Numbers 23:23

23:23 For there is no spell against ¹  Jacob,

nor is there any divination against Israel.

At this time ²  it must be said ³  of Jacob

and of Israel, ‘Look at ⁴  what God has done!’

Deuteronomy 4:32-34

The Uniqueness of Israel’s God

4:32 Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind ⁵  on the earth, and ask ⁶  from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it. 4:33 Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it? 4:34 Or has God ⁷  ever before tried to deliver ⁸  a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, ⁹  signs, wonders, war, strength, power, ¹⁰  and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Psalms 86:8

86:8 None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord!

Your exploits are incomparable! ¹¹ 

Psalms 86:10

86:10 For you are great and do amazing things.

You alone are God.

Isaiah 49:21

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ¹² 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ¹³ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

Isaiah 66:8

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ¹⁴  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

Ephesians 3:10

3:10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that ¹⁵  through the church the multifaceted wisdom ¹⁶  of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 3:2

3:2 if indeed ¹⁷  you have heard of the stewardship ¹⁸  of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

Ephesians 1:10

1:10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up ¹⁹  all things in Christ – the things in heaven ²⁰  and the things on earth. ²¹ 

[23:23]  ¹ tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.

[23:23]  ² tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.

[23:23]  ³ tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”

[23:23]  ⁴ tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[4:32]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term אָדָם (’adam) may refer either to Adam or, more likely, to “man” in the sense of the human race (“mankind,” “humankind”). The idea here seems more universal in scope than reference to Adam alone would suggest.

[4:32]  ⁶ tn The verb is not present in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification. The challenge has both temporal and geographical dimensions. The people are challenged to (1) inquire about the entire scope of past history and (2) conduct their investigation on a worldwide scale.

[4:34]  ⁷ tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).

[4:34]  ⁸ tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”

[4:34]  ⁹ tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).

[4:34]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”

[86:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and there are none like your acts.”

[49:21]  ¹² tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

[49:21]  ¹³ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

[66:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).

[3:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “that.” Verse 10 is a subordinate clause to the verb “enlighten” in v. 9.

[3:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or “manifold wisdom,” “wisdom in its rich variety.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ sn If indeed. The author is not doubting whether his audience has heard, but is rather using provocative language (if indeed) to engage his audience in thinking about the magnificence of God’s grace. However, in English translation, the apodosis (“then”-clause) does not come until v. 13, leaving the protasis (“if”-clause) dangling. Eph 3:2-7 constitute one sentence in Greek.

[3:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “administration,” “dispensation,” “commission.”

[1:10]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of the infinitive ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι (anakefalaiwsasqai) in v. 10 is difficult to determine since it was used relatively infrequently in Greek literature and only twice in the NT (here and Rom 13:9). While there have been several suggestions, three deserve mention: (1) “To sum up.” In Rom 13:9, using the same term, the author there says that the law may be “summarized in one command, to love your neighbor as yourself.” The idea then in Eph 1:10 would be that all things in heaven and on earth can be summed up and made sense out of in relation to Christ. (2) “To renew.” If this is the nuance of the verb then all things in heaven and earth, after their plunge into sin and ruin, are renewed by the coming of Christ and his redemption. (3) “To head up.” In this translation the idea is that Christ, in the fullness of the times, has been exalted so as to be appointed as the ruler (i.e., “head”) over all things in heaven and earth (including the church). That this is perhaps the best understanding of the verb is evidenced by the repeated theme of Christ’s exaltation and reign in Ephesians and by the connection to the κεφαλή- (kefalh-) language of 1:22 (cf. Schlier, TDNT 3:682; L&N 63.8; M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:89-92; contra A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 32-33).

[1:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the heavens.”

[1:10]  ²¹ sn And the things on earth. Verse 10 ends with “in him.” The redundancy keeps the focus on Christ at the expense of good Greek style. Verse 11 repeats the reference with a relative pronoun (“in whom”) – again, at the expense of good Greek style. Although the syntax is awkward, the theology is rich. This is not the first time that a NT writer was so overcome with awe for his Lord that he seems to have lost control of his pen. Indeed, it happened frequently enough that some have labeled their christologically motivated solecisms an “apostolic disease.”