Psalms 119:71

119:71 It was good for me to suffer,

so that I might learn your statutes.

Psalms 119:75

119:75 I know, Lord, that your regulations ¹  are just.

You disciplined me because of your faithful devotion to me. ² 

Jeremiah 31:18-19

31:18 I have indeed ³  heard the people of Israel ⁴  say mournfully,

‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ⁵ 

You disciplined us and we learned from it. ⁶ 

Let us come back to you and we will do so, ⁷ 

for you are the Lord our God.

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented.

After we came to our senses ⁸  we beat our breasts in sorrow. ⁹ 

We are ashamed and humiliated

because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ ¹⁰ 

Hosea 2:6-7

The Lord’s Discipline Will Bring Israel Back

2:6 Therefore, I will soon ¹¹  fence her in ¹²  with thorns;

I will wall her in ¹³  so that ¹⁴  she cannot find her way. ¹⁵ 

2:7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch ¹⁶  them;

she will seek them, but she will not find them. ¹⁷ 

Then she will say,

“I will go back ¹⁸  to my husband, ¹⁹ 

because I was better off then than I am now.” ²⁰ 

Hosea 5:15--6:1

5:15 Then I will return again to my lair

until they have suffered their punishment. ²¹ 

Then they will seek me; ²² 

in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Superficial Repentance Breeds False Assurance of God’s Forgiveness

6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!

He himself has torn us to pieces,

but he will heal us!

He has injured ²³  us,

but he will bandage our wounds!

Hebrews 12:10-11

12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. ²⁴  But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness ²⁵  for those trained by it.

Revelation 3:10

3:10 Because you have kept ²⁶  my admonition ²⁷  to endure steadfastly, ²⁸  I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

[119:75]  ¹ tn In this context (note the second line) the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim), which so often refers to the regulations of God’s law elsewhere in this psalm, may refer instead to his decisions or disciplinary judgment.

[119:75]  ² tn Heb “and [in] faithfulness you afflicted me.”

[31:18]  ³ tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).

[31:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).

[31:18]  ⁶ tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.

[31:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.

[31:19]  ⁸ tn For this meaning of the verb see HAL 374 s.v. יָדַע Nif 5 or W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 129. REB translates “Now that I am submissive” relating the verb to a second root meaning “be submissive.” (See HALOT 375 s.v. II יָדַע and J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 19-21, for evidence for this verb. Other passages cited with this nuance are Judg 8:16; Prov 10:9; Job 20:20.)

[31:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “I struck my thigh.” This was a gesture of grief and anguish (cf. Ezek 21:12 [21:17 HT]). The modern equivalent is “to beat the breast.”

[31:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “because I bear the reproach of my youth.” For the plural referents see the note at the beginning of v. 18.

[2:6]  ¹¹ tn The deictic particle הִנְנִי (hinni, “Behold!”) introduces a future-time reference participle that refers to imminent future action: “I am about to” (TEV “I am going to”).

[2:6]  ¹² tn Heb “I will hedge up her way”; NIV “block her path.”

[2:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will wall in her wall.” The cognate accusative construction וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת־גְּדֵרָהּ (vÿgadarti ’et-gÿderah, “I will wall in her wall”) is an emphatic literary device. The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun functions as a dative of disadvantage: “as a wall against her” (A. B. Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, 3, remark 2). The expression means “I will build a wall to bar her way.” Cf. KJV “I will make a wall”; TEV “I will build a wall”; RSV, NASB, NRSV “I will build a wall against her”; NLT “I will fence her in.”

[2:6]  ¹⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (object followed by negated verb) introduces a clause which can be understood as either purpose or result.

[2:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “her paths” (so NAB, NRSV).

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “overtake” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “be able to catch up with.”

[2:7]  ¹⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the accusative direct object pronoun אֹתָם (’otam, “them”) is omitted/elided for balanced poetic parallelism. The LXX supplies αὐτους (autous, “them”); but it is not necessary to emend the MT because this is a poetic literary convention rather than a textual problem.

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I will go and return” (so NRSV). The two verbs joined with vav form a verbal hendiadys. Normally, the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h). The Hebrew phrase אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה (’elkhah vÿ’ashuvah, “I will go and I will return”) connotes, “I will return again.” As cohortatives, both verbs emphasize the resolution of the speaker.

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to my man, the first.” Many English translations (e.g., KJV, NAB, NRSV, TEV) take this as “my first husband,” although this implies that there was more than one husband involved. The text refers to multiple lovers, but these were not necessarily husbands.

[2:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “because it was better for me then than now” (cf. NCV).

[5:15]  ²¹ tn The verb יֶאְשְׁמוּ (ye’shÿmu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from אָשַׁם, ’asham, “to be guilty”) means “to bear their punishment” (Ps 34:22-23; Prov 30:10; Isa 24:6; Jer 2:3; Hos 5:15; 10:2; 14:1; Zech 11:5; Ezek 6:6; BDB 79 s.v. אָשַׁם 3). Many English versions translate this as “admit their guilt” (NIV, NLT) or “acknowledge their guilt” (NASB, NRSV), but cf. NAB “pay for their guilt” and TEV “have suffered enough for their sins.”

[5:15]  ²² tn Heb “seek my face” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “seek my presence.”

[6:1]  ²³ tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”

[12:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”

[12:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

[3:10]  ²⁶ tn Or “obey.” For the translation of τηρέω (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. In the Greek there is a wordplay: “because you have kept my word…I will keep you,” though the meaning of τηρέω is different each time.

[3:10]  ²⁷ tn The Greek term λόγον (logon) is understood here in the sense of admonition or encouragement.

[3:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “to persevere.” Here ὑπομονῆς (Jupomonhs) has been translated as a genitive of reference/respect related to τὸν λόγον (ton logon).