Psalms 143:3

143:3 Certainly ¹  my enemies ²  chase me.

They smash me into the ground. ³ 

They force me to live ⁴  in dark regions, ⁵ 

like those who have been dead for ages.

Proverbs 4:19

4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; ⁶ 

they do not know what causes them to stumble. ⁷ 

Lamentations 3:2

3:2 He drove me into captivity ⁸  and made me walk ⁹ 

in darkness and not light.

John 12:46

12:46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.

Jude 1:6

1:6 You also know that ¹⁰  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ¹¹  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ¹²  in eternal chains ¹³  in utter ¹⁴  darkness, locked up ¹⁵  for the judgment of the great Day.

Jude 1:13

1:13 wild sea waves, ¹⁶  spewing out the foam of ¹⁷  their shame; ¹⁸  wayward stars ¹⁹  for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness ²⁰  have been reserved.

[143:3]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[143:3]  ² tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).

[143:3]  ³ tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”

[143:3]  ⁴ tn Or “sit.”

[143:3]  ⁵ sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).

[4:19]  ⁶ sn The simile describes ignorance or spiritual blindness, sinfulness, calamity, despair.

[4:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “in what they stumble.”

[3:2]  ⁸ tn The verb נָהַג (nahag) describes the process of directing (usually a group of) something along a route, hence commonly “to drive,” when describing flocks, caravans, or prisoners and spoils of war (1 Sam 23:5; 30:2). But with people it may also have a positive connotation “to shepherd” or “to guide” (Ps 48:14; 80:1). The line plays on this through the reversal of expectations. Rather than being safely shepherded by the Lord their king, he has driven them away into captivity.

[3:2]  ⁹ tn The Hiphil of הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) may be nuanced either “brought” (BDB 236 s.v. 1) or “caused to walk” (BDB 237 s.v. 5.a).

[1:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

[1:6]  ¹² sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

[1:6]  ¹³ sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

[1:6]  ¹⁴ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

[1:6]  ¹⁵ tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

[1:13]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”

[1:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”

[1:13]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.

[1:13]  ¹⁹ sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.

[1:13]  ²⁰ tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.