Numbers 15:30

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ¹  who acts defiantly, ²  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ³  the Lord. ⁴  That person ⁵  must be cut off ⁶  from among his people.

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Enjoy Life to the Fullest under the Fear of God

11:9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, ⁷ 

and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Follow the impulses ⁸  of your heart and the desires ⁹  of your eyes,

but know that God will judge your motives and actions. ¹⁰ 

Romans 1:21

1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ¹¹  were darkened.

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ¹²  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ¹³  from the hope laid up ¹⁴  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ¹⁵ 

Ephesians 4:17

Live in Holiness

4:17 So I say this, and insist ¹⁶  in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility ¹⁷  of their thinking. ¹⁸ 

[15:30]  ¹ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ² tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

[15:30]  ³ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ⁴ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁶ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

[11:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “in your youth”; or “in your childhood.”

[11:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “walk in the ways of your heart.”

[11:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “the sight.”

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and know that concerning all these God will bring you into judgment.” The point is not that following one’s impulses and desires is inherently bad and will bring condemnation from God. Rather the point seems to be: As you follow your impulses and desires, realize that all you think and do will eventually be evaluated by God. So one must seek joy within the boundaries of God’s moral standards.

[1:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:2]  ¹² tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

[1:5]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ¹⁵ 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.

[4:17]  ¹⁶ tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.

[4:17]  ¹⁷ tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.

[4:17]  ¹⁸ tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”