Proverbs 6:9

6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?

When will you rise from your sleep? ¹ 

Exodus 10:3

10:3 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long do you refuse ²  to humble yourself before me? ³  Release my people so that they may serve me!

Exodus 16:28

16:28 So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse ⁴  to obey my commandments and my instructions?

Numbers 14:27

14:27 “How long must I bear ⁵  with this evil congregation ⁶  that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me.

Matthew 17:17

17:17 Jesus answered, ⁷  “You ⁸  unbelieving ⁹  and perverse generation! How much longer ¹⁰  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure ¹¹  you? ¹²  Bring him here to me.”

[6:9]  ¹ sn The use of the two rhetorical questions is designed to rebuke the lazy person in a forceful manner. The sluggard is spending too much time sleeping.

[10:3]  ² tn The verb is מֵאַנְתָּ (me’anta), a Piel perfect. After “how long,” the form may be classified as present perfect (“how long have you refused), for it describes actions begun previously but with the effects continuing. (See GKC 311 §106.g-h). The use of a verb describing a state or condition may also call for a present translation (“how long do you refuse”) that includes past, present, and potentially future, in keeping with the question “how long.”

[10:3]  ³ tn The clause is built on the use of the infinitive construct to express the direct object of the verb – it answers the question of what Pharaoh was refusing to do. The Niphal infinitive construct (note the elision of the ה [hey] prefix after the preposition [see GKC 139 §51.l]) is from the verb עָנָה (’anah). The verb in this stem would mean “humble oneself.” The question is somewhat rhetorical, since God was not yet through humbling Pharaoh, who would not humble himself. The issue between Yahweh and Pharaoh is deeper than simply whether or not Pharaoh will let the Israelites leave Egypt.

[16:28]  ⁴ tn The verb is plural, and so it is addressed to the nation and not to Moses. The perfect tense in this sentence is the characteristic perfect, denoting action characteristic, or typical, of the past and the present.

[14:27]  ⁵ tn The figure is aposiopesis, or sudden silence. The main verb is deleted from the line, “how long…this evil community.” The intensity of the emotion is the reason for the ellipsis.

[14:27]  ⁶ sn It is worth mentioning in passing that this is one of the Rabbinic proof texts for having at least ten men to form a congregation and have prayer. If God called ten men (the bad spies) a “congregation,” then a congregation must have ten men. But here the word “community/congregation” refers in this context to the people of Israel as a whole, not just to the ten spies.

[17:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

[17:17]  ⁹ tn Or “faithless.”

[17:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “how long.”

[17:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

[17:17]  ¹² sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.