Matthew 26:3-5

26:3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in the palace of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas. 26:4 They ¹  planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 26:5 But they said, “Not during the feast, so that there won’t be a riot among the people.” ² 

Exodus 1:10

1:10 Come, let’s deal wisely ³  with them. Otherwise ⁴  they will continue to multiply, ⁵  and if ⁶  a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with ⁷  our enemies and fight against us and leave ⁸  the country.”

Exodus 1:1

Blessing during Bondage in Egypt

1:1 ⁹ These ¹⁰  are the names ¹¹  of the sons of Israel ¹²  who entered Egypt – each man with his household ¹³  entered with Jacob:

Exodus 18:21

18:21 But you choose ¹⁴  from the people capable men, ¹⁵  God-fearing, ¹⁶  men of truth, ¹⁷  those who hate bribes, ¹⁸  and put them over the people ¹⁹  as rulers ²⁰  of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Psalms 10:9-10

10:9 He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket; ²¹ 

he lies in ambush, waiting to catch ²²  the oppressed;

he catches the oppressed ²³  by pulling in his net. ²⁴ 

10:10 His victims are crushed and beaten down;

they are trapped in his sturdy nets. ²⁵ 

Psalms 55:21

55:21 His words are as smooth as butter, ²⁶ 

but he harbors animosity in his heart. ²⁷ 

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords. ²⁸ 

Psalms 64:4-6

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent ²⁹  in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. ³⁰ 

64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. ³¹ 

They plan how to hide ³²  snares,

and boast, ³³  “Who will see them?” ³⁴ 

64:6 They devise ³⁵  unjust schemes;

they disguise ³⁶  a well-conceived plot. ³⁷ 

Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ³⁸ 

Psalms 83:3-4

83:3 They carefully plot ³⁹  against your people,

and make plans to harm ⁴⁰  the ones you cherish. ⁴¹ 

83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! ⁴² 

Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”

Isaiah 7:5-7

7:5 Syria has plotted with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah to bring about your demise. ⁴³  7:6 They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ⁴⁴  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ⁴⁵  7:7 For this reason the sovereign master, ⁴⁶  the Lord, says:

“It will not take place;

it will not happen.

Ezekiel 38:10-11

38:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, ⁴⁷  and you will devise an evil plan. 38:11 You will say, “I will invade ⁴⁸  a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against ⁴⁹  those living quietly in security – all of them living without walls and barred gates –

Revelation 12:1-5

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12:1 Then ⁵⁰  a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars. ⁵¹  12:2 She ⁵²  was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling ⁵³  to give birth. 12:3 Then ⁵⁴  another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns. ⁵⁵  12:4 Now ⁵⁶  the dragon’s ⁵⁷  tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then ⁵⁸  the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 12:5 So ⁵⁹  the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, ⁶⁰  who is going to rule ⁶¹  over all the nations ⁶²  with an iron rod. ⁶³  Her ⁶⁴  child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne,

Revelation 12:15

12:15 Then ⁶⁵  the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to ⁶⁶  sweep her away by a flood,

[26:4]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:5]  ² sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him.

[1:10]  ³ tn The verb is the Hitpael cohortative of חָכַם (khakam, “to be wise”). This verb has the idea of acting shrewdly, dealing wisely. The basic idea in the word group is that of skill. So a skillful decision is required to prevent the Israelites from multiplying any more.

[1:10]  ⁴ tn The word פֶּן (pen) expresses fear or precaution and can also be translated “lest” or “else” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 75-76, §461).

[1:10]  ⁵ tn The verb can be translated simply “will multiply,” but since Pharaoh has already indicated that he is aware they were doing that, the nuance here must mean to multiply all the more, or to continue to multiply. Cf. NIV “will become even more numerous.”

[1:10]  ⁶ tn The words וְהָיָה כִּי (vÿhayah ki) introduce a conditional clause – “if” (see GKC 335 §112.y).

[1:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “and [lest] he [Israel] also be joined to.”

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and go up from.” All the verbs coming after the particle פֶּן (pen, “otherwise, lest” in v. 10) have the same force and are therefore parallel. These are the fears of the Egyptians. This explains why a shrewd policy of population control was required. They wanted to keep Israel enslaved; they did not want them to become too numerous and escape.

[1:1]  ⁹ sn Chapter 1 introduces the theme of bondage in Egypt and shows the intensifying opposition to the fulfillment of promises given earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first seven verses announce the theme of Israel’s prosperity in Egypt. The second section (vv. 8-14) reports continued prosperity in the face of deliberate opposition. The third section (vv. 15-21) explains the prosperity as divine favor in spite of Pharaoh’s covert attempts at controlling the population. The final verse records a culmination in the developing tyranny and provides a transition to the next section – Pharaoh commands the open murder of the males. The power of God is revealed in the chapter as the people flourish under the forces of evil. However, by the turn of affairs at the end of the chapter, the reader is left with a question about the power of God – “What can God do?” This is good Hebrew narrative, moving the reader through tension after tension to reveal the sovereign power and majesty of the Lord God, but calling for faith every step of the way. See also D. W. Wicke, “The Literary Structure of Exodus 1:2–2:10,” JSOT 24 (1982): 99-107.

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “now these” or “and these.” The vav (ו) disjunctive marks a new beginning in the narrative begun in Genesis.

[1:1]  ¹¹ sn The name of the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible is שְׁמוֹת (shÿmot), the word for “Names,” drawn from the beginning of the book. The inclusion of the names at this point forms a literary connection to the book of Genesis. It indicates that the Israelites living in bondage had retained a knowledge of their ancestry, and with it, a knowledge of God’s promise.

[1:1]  ¹² tn The expression בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (bÿne yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) in most places refers to the nation as a whole and can be translated “Israelites,” although traditionally it has been rendered “the children of Israel” or “the sons of Israel.” Here it refers primarily to the individual sons of the patriarch Israel, for they are named. But the expression is probably also intended to indicate that they are the Israelites (cf. Gen 29:1, “eastern people,” or “easterners,” lit., “sons of the east”).

[1:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “a man and his house.” Since this serves to explain “the sons of Israel,” it has the distributive sense. So while the “sons of Israel” refers to the actual sons of the patriarch, the expression includes their families (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[18:21]  ¹⁴ tn The construction uses the independent pronoun for emphasis, and then the imperfect tense “see” (חָזָה, khazah) – “and you will see from all….” Both in Hebrew and Ugaritic expressions of “seeing” are used in the sense of choosing (Gen 41:33). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220.

[18:21]  ¹⁵ tn The expression is אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל (’anshe khayil, “capable men”). The attributive genitive is the word used in expressions like “mighty man of valor.” The word describes these men as respected, influential, powerful people, those looked up to by the community as leaders, and those who will have the needs of the community in mind.

[18:21]  ¹⁶ tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.

[18:21]  ¹⁷ tn The expression “men of truth” (אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת, ’anshe ’emet) indicates that these men must be seekers of truth, who know that the task of a judge is to give true judgment (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220). The word “truth” includes the ideas of faithfulness or reliability, as well as factuality itself. It could be understood to mean “truthful men,” men whose word is reliable and true.

[18:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “haters of bribes.” Here is another objective genitive, one that refers to unjust gain. To hate unjust gain is to reject and refuse it. Their decisions will not be swayed by greed.

[18:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “over them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ²⁰ sn It is not clear how this structure would work in a judicial setting. The language of “captains of thousands,” etc., is used more for military ranks. There must have been more detailed instruction involved here, for each Israelite would have come under four leaders with this arrangement, and perhaps difficult cases would be sent to the next level. But since the task of these men would also involve instruction and guidance, the breakdown would be very useful. Deut 1:9, 13 suggest that the choice of these people was not simply Moses’ alone.

[10:9]  ²¹ tn Or “in its den.”

[10:9]  ²² tn The verb, which also appears in the next line, occurs only here and in Judg 21:21.

[10:9]  ²³ tn The singular form is collective (see v. 10) or refers to the typical or representative oppressed individual.

[10:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “when he [i.e., the wicked man] pulls in his net.”

[10:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he crushes, he is bowed down, and he falls into his strong [ones], [the] unfortunate [ones].” This verse presents several lexical and syntactical difficulties. The first word (יִדְכֶּה, yidekeh) is an otherwise unattested Qal form of the verb דָּכָה (dakhah, “crush”). (The Qere [marginal] form is imperfect; the consonantal text [Kethib] has the perfect with a prefixed conjunction vav [ו].) If the wicked man’s victim is the subject, which seems to be the case (note the two verbs which follow), then the form should be emended to a Niphal (יִדָּכֶה, yiddakheh). The phrase בַּעֲצוּמָיו (ba’atsumayv, “into his strong [ones]”), poses interpretive problems. The preposition -בְּ (bet) follows the verb נָפַל (nafal, “fall”), so it may very well carry the nuance “into” here, with “his strong [ones]” then referring to something into which the oppressed individual falls. Since a net is mentioned in the preceding verse as the instrument used to entrap the victim, it is possible that “strong [ones]” here refers metonymically to the wicked man’s nets or traps. Ps 35:8 refers to a man falling into a net (רֶשֶׁת, reshet), as does Ps 141:10 (where the plural of מִכְמָר [mikhmar, “net”] is used). A hunter’s net (רֶשֶׁת), is associated with snares (פַּח [pakh], מֹקְשִׁים, [moqÿshim]) and ropes (חֲבָלִים, khavalim) in Ps 140:5. The final word in the verse (חֶלְכָּאִים (khelka’im, “unfortunate [ones]”) may be an alternate form of חֵלְכָח (khelkhakh, “unfortunate [one]”; see vv. 8, 14). The Qere (marginal reading) divides the form into two words, חֵיל כָּאִים (khel ka’im, “army/host of disheartened [ones]”). The three verb forms in v. 10 are singular because the representative “oppressed” individual is the grammatical subject (see the singular עָנִי [’aniy] in v. 9).

[55:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship.

[55:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and war [is in] his heart.”

[55:21]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.”

[64:4]  ²⁹ tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

[64:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[64:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”

[64:5]  ³² tn Heb “they report about hiding.”

[64:5]  ³³ tn Heb “they say.”

[64:5]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”

[64:6]  ³⁶ 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 mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).

[64:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.

[64:6]  ³⁸ 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.

[83:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”

[83:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and consult together against.”

[83:3]  ⁴¹ tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”

[83:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”

[7:5]  ⁴³ tn This sentence opens with the conjunction יַעַן כִּי (ya’an ki, “because”). Consequently some take vv. 5-6 with what precedes, as another reason why Ahaz might be tempted to fear (see v. 4). However, it is more likely that vv. 5-6 give the basis for the Lord’s announcement in vv. 7-9. The conjunction יַעַן כִּי here introduces the basis for judgment (as in 3:16; 8:6; 29:13), which is then followed by the formal announcement of judgment.

[7:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and let us break it open for ourselves”; NASB “make for ourselves a breach in its walls”; NLT “fight our way into.”

[7:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and we will make the son of Tabeel king in its midst.”

[7:7]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 14, 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[38:10]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”

[38:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “go up against.”

[38:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “come (to).”

[12:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁵¹ sn Sun…moon…stars. This imagery is frequently identified with the nation Israel because of Joseph’s dream in Gen 37.

[12:2]  ⁵² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[12:2]  ⁵³ tn Grk “and being tortured,” though βασανίζω (basanizw) in this context refers to birth pangs. BDAG 168 s.v. 2.b states, “Of birth-pangs (Anth. Pal. 9, 311 βάσανος has this mng.) Rv 12:2.” The καί (kai) has not been translated.

[12:3]  ⁵⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:3]  ⁵⁵ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[12:4]  ⁵⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate that this remark is virtually parenthetical.

[12:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “its”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:4]  ⁵⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:5]  ⁵⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the anticipated birth.

[12:5]  ⁶⁰ tn On this term BDAG 135 s.v. ἄρσην states: “male…The neut. ἄρσεν Rv 12:5, difft. vs. 13, comes fr. Is 66:7 and is in apposition to υἱόν. On the juxtaposition s. FBoll, ZNW 15, 1914, 253; BOlsson, Glotta 23, ’34, 112.”

[12:5]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “shepherd.”

[12:5]  ⁶² tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[12:5]  ⁶³ tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

[12:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[12:15]  ⁶⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:15]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “so that he might make her swept away.”