Numbers 25:2

25:2 These women invited ¹  the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ² 

Proverbs 23:1-3

23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully ³  what ⁴  is before you,

23:2 and put a knife to your throat ⁵ 

if you possess a large appetite. ⁶ 

23:3 Do not crave that ruler’s ⁷  delicacies,

for ⁸  that food is deceptive. ⁹ 

Proverbs 23:6-8

23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person, ¹⁰ 

do not crave his delicacies;

23:7 for he is ¹¹  like someone calculating the cost ¹²  in his mind. ¹³ 

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you;

23:8 you will vomit up ¹⁴  the little bit you have eaten,

and will have wasted your pleasant words. ¹⁵ 

Daniel 1:5-8

1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration ¹⁶  from his royal delicacies ¹⁷  and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained ¹⁸  for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. ¹⁹  1:6 As it turned out, ²⁰  among these young men ²¹  were some from Judah: ²²  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ²³  1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave ²⁴  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. ²⁵ 

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ²⁶  that he would not defile ²⁷  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ²⁸  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

Acts 10:13-14

10:13 Then ²⁹  a voice said ³⁰  to him, “Get up, Peter; slaughter ³¹  and eat!” 10:14 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!” ³² 

Acts 10:1

Peter Visits Cornelius

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea ³³  named Cornelius, a centurion ³⁴  of what was known as the Italian Cohort. ³⁵ 

Colossians 1:27-28

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ³⁶  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ³⁷  and teaching ³⁸  all people ³⁹  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ⁴⁰  in Christ.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴¹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[25:2]  ¹ tn The verb simply says “they called,” but it is a feminine plural. And so the women who engaged in immoral acts with Hebrew men invited them to their temple ritual.

[25:2]  ² sn What Israel experienced here was some of the debased ritual practices of the Canaanite people. The act of prostrating themselves before the pagan deities was probably participation in a fertility ritual, nothing short of cultic prostitution. This was a blatant disregard of the covenant and the Law. If something were not done, the nation would have destroyed itself.

[23:1]  ³ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense of instruction with the infinitive absolute to emphasize the careful discernment required on such occasions. Cf. NIV “note well”; NLT “pay attention.”

[23:1]  ⁴ tn Or “who,” referring to the ruler (so ASV, NAB, TEV).

[23:2]  ⁵ sn The expression “put a knife to your throat” is an idiom that means “curb your appetite” or “control yourself” (cf. TEV). The instruction was from a time when people dealt with all-powerful tyrants. To enter the presence of such a person and indulge one’s appetites would be to take a very high risk.

[23:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “lord of appetite.” The idiom בַּעַל נֶפֶשׁ (ba’al nefesh) refers to someone who possesses a large appetite (cf. NAB “a ravenous appetite”). A person with a big appetite is in danger of taking liberties when invited to court.

[23:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the ruler mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:3]  ⁸ sn The final line gives the causal clause: The impressive feast is not what it appears to be; the king is not doing you a favor, but rather wants something from you or is observing you (K&D 17:104); cf. TEV “he may be trying to trick you.”

[23:3]  ⁹ sn Verses 1-3 form the sixth saying about being cautious before rulers (cf. Instruction of Amememope, chap. 23, 23:13-18). One should not get too familiar with rulers, for they always have ulterior motives. The Mishnah cites Gamaliel as warning that a ruler only draws someone into his court for his purpose, but in their day of trouble he will not be there to help them (m. Abot 2:3).

[23:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “an evil eye.” This is the opposite of the “good eye” which meant the generous man. The “evil eye” refers to a person who is out to get everything for himself (cf. NASB, NCV, CEV “selfish”). He is ill-mannered and inhospitable (e.g., Prov 28:22). He is up to no good – even though he may appear to be a host.

[23:7]  ¹¹ tc The line is difficult; it appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” The Hebrew verb “to calculate” (שָׁעַר, sha’ar) with a change of vocalization and of sibilant would yield “hair” (שֵׂעָר, se’ar) – “like a hair in the throat [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh], so is he.” This would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ANET 423]). The suggested change is plausible and is followed by NRSV; but the rare verb “to calculate” in the MT would be easier to defend on the basis of the canons of textual criticism because it is the more difficult reading.

[23:7]  ¹² tn The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[23:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “soul.”

[23:8]  ¹⁴ sn Eating and drinking with a selfish miser would be irritating and disgusting. The line is hyperbolic; the whole experience turns the stomach.

[23:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “your compliments” (so NASB, NIV); cf. TEV “your flattery.”

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.

[1:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “stand before the king.”

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and it happened that.”

[1:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ²² tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

[1:6]  ²³ sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”

[1:7]  ²⁴ tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.

[1:7]  ²⁵ sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.

[1:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “placed on his heart.”

[1:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[10:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And there came.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[10:13]  ³⁰ tn Grk “a voice to him”; the word “said” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[10:13]  ³¹ tn Or “kill.” Traditionally θῦσον (quson) is translated “kill,” but in the case of animals intended for food, “slaughter” is more appropriate.

[10:14]  ³² tn Possibly there is a subtle distinction in meaning between κοινός (koinos) and ἀκάθαρτος (akaqarto") here, but according to L&N 53.39 it is difficult to determine precise differences in meaning based on existing contexts.

[10:1]  ³³ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).

[10:1]  ³⁴ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[10:1]  ³⁵ sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in a.d. 88.

[1:27]  ³⁶ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:28]  ³⁷ tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ³⁸ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ³⁹ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ⁴⁰ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.

[1:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.