to death the innocent. 34
Jeremiah 11:19
Context11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.
I did not know they were making plans to kill me. 35
I did not know they were saying, 36
“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! 37
Let’s remove Jeremiah 38 from the world of the living
so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” 39
Jeremiah 18:18-20
Context18:18 Then some people 40 said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! 41 There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. 42 Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! 43 Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”
“Lord, pay attention to me.
Listen to what my enemies are saying. 45
18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?
Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. 46
Just remember how I stood before you
pleading on their behalf 47
to keep you from venting your anger on them. 48
John 11:47-53
Context11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees 49 called the council 50 together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. 11:48 If we allow him to go on in this way, 51 everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary 52 and our nation.”
11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, 53 “You know nothing at all! 11:50 You do not realize 54 that it is more to your advantage to have one man 55 die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” 56 11:51 (Now he did not say this on his own, 57 but because he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation, 58 11:52 and not for the Jewish nation 59 only, 60 but to gather together 61 into one the children of God who are scattered.) 62 11:53 So from that day they planned together to kill him.
John 11:57
Context11:57 (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees 63 had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus 64 was should report it, so that they could arrest 65 him.) 66
Acts 4:25-28
Context4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through 67 your servant David our forefather, 68
‘Why do the nations 69 rage, 70
and the peoples plot foolish 71 things?
4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, 72
and the rulers assembled together,
against the Lord and against his 73 Christ.’ 74
4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against 75 your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 76 4:28 to do as much as your power 77 and your plan 78 had decided beforehand 79 would happen.
[21:45] 1 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
[21:45] 2 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
[21:46] 3 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowds) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Both previous occurrences of “they” in this verse refer to the chief priests and the Pharisees.
[2:1] 4 sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.
[2:1] 5 tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.
[2:1] 6 tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.
[2:1] 7 tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
[2:1] 8 tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).
[2:1] 9 tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).
[2:1] 10 tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.
[2:2] 11 sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.
[2:2] 12 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
[2:2] 13 tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).
[2:2] 14 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
[56:6] 15 tn The verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 59:3.
[56:6] 18 tn Heb “according to,” in the sense of “inasmuch as; since,” or “when; while.”
[56:6] 19 tn Heb “they wait [for] my life.”
[64:4] 20 tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.
[64:4] 21 tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[64:5] 22 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
[64:5] 23 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
[64:5] 25 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
[64:6] 26 tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”
[64:6] 27 tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew
[64:6] 28 tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.
[64:6] 29 tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.
[94:20] 30 tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.
[94:20] 31 tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.
[94:21] 33 tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”
[94:21] 34 tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”
[11:19] 35 tn Heb “against me.” The words “to kill me” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[11:19] 36 tn The words “I did not know that they were saying” are not in the text. The quote is without formal introduction in the original. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[11:19] 37 tn This word and its pronoun (לַחְמוֹ, lakhmo, “its bread”) is often emended to read “in/with its sap” = “in its prime” (either לֵחוֹ [lekho] or לֵחְמוֹ [lekhÿmo]); the latter would be more likely and the מוֹ (mo) could be explained as a rare use of the old poetic third plural suffix for the third singular; cf. GKC 258 §91.l for general use and Ps 11:7 and Job 27:23 for third singular use. Though this fits the context nicely the emendation is probably unnecessary since the word “bread” is sometimes used of other foodstuff than grain or its products (cf. BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 2.a).
[11:19] 38 tn Heb “cut it [or him] off.” The metaphor of the tree may be continued, though the verb “cut off” is used also of killing people. The rendering clarifies the meaning of the metaphor.
[11:19] 39 tn Heb “so that his name will not be remembered any more.”
[18:18] 40 tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.
[18:18] 41 tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.
[18:18] 42 tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”
[18:18] 43 tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.
[18:19] 44 tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show that Jeremiah turns from description of the peoples’ plots to his address to God to deal with the plotters.
[18:19] 45 tn Heb “the voice of my adversaries.”
[18:20] 46 tn Or “They are plotting to kill me”; Heb “They have dug a pit for my soul.” This is a common metaphor for plotting against someone. See BDB 500 s.v. כָּרָה Qal and for an example see Pss 7:16 (7:15 HT) in its context.
[18:20] 47 tn Heb “to speak good concerning them” going back to the concept of “good” being paid back with evil.
[18:20] 48 tn Heb “to turn back your anger from them.”
[11:47] 49 tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.
[11:47] 50 tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The συνέδριον (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word συνέδριον in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning “councils.” The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as “one of them” supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities.
[11:48] 51 tn Grk “If we let him do thus.”
[11:48] 52 tn Or “holy place”; Grk “our place” (a reference to the temple in Jerusalem).
[11:49] 53 tn Grk “said to them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[11:50] 54 tn Or “you are not considering.”
[11:50] 55 tn Although it is possible to argue that ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") should be translated “person” here since it is not necessarily masculinity that is in view in Caiaphas’ statement, “man” was retained in the translation because in 11:47 “this man” (οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, outo" Jo anqrwpo") has as its referent a specific individual, Jesus, and it was felt this connection should be maintained.
[11:50] 56 sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45). Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the time.
[11:51] 57 tn Grk “say this from himself.”
[11:51] 58 tn The word “Jewish” is not in the Greek text, but is clearly implied by the context (so also NIV; TEV “the Jewish people”).
[11:52] 59 tn See the note on the word “nation” in the previous verse.
[11:52] 60 sn The author in his comment expands the prophecy to include the Gentiles (not for the Jewish nation only), a confirmation that the Fourth Gospel was directed, at least partly, to a Gentile audience. There are echoes of Pauline concepts here (particularly Eph 2:11-22) in the stress on the unity of Jew and Gentile.
[11:52] 61 tn Grk “that he might gather together.”
[11:52] 62 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[11:57] 63 tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.
[11:57] 64 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:57] 65 tn Or “could seize.”
[11:57] 66 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[4:25] 67 tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).
[4:25] 68 tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”
[4:25] 70 sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.
[4:25] 71 tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”
[4:26] 72 tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”
[4:26] 73 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[4:26] 74 sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.
[4:27] 75 sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.
[4:27] 76 sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”
[4:28] 77 tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.
[4:28] 78 tn Or “purpose,” “will.”
[4:28] 79 tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.
