Psalms 73:7-9

73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; ¹ 

their thoughts are sinful. ² 

73:8 They mock ³  and say evil things; ⁴ 

they proudly threaten violence. ⁵ 

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ⁶ 

Matthew 12:24

12:24 But when the Pharisees ⁷  heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, ⁸  the ruler ⁹  of demons!”

Matthew 27:63

27:63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

Luke 22:64-65

22:64 They ¹⁰  blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, ¹¹  “Prophesy! Who hit you?” ¹²  22:65 They also said many other things against him, reviling ¹³  him.

Acts 26:11

26:11 I punished ¹⁴  them often in all the synagogues ¹⁵  and tried to force ¹⁶  them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged ¹⁷  at them, I went to persecute ¹⁸  them even in foreign cities.

Acts 26:1

Paul Offers His Defense

26:1 So Agrippa ¹⁹  said to Paul, “You have permission ²⁰  to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand ²¹  and began his defense: ²² 

Acts 1:13

1:13 When ²³  they had entered Jerusalem, ²⁴  they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter ²⁵  and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James were there. ²⁶ 

Revelation 13:5-6

13:5 The beast ²⁷  was given a mouth speaking proud words ²⁸  and blasphemies, and he was permitted ²⁹  to exercise ruling authority ³⁰  for forty-two months. 13:6 So ³¹  the beast ³²  opened his mouth to blaspheme against God – to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, ³³  that is, those who dwell in heaven.

[73:7]  ¹ tc The MT reads “it goes out from fatness their eye,” which might be paraphrased, “their eye protrudes [or “bulges”] because of fatness.” This in turn might refer to their greed; their eyes “bug out” when they see rich food or produce (the noun חֵלֶב [khelev, “fatness”] sometimes refers to such food or produce). However, when used with the verb יָצָא (yatsa’, “go out”) the preposition מִן (“from”) more naturally indicates source. For this reason it is preferable to emend עֵינֵמוֹ (’enemo, “their eye”) to עֲוֹנָמוֹ, (’avonamo, “their sin”) and read, “and their sin proceeds forth from fatness,” that is, their prosperity gives rise to their sinful attitudes. If one follows this textual reading, another interpretive option is to take חֵלֶב (“fatness”) in the sense of “unreceptive, insensitive” (see its use in Ps 17:10). In this case, the sin of the wicked proceeds forth from their spiritual insensitivity.

[73:7]  ² tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).

[73:8]  ³ tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.

[73:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and speak with evil.”

[73:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.

[73:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.

[12:24]  ⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “except by Beelzebul.”

[12:24]  ⁹ tn Or “prince.”

[22:64]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:64]  ¹¹ tn The verb ἐπηρώτων (ephrwtwn) has been translated as an iterative imperfect. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

[22:64]  ¹² tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”

[22:65]  ¹³ tn Or “insulting.” Luke uses a strong word here; it means “to revile, to defame, to blaspheme” (L&N 33.400).

[26:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and punishing…I tried.” The participle τιμωρῶν (timwrwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[26:11]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[26:11]  ¹⁶ tn The imperfect verb ἠνάγκαζον (hnankazon) has been translated as a conative imperfect (so BDAG 60 s.v. ἀναγκάζω 1, which has “ἠνάγκαζον βλασφημεῖν I tried to force them to blaspheme Ac 26:11”).

[26:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “was so insanely angry with them.” BDAG 322 s.v. ἐμμαίνομαι states, “to be filled with such anger that one appears to be mad, be enraged…περισσῶς ἐμμαινόμενος αὐτοῖς being furiously enraged at them Ac 26:11”; L&N 88.182 s.v. ἐμμαίνομαι, “to be so furiously angry with someone as to be almost out of one’s mind – ‘to be enraged, to be infuriated, to be insanely angry’ …‘I was so infuriated with them that I even went to foreign cities to persecute them’ Ac 26:11.”

[26:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “I pursued them even as far as foreign cities.”

[26:1]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”

[26:1]  ²¹ tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).

[26:1]  ²² tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”

[1:13]  ²³ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:13]  ²⁴ tn The word “Jerusalem” is not in the Greek text but is implied (direct objects were often omitted when clear from the context).

[1:13]  ²⁵ sn In the various lists of the twelve, Peter (also called Simon) is always mentioned first (see also Matt 10:1-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16) and the first four are always the same, though not in the same order after Peter.

[1:13]  ²⁶ tn The words “were there” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[13:5]  ²⁷ tn Grk “and there was given to him.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:5]  ²⁸ tn For the translation “proud words” (Grk “great things” or “important things”) see BDAG 624 s.v. μέγας 4.b.

[13:5]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to it was granted.”

[13:5]  ³⁰ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:6]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the permission granted to the beast.

[13:6]  ³² tn Grk “he” (or “it”); the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:6]  ³³ tc The reading “and his dwelling place” does not occur in codex C, but its omission is probably due to scribal oversight since the phrase has the same ending as the phrase before it, i.e., they both end in “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou). This is similar to the mistake this scribe made in 12:14 with the omission of the reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou).