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.

Luke 12:47

12:47 That ⁷  servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked ⁸  will receive a severe beating.

Luke 23:34

23:34 [But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”] ⁹  Then ¹⁰  they threw dice ¹¹  to divide his clothes. ¹² 

John 9:39-41

9:39 Jesus ¹³  said,] ¹⁴  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ¹⁵  and the ones who see may become blind.”

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ¹⁶  who were with him heard this ¹⁷  and asked him, ¹⁸  “We are not blind too, are we?” ¹⁹  9:41 Jesus replied, ²⁰  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ²¹  but now because you claim that you can see, ²²  your guilt ²³  remains.” ²⁴ 

Acts 3:17

3:17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, ²⁵  as your rulers did too.

Acts 26:9

26:9 Of course, ²⁶  I myself was convinced ²⁷  that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene.

Hebrews 6:4-8

6:4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 6:5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6:6 and then have committed apostasy, ²⁸  to renew them again to repentance, since ²⁹  they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again ³⁰  and holding him up to contempt. 6:7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on ³¹  it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; ³²  its fate is to be burned.

Hebrews 10:26-29

10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, ³³  10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury ³⁴  of fire that will consume God’s enemies. ³⁵  10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ³⁶  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ³⁷  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ³⁸  the Son of God, and profanes ³⁹  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ⁴⁰  and insults the Spirit of grace?

Hebrews 10:2

10:2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have ⁴¹  no further consciousness of sin?

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

[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.

[12:47]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ⁸ tn Grk “or do according to his will”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This example deals with the slave who knew what the command was and yet failed to complete it.

[23:34]  ⁹ tc Many important mss (Ì⁷⁵ א¹ B D* W Θ 070 579 1241 pc sy^s sa) lack v. 34a. It is included in א*^,2 (A) C D² L Ψ 0250 Ë^1,(13) 33 Ï lat sy^c,p,h. It also fits a major Lukan theme of forgiving the enemies (6:27-36), and it has a parallel in Stephen’s response in Acts 7:60. The lack of parallels in the other Gospels argues also for inclusion here. On the other hand, the fact of the parallel in Acts 7:60 may well have prompted early scribes to insert the saying in Luke’s Gospel alone. Further, there is the great difficulty of explaining why early and diverse witnesses lack the saying. A decision is difficult, but even those who regard the verse as inauthentic literarily often consider it to be authentic historically. For this reason it has been placed in single brackets in the translation.

[23:34]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “cast lots” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent “threw dice” was chosen here because of its association with gambling.

[23:34]  ¹² sn An allusion to Ps 22:18, which identifies Jesus as the suffering innocent one.

[9:39]  ¹³ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:39]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* W b sa^ms ac² mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì⁷⁵ here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other mss, however, include these words. The omission may have been occasioned by parablepsis (both vv. 37 and 39 begin with “Jesus said to him”), though it is difficult to account for such an error across such a wide variety of witnesses. On the other hand, the longer reading appears to be motivated by liturgical concerns (so R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:375), since the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew, “I worship”) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. If these words were authentic here, this would be the only place in John’s Gospel where Jesus is the explicit object of προσκυνέω. Even if these words are not authentic, such an omission would nevertheless hardly diminish John’s high Christology (cf. 1:1; 5:18-23; 14:6-10; 20:28), nor the implicit worship of him by Thomas (20:28). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult, and the included words may reflect a very early tradition about the blind man’s response to Jesus.

[9:39]  ¹⁵ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[9:40]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ¹⁹ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are we?”).

[9:41]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ²¹ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ²² tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ²³ tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ²⁴ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

[3:17]  ²⁵ sn The ignorance Peter mentions here does not excuse them from culpability. It was simply a way to say “you did not realize the great mistake you made.”

[26:9]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 737 s.v. οὖν 3 states, “It has been proposed that some traces of older Gk. usage in which οὖν is emphatic, = certainly, really, to be sure etc. (s. L-S-J-M s.v. 1) remain in the pap…and in the NT…indeed, of course Ac 26:9.”

[26:9]  ²⁷ tn Grk “I thought to myself.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a has “ἔδοξα ἐμαυτῷ δεῖν πρᾶξαι = Lat. mihi videbar I was convinced that it was necessary to do Ac 26:9.”

[6:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “have fallen away.”

[6:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “while”; Grk “crucifying…and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying…and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).

[6:6]  ³⁰ tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”

[6:7]  ³¹ tn Grk “comes upon.”

[6:8]  ³² tn Grk “near to a curse.”

[10:26]  ³³ tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.

[10:27]  ³⁴ tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).

[10:27]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the enemies.”

[10:28]  ³⁶ tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ³⁷ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ³⁸ tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ³⁹ tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”

[10:2]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”