Proverbs 27:1

27:1 Do not boast ¹  about tomorrow; ² 

for you do not know ³  what a day may bring forth.

Acts 12:4-6

12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads ⁴  of soldiers to guard him. Herod ⁵  planned ⁶  to bring him out for public trial ⁷  after the Passover. 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly ⁸  praying to God for him. ⁹  12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, ¹⁰  Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while ¹¹  guards in front of the door were keeping watch ¹²  over the prison.

James 4:13-14

4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town ¹³  and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 4:14 You ¹⁴  do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? ¹⁵  For you are a puff of smoke ¹⁶  that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

[27:1]  ¹ tn The form אַל־תִּתְהַלֵּל (’al-tithallel) is the Hitpael jussive negated; it is from the common verb “to praise,” and so in this setting means “to praise oneself” or “to boast.”

[27:1]  ² sn The word “tomorrow” is a metonymy of subject, meaning what will be done tomorrow, or in the future in general.

[27:1]  ³ sn The expression “you do not know” balances the presumption of the first line, reminding the disciple of his ignorance and therefore his need for humility (e.g., Matt 6:34; Luke 12:20; Jas 4:13-16).

[12:4]  ⁴ sn Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.

[12:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “guard him, planning to bring him out.” The Greek construction continues with a participle (βουλόμενος, boulomeno") and an infinitive (ἀναγαγεῖν, anagagein), but this creates an awkward and lengthy sentence in English. Thus a reference to Herod was introduced as subject and the participle translated as a finite verb (“Herod planned”).

[12:4]  ⁶ tn Or “intended”; Grk “wanted.”

[12:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “to bring him out to the people,” but in this context a public trial (with certain condemnation as the result) is doubtless what Herod planned. L&N 15.176 translates this phrase “planning to bring him up for a public trial after the Passover.”

[12:5]  ⁸ tn Or “constantly.” This term also appears in Luke 22:14 and Acts 26:7.

[12:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “but earnest prayer was being made by the church to God for him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to follow English style, and the somewhat awkward passive “prayer was being made” has been changed to the simpler active verb “were praying.” Luke portrays what follows as an answer to prayer.

[12:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.

[12:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “two chains, and.” Logically it makes better sense to translate this as a temporal clause, although technically it is a coordinate clause in Greek.

[12:6]  ¹² tn Or “were guarding.”

[4:13]  ¹³ tn Or “city.”

[4:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”

[4:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).