Proverbs 1:32

1:32 For the waywardness ¹  of the

simpletons will kill ²  them,

and the careless ease ³  of fools will destroy them.

Matthew 19:22

19:22 But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. ⁴ 

John 6:66-69

Peter’s Confession

6:66 After this many of his disciples quit following him ⁵  and did not accompany him ⁶  any longer. 6:67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” ⁷  6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 6:69 We ⁸  have come to believe and to know ⁹  that you are the Holy One of God!” ¹⁰ 

John 13:20

13:20 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹¹  whoever accepts ¹²  the one I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” ¹³ 

Hebrews 12:25

12:25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

[1:32]  ¹ tn Heb “turning away” (so KJV). The term מְשׁוּבַת (mÿshuvat, “turning away”) refers to moral defection and apostasy (BDB 1000 s.v.; cf. ASV “backsliding”). The noun מְשׁוּבַת (“turning away”) which appears at the end of Wisdom’s speech in 1:32 is from the same root as the verb תָּשׁוּבוּ (tashuvu, “turn!”) which appears at the beginning of this speech in 1:23. This repetition of the root שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn”) creates a wordplay: Because fools refuse to “turn to” wisdom (1:23), they will be destroyed by their “turning away” from wisdom (1:32). The wordplay highlights the poetic justice of their judgment. But here they have never embraced the teaching in the first place; so it means turning from the advice as opposed to turning to it.

[1:32]  ² sn The Hebrew verb “to kill” (הָרַג, harag) is the end of the naive who refuse to change. The word is broad enough to include murder, massacre, killing in battle, and execution. Here it is judicial execution by God, using their own foolish choices as the means to ruin.

[1:32]  ³ tn Heb “complacency” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “smugness.” The noun שַׁלְוַה (shalvah) means (1) positively: “quietness; peace; ease” and (2) negatively: “self-sufficiency; complacency; careless security” (BDB 1017 s.v.), which is the sense here. It is “repose gained by ignoring or neglecting the serious responsibilities of life” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 29).

[19:22]  ⁴ tn Grk “he had many possessions.” This term (κτῆμα, kthma) is often used for land as a possession.

[6:66]  ⁵ tn Grk “many of his disciples went back to what lay behind.”

[6:66]  ⁶ tn Grk “were not walking with him.”

[6:67]  ⁷ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “do you?”).

[6:69]  ⁸ tn Grk “And we.”

[6:69]  ⁹ sn See 1 John 4:16.

[6:69]  ¹⁰ tc The witnesses display a bewildering array of variants here. Instead of “the Holy One of God” (ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ, Jo {agio" tou qeou), Tertullian has ὁ Χριστός (Jo Cristo", “the Christ”); C³ Θ* ˹ 33 565 lat read ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ (Jo Cristo" Jo Juio" tou qeou, “the Christ, the Son of God”); two versional witnesses (b sy^c) have ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ (“the Son of God”); the Byzantine text as well as many others (Ψ 0250 ˹³ 33 Ï) read ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος (Jo Cristo" Jo Juio" tou qeou tou zwnto", “the Christ, the Son of the living God”); and Ì⁶⁶ as well as a few versions have ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ (“the Christ, the Holy One of God”). The reading ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ is, however, well supported by Ì⁷⁵ א B C* D L W as well as versional witnesses. It appears that Peter’s confession in the Synoptic Gospels (especially Matt 16:16) supplied the motivation for the variations. Although the witnesses in Matt 16:16; Mark 8:29; and Luke 9:20 vary considerably, the readings are all intra-synoptic, that is, they do not pull in “the Holy One of God” but reflect various permutations of “Christ”/“Christ of God”/“Christ, the Son of God”/“Christ, the Son of the living God.” The wording “the Holy One of God” (without “Christ”) in important witnesses here is thus unique among Peter’s confessions, and best explains the rise of the other readings.

[13:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[13:20]  ¹² tn Or “receives,” and so throughout this verse.

[13:20]  ¹³ sn The one who sent me refers to God.