Proverbs 1:24

1:24 However, ¹  because ²  I called but you refused to listen, ³ 

because ⁴  I stretched out my hand ⁵  but no one paid attention,

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ⁶ 

Is my hand too weak ⁷  to deliver ⁸  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁹  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 65:12

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ¹¹ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ¹² 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ¹³ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

Isaiah 66:4

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ¹⁴  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ¹⁵ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

Hosea 11:2

11:2 But the more I summoned ¹⁶  them,

the farther they departed from me. ¹⁷ 

They sacrificed to the Baal idols

and burned incense to images.

Hosea 11:7

11:7 My people are obsessed ¹⁸  with turning away from me; ¹⁹ 

they call to Baal, ²⁰  but he will never exalt them!

Zechariah 7:13

7:13 “‘It then came about that just as I ²¹  cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.

Matthew 23:37

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²²  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²³  How often I have longed ²⁴  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁵  you would have none of it! ²⁶ 

[1:24]  ¹ tn The term “however” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the contrast between the offer in 1:23 and the accusation in 1:24-25. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:24]  ² tn The particle יַעַן (ya’an, “because”) introduces a causal clause which forms part of an extended protasis; the apodosis is 1:26.

[1:24]  ³ tn The phrase “to listen” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:24]  ⁴ tn The term “because” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[1:24]  ⁵ sn This expression is a metonymy of adjunct; it is a gesture that goes with the appeal for some to approach.

[50:2]  ⁶ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁸ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[65:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ¹² tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[66:4]  ¹⁴ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[11:2]  ¹⁶ tc The MT reads קָרְאוּ (qar’u, “they called”; Qal perfect 3rd person common plural from קָרַא, qara’, “to call”), cf. KJV, NASB; however, the LXX and Syriac reflect כְּקָרְאִי (kÿqar’i, “as I called”; preposition כְּ (kaf) + Qal infinitive construct from קָרַא + 1st person common singular suffix). The presence of the resumptive adverb כֵּן (ken, “even so”) in the following clause supports the alternate textual tradition reflected in the LXX and Syriac (cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[11:2]  ¹⁷ tc The MT reads מִפְּנֵיהֶם (mippÿnehem, “from them”; preposition + masculine plural noun + 3rd person masculine plural suffix), so KJV, ASV, NASB; however, the LXX and Syriac reflect an alternate Hebrew textual tradition of מִפָּנַי הֵם (mippanay hem, “they [went away] from me”; preposition + masculine plural noun + 1st person common singular suffix, followed by 3rd person masculine plural independent personal pronoun); cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV. The textual variant was caused simply by faulty word division.

[11:7]  ¹⁸ tn The term תְלוּאִים (tÿlu’im, Qal passive participle masculine plural from תָּלָא, tala’, “to hang”) literally means “[My people] are hung up” (BDB 1067 s.v. תָּלָא). The verb תָּלָא//תָּלָה (“to hang”) is often used in a concrete sense to describe hanging an item on a peg (Ps 137:2; Song 4:4; Isa 22:24; Ezek 15:3; 27:10) or the impaling of the body of an executed criminal (Gen 40:19, 22; 41:13; Deut 21:22, 23; Josh 8:29; 10:26; 2 Sam 21:12; Esth 2:23; 5:14; 6:4; 7:9, 10; 8:7; 9:13, 14, 25). It is used figuratively here to describe Israel’s moral inability to detach itself from apostasy. Several English versions capture the sense well: “My people are bent on turning away from me” (RSV, NASB), “My people are determined to turn from me” (NIV), “My people are determined to reject me” (CEV; NLT “desert me”), “My people persist in its defection from me” (NJPS), and “they insist on turning away from me” (TEV).

[11:7]  ¹⁹ tn The 1st person common singular suffix on the noun מְשׁוּבָתִי (mÿshuvati; literally, “turning of me”) functions as an objective genitive: “turning away from me.”

[11:7]  ²⁰ tc The meaning and syntax of the MT is enigmatic: וְאֶל־עַל יִקְרָאֻהוּ (vÿ’el-’al yiqra’uhu, “they call upwards to him”). Many English versions including KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT take the referent of “him” as the “most High.” The BHS editors suggest reading וְאֶל־בַּעַל יִקְרָא וְהוּא (vÿ’el-ba’al yiqra’ vehu’, “they call to Baal, but he…”), connecting the 3rd person masculine singular independent personal pronoun וְהוּא (vÿhu’, “but he…”) with the following clause. The early Greek recensions (Aquila and Symmachus), as well as the Aramaic Targum and the Vulgate, vocalized עֹל (’ol) as “yoke” (as in 11:4): “they cry out because of [their] yoke” (a reading followed by TEV).

[7:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “he.” Since the third person pronoun refers to the Lord, it has been translated as a first person pronoun (“I”) to accommodate English style, which typically does not exhibit switches between persons of pronouns in the same immediate context as Hebrew does.

[23:37]  ²² sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ²³ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ²⁴ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ²⁶ tn Grk “you were not willing.”