Proverbs 1:23

1:23 If only ¹  you will respond ²  to my rebuke, ³ 

then ⁴  I will pour ⁵  out my thoughts ⁶  to you

and ⁷  I will make ⁸  my words known to you.

Isaiah 32:15

32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. ⁹ 

Then the desert will become an orchard

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 44:3

44:3 For I will pour water on the parched ground ¹¹ 

and cause streams to flow ¹²  on the dry land.

I will pour my spirit on your offspring

and my blessing on your children.

Ezekiel 39:29

39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, ¹³  declares the sovereign Lord.”

John 7:39

7:39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, ¹⁴  because Jesus was not yet glorified.) ¹⁵ 

Acts 2:16-18

2:16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: ¹⁶ 

2:17 ‘And in the last days ¹⁷  it will be,’ God says,

‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, ¹⁸ 

and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

and your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

2:18 Even on my servants, ¹⁹  both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. ²⁰ 

[1:23]  ¹ tn The imperfect tense is in the conditional protasis without the conditional particle, followed by the clause beginning with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “then”). The phrase “If only…” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the syntax; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:23]  ² tn Heb “turn.” The verb is from שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to respond; to repent”).

[1:23]  ³ sn The noun תּוֹכַחַת (tokhakhat, “rebuke”) is used in all kinds of disputes including rebuking, arguing, reasoning, admonishing, and chiding. The term is broad enough to include here warning and rebuke. Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “reproof”; TEV “when I reprimand you”; CEV “correct you.”

[1:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “Behold!”

[1:23]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil cohortative of נָבַע (nava’, “to pour out”) describes the speaker’s resolution to pour out wisdom on those who respond.

[1:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “my spirit.” The term “spirit” (רוּחַ, ruakh) functions as a metonymy (= spirit) of association (= thoughts), as indicated by the parallelism with “my words” (דְּבָרַי, dÿbaray). The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) can have a cognitive nuance, e.g., “spirit of wisdom” (Exod 28:3; Deut 34:9). It is used metonymically for “words” (Job 20:3) and “mind” (Isa 40:13; Ezek 11:5; 20:32; 1 Chr 28:12; see BDB 925 s.v. רוּחַ 6). The “spirit of wisdom” produces skill and capacity necessary for success (Isa 11:2; John 7:37-39).

[1:23]  ⁷ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[1:23]  ⁸ tn Here too the form is the cohortative, stressing the resolution of wisdom to reveal herself to the one who responds.

[32:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.

[32:15]  ¹⁰ sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.

[44:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)

[44:3]  ¹² tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[39:29]  ¹³ sn See Ezek 11:19; 37:14.

[7:39]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “for the Spirit was not yet.” Although only B and a handful of other NT mss supply the participle δεδομένον (dedomenon), this is followed in the translation to avoid misunderstanding by the modern English reader that prior to this time the Spirit did not exist. John’s phrase is expressed from a human standpoint and has nothing to do with the preexistence of the third Person of the Godhead. The meaning is that the era of the Holy Spirit had not yet arrived; the Spirit was not as yet at work in a way he later would be because Jesus had not yet returned to his Father. Cf. also Acts 19:2.

[7:39]  ¹⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[2:16]  ¹⁶ sn Note how in the quotation that follows all genders, ages, and classes are included. The event is like a hope Moses expressed in Num 11:29.

[2:17]  ¹⁷ sn The phrase in the last days is not quoted from Joel, but represents Peter’s interpretive explanation of the current events as falling “in the last days.”

[2:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “on all flesh.”

[2:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “slaves.” Although this translation frequently renders δοῦλος (doulos) as “slave,” the connotation is often of one who has sold himself into slavery; in a spiritual sense, the idea is that of becoming a slave of God or of Jesus Christ voluntarily. The voluntary notion is not conspicuous here; hence, the translation “servants.” In any case, the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[2:18]  ²⁰ sn The words and they will prophesy in Acts 2:18 are not quoted from Joel 2:29 at this point but are repeated from earlier in the quotation (Acts 2:17) for emphasis. Tongues speaking is described as prophecy, just like intelligible tongues are described in 1 Cor 14:26-33.