Proverbs 3:34

3:34 Although ¹  he is scornful to arrogant scoffers, ² 

yet ³  he shows favor to the humble. ⁴ 

Proverbs 9:12

9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, ⁵ 

but if you are a mocker, ⁶  you alone must ⁷  bear it. ⁸ 

Isaiah 28:22

28:22 So now, do not mock,

or your chains will become heavier!

For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,

from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ⁹ 

Isaiah 29:20

29:20 For tyrants will disappear,

those who taunt will vanish,

and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated ¹⁰  –

Acts 13:40-41

13:40 Watch out, ¹¹  then, that what is spoken about by ¹²  the prophets does not happen to you:

13:41 ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! ¹³ 

For I am doing a work in your days,

a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’” ¹⁴ 

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ¹⁵  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ¹⁶  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 3:3-7

3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, ¹⁷  he asked them for money. ¹⁸  3:4 Peter looked directly ¹⁹  at him (as did John) and said, “Look at us!” 3:5 So the lame man ²⁰  paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. 3:6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, ²¹  but what I do have I give you. In the name ²²  of Jesus Christ ²³  the Nazarene, stand up and ²⁴  walk!” 3:7 Then ²⁵  Peter ²⁶  took hold ²⁷  of him by the right hand and raised him up, and at once the man’s ²⁸  feet and ankles were made strong. ²⁹ 

[3:34]  ¹ tn The particle אִם (’im, “though”) introduces a concessive clause: “though….”

[3:34]  ² tn Heb “he mocks those who mock.” The repetition of the root לִיץ (lits, “to scorn; to mock”) connotes poetic justice; the punishment fits the crime. Scoffers are characterized by arrogant pride (e.g., Prov 21:24), as the antithetical parallelism with “the humble” here emphasizes.

[3:34]  ³ tn The prefixed vav (ו) introduces the apodosis to the concessive clause: “Though … yet …”

[3:34]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically (AB:BA): “he scorns / arrogant scoffers // but to the humble / he gives grace.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[9:12]  ⁵ tn The text simply has the preposition לְ (lamed) with a suffix; but this will be the use of the preposition classified as “interest,” either for advantage or disadvantage (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 48-49, §271).

[9:12]  ⁶ tn The perfect tense is here in a conditional clause because of the conjunction following the first colon of the verse that begins with “if.” The perfect tense then lays down the antithetical condition – “if you mock,” or “if you are a mocker.”

[9:12]  ⁷ tn The use of the imperfect tense here could be the simple future tense (cf. NASB, NRSV “you…will bear it”), but the obligatory nuance is more appropriate – “you must bear it.” These words anticipate James’ warnings that the words we speak will haunt us through life (e.g., James 3:1-12).

[9:12]  ⁸ tc The LXX has an addition: “Forsake folly, that you may reign forever; and seek discretion and direct understanding in knowledge.”

[28:22]  ⁹ tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).

[29:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the watchers of wrong will be cut off.”

[13:40]  ¹¹ sn The speech closes with a warning, “Watch out,” that also stresses culpability.

[13:40]  ¹² tn Or “in.”

[13:41]  ¹³ tn Or “and die!”

[13:41]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Hab 1:5. The irony in the phrase even if someone tells you, of course, is that Paul has now told them. So the call in the warning is to believe or else face the peril of being scoffers whom God will judge. The parallel from Habakkuk is that the nation failed to see how Babylon’s rising to power meant perilous judgment for Israel.

[13:2]  ¹⁵ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Appoint.”

[3:3]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[3:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “alms.” See the note on the word “money” in the previous verse.

[3:4]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Peter, looking directly at him, as did John, said.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[3:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “So he”; the referent (the lame man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:6]  ²¹ tn Or “I have no money.” L&N 6.69 classifies the expression ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον (argurion kai crusion) as an idiom that is a generic expression for currency, thus “money.”

[3:6]  ²² sn In the name. Note the authority in the name of Jesus the Messiah. His presence and power are at work for the man. The reference to “the name” is not like a magical incantation, but is designed to indicate the agent who performs the healing. The theme is quite frequent in Acts (2:38 plus 21 other times).

[3:6]  ²³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[3:6]  ²⁴ tc The words “stand up and” (ἔγειρε καί, egeire kai) are not in a few mss (א B D sa), but are included in A C E Ψ 095 33 1739 Ï lat sy mae bo. The external testimony is thus fairly evenly divided, with few but important representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes supporting the shorter reading. Internally, the words look like a standard scribal emendation, and may have been motivated by other healing passages where Jesus gave a similar double command (cf. Matt 9:5; Mark 2:9, [11]; Luke 5:23; [6:8]; John 5:8). On the other hand, there is some motivation for deleting ἔγειρε καί here, namely, unlike Jesus’ healing miracles, Peter raises (ἤγειρεν, hgeiren) the man to his feet (v. 7) rather than the man rising on his own. In light of the scribal tendency to harmonize, especially in immediate context, the longer reading is slightly preferred.

[3:7]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the sequence of events.

[3:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Peter taking hold of him…raised him up.” The participle πιάσας (piasas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[3:7]  ²⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:7]  ²⁹ sn At once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. Note that despite the past lameness, the man is immediately able to walk. The restoration of his ability to walk pictures the presence of a renewed walk, a fresh start at life; this was far more than money would have given him.