Proverbs 4:19

4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; ¹ 

they do not know what causes them to stumble. ² 

John 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ³  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ⁴  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ⁵  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

John 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ⁶ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ⁷ 

and turn to me, ⁸  and I would heal them.” ⁹ 

Romans 3:11-17

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” ¹⁰ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ¹¹ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ¹² 

3:14 “Their mouths are ¹³  full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁴ 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” ¹⁵ 

Romans 3:2

3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. ¹⁶  First of all, ¹⁷  the Jews ¹⁸  were entrusted with the oracles of God. ¹⁹ 

Romans 2:10-12

2:10 but ²⁰  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ²¹  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

[4:19]  ¹ sn The simile describes ignorance or spiritual blindness, sinfulness, calamity, despair.

[4:19]  ² tn Heb “in what they stumble.”

[12:35]  ³ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ⁴ tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ⁵ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[12:40]  ⁶ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁷ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁸ tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[3:12]  ¹⁰ sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ¹² sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ¹⁵ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “much in every way.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁷ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[3:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they were.”

[3:2]  ¹⁹ tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.

[2:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

[2:12]  ²¹ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.