Numbers 20:17-21

20:17 Please let us pass through ¹  your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; ²  we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” ³ 

20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, ⁴  or I will come out against ⁵  you with the sword.” 20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ⁶  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them ⁷  with a large and powerful force. ⁸  20:21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him.

Deuteronomy 2:4-5

2:4 Instruct ⁹  these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives ¹⁰  the descendants of Esau, ¹¹  who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. 2:5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir ¹²  as an inheritance for Esau.

Deuteronomy 2:9

2:9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar ¹³  to the descendants of Lot ¹⁴  as their possession.

Deuteronomy 2:19

2:19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants ¹⁵  as their possession.

Jude 1:15-18

1:15 to execute judgment on ¹⁶  all, and to convict every person ¹⁷  of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds ¹⁸  that they have committed, ¹⁹  and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ²⁰  1:16 These people are grumblers and ²¹  fault-finders who go ²²  wherever their desires lead them, ²³  and they give bombastic speeches, ²⁴  enchanting folks ²⁵  for their own gain. ²⁶ 

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ²⁷  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁸  1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ²⁹  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ³⁰ 

[20:17]  ¹ tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.

[20:17]  ² sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).

[20:17]  ³ tn Heb “borders.”

[20:18]  ⁴ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.

[20:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “to meet.”

[20:19]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”

[20:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “to meet him.”

[20:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”

[2:4]  ¹¹ sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).

[2:5]  ¹² sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.

[2:9]  ¹³ sn Ar was a Moabite city on the Arnon River east of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned elsewhere in the “Book of the Wars of Yahweh” (Num 21:15; cf. 21:28; Isa 15:1). Here it is synonymous with the whole land of Moab.

[2:9]  ¹⁴ sn The descendants of Lot. Following the destruction of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, as God’s judgment, Lot fathered two sons by his two daughters, namely, Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:30-38). Thus, these descendants of Lot in and around Ar were the Moabites.

[2:19]  ¹⁵ sn Lot’s descendants. See note on this phrase in Deut 2:9.

[1:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “against” (κατά [kata] + genitive). English usage is satisfied with “on” at this point, but the parallel is lost in the translation to some degree, for the end of v. 15 says that this judgment is meted out on these sinners because they spoke against him (κατά + genitive).

[1:15]  ¹⁷ tn Or “soul.”

[1:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “of all their works of ungodliness.” The adverb “thoroughly” is part of the following verb “have committed.” See note on verb “committed” later in this verse.

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn The verb in Greek does not simply mean “have committed,” but “have committed in an ungodly way.” The verb ἀσεβέω (asebew) is cognate to the noun ἀσέβεια (asebeia, “ungodliness”). There is no easy way to express this in English, since English does not have a single word that means the same thing. Nevertheless, the tenor of v. 15 is plainly seen, regardless of the translation.

[1:15]  ²⁰ sn An apparent quotation from 1 En. 1:9. There is some doubt as to whether Jude is actually quoting from the text of 1 Enoch; the text here in Jude differs in some respects from the extant text of this pseudepigraphic book. It is sometimes suggested that Jude may instead have been quoting from oral tradition which had roots older than the written text.

[1:16]  ²¹ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ²² tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ²³ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  ²⁵ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ²⁶ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

[1:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ²⁸ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[1:18]  ²⁹ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ³⁰ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”