Numbers 14:22

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ¹  me now these ten times, ²  and have not obeyed me, ³ 

Matthew 11:20-22

Woes on Unrepentant Cities

11:20 Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities ⁴  in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent. 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ⁵  Woe to you, Bethsaida! If ⁶  the miracles ⁷  done in you had been done in Tyre ⁸  and Sidon, ⁹  they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 11:22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you!

John 15:24

15:24 If I had not performed ¹⁰  among them the miraculous deeds ¹¹  that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. ¹²  But now they have seen the deeds ¹³  and have hated both me and my Father. ¹⁴ 

[14:22]  ¹ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

[14:22]  ² tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

[14:22]  ³ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[11:20]  ⁴ tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis) which can be translated “city” or “town.” “Cities” was chosen here to emphasize the size of the places Jesus’ mentions in the following verses.

[11:21]  ⁵ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[11:21]  ⁶ tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[11:21]  ⁷ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[11:21]  ⁸ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:21]  ⁹ sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[15:24]  ¹⁰ tn Or “If I had not done.”

[15:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the works.”

[15:24]  ¹² tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:24]  ¹³ tn The words “the deeds” are supplied to clarify from context what was seen. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[15:24]  ¹⁴ tn Or “But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.” It is possible to understand both the “seeing” and the “hating” to refer to both Jesus and the Father, but this has the world “seeing” the Father, which seems alien to the Johannine Jesus. (Some point out John 14:9 as an example, but this is addressed to the disciples, not to the world.) It is more likely that the “seeing” refers to the miraculous deeds mentioned in the first half of the verse. Such an understanding of the first “both – and” construction is apparently supported by BDF §444.3.