Matthew 23:33

23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ¹ 

Genesis 3:1

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now ²  the serpent ³  was more shrewd ⁴ 

than any of the wild animals ⁵  that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that ⁶  God ⁷  said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ⁸ 

Acts 7:19

7:19 This was the one who exploited ⁹  our people ¹⁰  and was cruel to our ancestors, ¹¹  forcing them to abandon ¹²  their infants so they would die. ¹³ 

Acts 13:10

13:10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, ¹⁴  you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness – will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ¹⁵ 

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ¹⁶  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ¹⁷  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹⁸  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

[23:33]  ¹ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[3:1]  ² tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.

[3:1]  ³ sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”

[3:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”

[3:1]  ⁷ sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [Lord God] because there is no covenant relationship involved between God and the serpent. He only speaks of “God.” In the process the serpent draws the woman into his manner of speech so that she too only speaks of “God.”

[3:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.

[7:19]  ⁹ tn According to L&N 88.147 it is also possible to translate κατασοφισάμενος (katasofisameno") as “took advantage by clever words” or “persuaded by sweet talk.”

[7:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “race.”

[7:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:19]  ¹² tn Or “expose” (BDAG 303 s.v. ἔκθετος).

[7:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “so that they could not be kept alive,” but in this context the phrase may be translated either “so that they would not continue to live,” or “so that they would die” (L&N 23.89).

[13:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “unscrupulousness.”

[13:10]  ¹⁵ sn “You who…paths of the Lord?” This rebuke is like ones from the OT prophets: Jer 5:27; Gen 32:11; Prov 10:7; Hos 14:9. Five separate remarks indicate the magician’s failings. The closing rhetorical question of v. 10 (“will you not stop…?”) shows how opposed he is to the way of God.

[13:2]  ¹⁶ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Appoint.”

[1:3]  ¹⁸ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).