Nahum 1:11

1:11 From you, O Nineveh, ¹  one has marched forth who plots evil against the Lord,

a wicked military strategist. ² 

Psalms 2:1-4

Psalm 2 ³ 

2:1 Why ⁴  do the nations rebel? ⁵ 

Why ⁶  are the countries ⁷  devising ⁸  plots that will fail? ⁹ 

2:2 The kings of the earth ¹⁰  form a united front; ¹¹ 

the rulers collaborate ¹² 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ¹³ 

2:3 They say, ¹⁴  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ¹⁵ 

Let’s free ourselves from ¹⁶  their ropes!”

2:4 The one enthroned ¹⁷  in heaven laughs in disgust; ¹⁸ 

the Lord taunts ¹⁹  them.

Psalms 21:11

21:11 Yes, ²⁰  they intend to do you harm; ²¹ 

they dream up a scheme, ²²  but they do not succeed. ²³ 

Psalms 33:10

33:10 The Lord frustrates ²⁴  the decisions of the nations;

he nullifies the plans ²⁵  of the peoples.

Proverbs 21:30

21:30 There is no wisdom and there is no understanding,

and there is no counsel against ²⁶  the Lord. ²⁷ 

Isaiah 8:9-10

8:9 You will be broken, ²⁸  O nations;

you will be shattered! ²⁹ 

Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! ³⁰ 

8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted!

Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! ³¹ 

For God is with us! ³² 

Ezekiel 38:10-11

38:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, ³³  and you will devise an evil plan. 38:11 You will say, “I will invade ³⁴  a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against ³⁵  those living quietly in security – all of them living without walls and barred gates –

Acts 4:25-28

4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through ³⁶  your servant David our forefather, ³⁷ 

‘Why do the nations ³⁸  rage, ³⁹ 

and the peoples plot foolish ⁴⁰  things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ⁴¹ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ⁴²  Christ.’ ⁴³ 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁴⁴  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ⁴⁵  4:28 to do as much as your power ⁴⁶  and your plan ⁴⁷  had decided beforehand ⁴⁸  would happen.

Acts 4:2

4:2 angry ⁴⁹  because they were teaching the people and announcing ⁵⁰  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ⁵¹  from the hope laid up ⁵²  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ⁵³ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn The words “O Nineveh” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity. The preceding pronoun is feminine singular, indicating the personified city is in view. See 2:1 (2:2 HT).

[1:11]  ² tn Heb “a counselor of wickedness”; NASB “a wicked counselor”; NAB “the scoundrel planner.”

[2:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[2:3]  ⁷ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “throw off from us.”

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”

[21:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[21:11]  ¹² tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).

[21:11]  ¹³ sn See Ps 10:2.

[21:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they lack ability.”

[33:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “breaks” or “destroys.” The Hebrew perfect verbal forms here and in the next line generalize about the Lord’s activity.

[33:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “thoughts.”

[21:30]  ¹⁵ tn The form לְנֶגֶד (lÿneged) means “against; over against; in opposition to.” The line indicates they cannot in reality be in opposition, for human wisdom is nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 232).

[21:30]  ¹⁶ sn The verse uses a single sentence to state that all wisdom, understanding, and advice must be in conformity to the will of God to be successful. It states it negatively – these things cannot be in defiance of God (e.g., Job 5:12-13; Isa 40:13-14).

[8:9]  ¹⁷ tn The verb רֹעוּ (ro’u) is a Qal imperative, masculine plural from רָעַע (ra’a’, “break”). Elsewhere both transitive (Job 34:24; Ps 2:9; Jer 15:12) and intransitive (Prov 25:19; Jer 11:16) senses are attested for the Qal of this verb. Because no object appears here, the form is likely intransitive: “be broken.” In this case the imperative is rhetorical (like “be shattered” later in the verse) and equivalent to a prediction, “you will be broken.” On the rhetorical use of the imperative in general, see IBHS 572 §34.4c; GKC 324 §110.c.

[8:9]  ¹⁸ tn The imperatival form (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speaker’s firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. See the note on “be broken.”

[8:9]  ¹⁹ tn The initial imperative (“get ready for battle”) acknowledges the reality of the nations’ hostility; the concluding imperative (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speakers’ firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. (See the note on “be broken.”) One could paraphrase, “Okay, go ahead and prepare for battle since that’s what you want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll be shattered.” This rhetorical use of the imperatives is comparable to saying to a child who is bent on climbing a high tree, “Okay, go ahead, climb the tree and break your arm!” What this really means is: “Okay, go ahead and climb the tree since that’s what you really want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll break your arm.” The repetition of the statement in the final two lines of the verse gives the challenge the flavor of a taunt (ancient Israelite “trash talking,” as it were).

[8:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “speak a word, but it will not stand.”

[8:10]  ²⁰ sn In these vv. 9-10 the tone shifts abruptly from judgment to hope. Hostile nations like Assyria may attack God’s people, but eventually they will be destroyed, for God is with his people, sometimes to punish, but ultimately to vindicate. In addition to being a reminder of God’s presence in the immediate crisis faced by Ahaz and Judah, Immanuel (whose name is echoed in this concluding statement) was a guarantee of the nation’s future greatness in fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises. Eventually God would deliver his people from the hostile nations (vv. 9-10) through another child, an ideal Davidic ruler who would embody God’s presence in a special way (see 9:6-7). Jesus the Messiah is the fulfillment of the Davidic ideal prophesied by Isaiah, the one whom Immanuel foreshadowed. Through the miracle of the incarnation he is literally “God with us.” Matthew realized this and applied Isaiah’s ancient prophecy of Immanuel’s birth to Jesus (Matt 1:22-23). The first Immanuel was a reminder to the people of God’s presence and a guarantee of a greater child to come who would manifest God’s presence in an even greater way. The second Immanuel is “God with us” in a heightened and infinitely superior sense. He “fulfills” Isaiah’s Immanuel prophecy by bringing the typology intended by God to realization and by filling out or completing the pattern designed by God. Of course, in the ultimate fulfillment of the type, the incarnate Immanuel’s mother must be a virgin, so Matthew uses a Greek term (παρθένος, parqenos), which carries that technical meaning (in contrast to the Hebrew word עַלְמָה [’almah], which has the more general meaning “young woman”). Matthew draws similar analogies between NT and OT events in 2:15, 18. The linking of these passages by analogy is termed “fulfillment.” In 2:15 God calls Jesus, his perfect Son, out of Egypt, just as he did his son Israel in the days of Moses, an historical event referred to in Hos 11:1. In so doing he makes it clear that Jesus is the ideal Israel prophesied by Isaiah (see Isa 49:3), sent to restore wayward Israel (see Isa 49:5, cf. Matt 1:21). In 2:18 Herod’s slaughter of the infants is another illustration of the oppressive treatment of God’s people by foreign tyrants. Herod’s actions are analogous to those of the Assyrians, who deported the Israelites, causing the personified land to lament as inconsolably as a mother robbed of her little ones (Jer 31:15).

[38:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”

[38:11]  ²³ tn Heb “go up against.”

[38:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “come (to).”

[4:25]  ²⁵ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[4:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[4:25]  ²⁷ tn Or “Gentiles.”

[4:25]  ²⁸ sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

[4:25]  ²⁹ tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

[4:26]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ²⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[4:28]  ³¹ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ³² tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ³³ 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.

[4:2]  ³³ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “proclaiming.”

[1:5]  ³⁵ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ³⁷ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.