Psalms 2:1

Psalm 2 ¹ 

2:1 Why ²  do the nations rebel? ³ 

Why ⁴  are the countries ⁵  devising ⁶  plots that will fail? ⁷ 

Psalms 10:2

10:2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; ⁸ 

the oppressed are trapped ⁹  by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 31:13

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ¹¹ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ¹² 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Psalms 35:20

35:20 For they do not try to make peace with others, ¹³ 

but plan ways to deceive those who are unsuspecting. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 11:18-19

A Plot Against Jeremiah is Revealed and He Complains of Injustice

11:18 The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding. ¹⁵ 

Then he showed me what the people were doing. ¹⁶ 

11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.

I did not know they were making plans to kill me. ¹⁷ 

I did not know they were saying, ¹⁸ 

“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! ¹⁹ 

Let’s remove Jeremiah ²⁰  from the world of the living

so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” ²¹ 

Ezekiel 11:2

11:2 The Lord ²²  said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city.

Matthew 21:46

21:46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds ²³  regarded him as a prophet.

Matthew 26:4-5

26:4 They ²⁴  planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 26:5 But they said, “Not during the feast, so that there won’t be a riot among the people.” ²⁵ 

Acts 5:27-28

5:27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, ²⁶  and the high priest questioned ²⁷  them, 5:28 saying, “We gave ²⁸  you strict orders ²⁹  not to teach in this name. ³⁰  Look, ³¹  you have filled Jerusalem ³²  with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood ³³  on us!”

[2:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.

[2:1]  ² tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.

[2:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.

[10:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “because of the pride of [the] wicked he burns [i.e. hotly pursues] [the] oppressed.” The singular forms רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) and עָנִי (’aniy, “oppressed”) are collective and representative, as indicated in the next line, which uses plural verb forms to describe the actions of both.

[10:2]  ⁹ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 describe either what typically happens (from the psalmist’s perspective) or what the psalmist was experiencing at the time he offered this prayer.

[10:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they are trapped in the schemes which they have thought up.” The referents of the two pronominal suffixes on the verbs have been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent of the first suffix (“they”) is taken as the oppressed, while the referent of the second (“they”) is taken to be the wicked (cf. NIV, which renders “wicked” in the previous line as a collective singular). Others take the referent of both occurrences of “they” in the line to be the wicked (cf. NRSV, “let them be caught in the schemes they have devised”).

[31:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ¹² tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[35:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “for they do not speak peace.”

[35:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but against the quiet ones of the land words of deceit they plan.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 20 highlight their characteristic behavior.

[11:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “caused me to know that I might know.” Many English versions supply an unstated object “their plots” which is referred to later in the context (cf. v. 19). The presupposition of this kind of absolute ellipsis is difficult to justify and would create the need for understanding an ellipsis of “it” also after “I knew.” It is better to see a bipolar use of the verb “know” here. For the second use of the verb “know” meaning “have understanding” see BDB 394 s.v. ָידַע Qal.5.

[11:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Then you showed me their deeds.” This is another example of the rapid shift in person which is common in Jeremiah. As elsewhere, it has been resolved for the sake of avoiding confusion for the English reader by leveling the referent to the same person throughout. The text again involves an apostrophe, talking about the Lord to addressing him.

[11:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “against me.” The words “to kill me” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ¹⁸ tn The words “I did not know that they were saying” are not in the text. The quote is without formal introduction in the original. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ¹⁹ tn This word and its pronoun (לַחְמוֹ, lakhmo, “its bread”) is often emended to read “in/with its sap” = “in its prime” (either לֵחוֹ [lekho] or לֵחְמוֹ [lekhÿmo]); the latter would be more likely and the מוֹ (mo) could be explained as a rare use of the old poetic third plural suffix for the third singular; cf. GKC 258 §91.l for general use and Ps 11:7 and Job 27:23 for third singular use. Though this fits the context nicely the emendation is probably unnecessary since the word “bread” is sometimes used of other foodstuff than grain or its products (cf. BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 2.a).

[11:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “cut it [or him] off.” The metaphor of the tree may be continued, though the verb “cut off” is used also of killing people. The rendering clarifies the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “so that his name will not be remembered any more.”

[11:2]  ²² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:46]  ²³ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowds) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Both previous occurrences of “they” in this verse refer to the chief priests and the Pharisees.

[26:4]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:5]  ²⁵ sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him.

[5:27]  ²⁶ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:27]  ²⁷ tn Or “interrogated,” “asked.”

[5:28]  ²⁸ tc ‡ The majority of mss, including a few important witnesses (א² D E [Ψ] 1739 Ï sy sa), have the negative particle οὐ (ou) here, effectively turning the high priest’s words into a question: “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?” But the earliest and most important mss, along with some others (Ì⁷⁴ א* A B 1175 lat bo), lack the particle, making this a strong statement rather than a question. Scribes may have been tempted to omit the particle to strengthen the contrast between official Judaism and the new faith, but the fact that v. 27 introduces the quotation with ἐπηρώτησεν (ephrwthsen, “he questioned”) may well have prompted scribes to add οὐ to convert the rebuke into a question. Further, that excellent witnesses affirm the shorter reading is sufficient ground for accepting it as most probably authentic. NA²⁷ includes the particle in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[5:28]  ²⁹ tn Grk “We commanded you with a commandment” (a Semitic idiom that is emphatic).

[5:28]  ³⁰ sn The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.

[5:28]  ³¹ tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[5:28]  ³² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:28]  ³³ sn To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”