Mazmur 42:3

42:3 I cannot eat, I weep day and night; ¹ 

all day long they say to me, ²  “Where is your God?”

Mazmur 42:10

42:10 My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, ³ 

as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ⁴ 

Mazmur 79:10

79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants

be avenged among the nations! ⁵ 

Keluaran 32:12

32:12 Why ⁶  should the Egyptians say, ⁷  ‘For evil ⁸  he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy ⁹  them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent ¹⁰  of this evil against your people.

Bilangan 14:15-16

14:15 If you kill ¹¹  this entire people at once, ¹²  then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’

Ulangan 32:26-27

The Weakness of Other Gods

32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. ¹³ 

I want to make people forget they ever existed.

32:27 But I fear the reaction ¹⁴  of their enemies,

for ¹⁵  their adversaries would misunderstand

and say, “Our power is great, ¹⁶ 

and the Lord has not done all this!”’

Ulangan 32:2

32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,

my sayings will drip like the dew, ¹⁷ 

as rain drops upon the grass,

and showers upon new growth.

Kisah Para Rasul 19:10-19

19:10 This went on for two years, so that all who lived in the province of Asia, ¹⁸  both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. ¹⁹ 

The Seven Sons of Sceva

19:11 God was performing extraordinary ²⁰  miracles by Paul’s hands, 19:12 so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body ²¹  were brought ²²  to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. ²³  19:13 But some itinerant ²⁴  Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name ²⁵  of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by ²⁶  evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn ²⁷  you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 19:14 (Now seven sons of a man named ²⁸  Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.) ²⁹  19:15 But the evil spirit replied to them, ³⁰  “I know about Jesus ³¹  and I am acquainted with ³²  Paul, but who are you?” ³³  19:16 Then the man who was possessed by ³⁴  the evil spirit jumped on ³⁵  them and beat them all into submission. ³⁶  He prevailed ³⁷  against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. 19:17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, ³⁸  both Jews and Greeks; fear came over ³⁹  them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. ⁴⁰  19:18 Many of those who had believed came forward, ⁴¹  confessing and making their deeds known. ⁴²  19:19 Large numbers ⁴³  of those who had practiced magic ⁴⁴  collected their books ⁴⁵  and burned them up in the presence of everyone. ⁴⁶  When ⁴⁷  the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins. ⁴⁸ 

Yoel 2:17

2:17 Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep

from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. ⁴⁹ 

Let them say, “Have pity, O Lord, on your people;

please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked,

to become a proverb ⁵⁰  among the nations.

Why should it be said ⁵¹  among the peoples,

“Where is their God?”

[42:3]  ¹ tn Heb “My tears have become my food day and night.”

[42:3]  ² tn Heb “when [they] say to me all the day.” The suffixed third masculine plural pronoun may have been accidentally omitted from the infinitive בֶּאֱמֹר (be’ÿmor, “when [they] say”). Note the term בְּאָמְרָם (bÿ’omram, “when they say”) in v. 10.

[42:10]  ³ tc Heb “with a shattering in my bones my enemies taunt me.” A few medieval Hebrew mss and Symmachus’ Greek version read “like” instead of “with.”

[42:10]  ⁴ sn “Where is your God?” The enemies ask this same question in v. 3.

[79:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”

[32:12]  ⁶ tn The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[32:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “speak, saying.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[32:12]  ⁸ tn The word “evil” means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. “Evil” is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it. The Egyptians would conclude that such a God would have no good intent in taking his people to the desert if now he destroyed them.

[32:12]  ⁹ tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”) but in this stem, “bring to an end, destroy.” As a purpose infinitive this expresses what the Egyptians would have thought of God’s motive.

[32:12]  ¹⁰ tn The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It expresses the deep pain that one would have over a situation. Earlier God repented that he had made humans (Gen 6:6). Here Moses is asking God to repent/relent over the judgment he was about to bring, meaning that he should be moved by such compassion that there would be no judgment like that. J. P. Hyatt observes that the Bible uses so many anthropomorphisms because the Israelites conceived of God as a dynamic and living person in a vital relationship with people, responding to their needs and attitudes and actions (Exodus [NCBC], 307). See H. V. D. Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[14:15]  ¹¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

[14:15]  ¹² tn Heb “as one man.”

[32:26]  ¹³ tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).

[32:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “anger.”

[32:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lest.”

[32:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”

[32:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

[19:10]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[19:10]  sn The expression all who lived in the province of Asia is good Semitic hyperbole (see Col 1:7, “all the world”). The message was now available to the region.

[19:10]  ¹⁹ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[19:11]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 1019 s.v. τυγχάνω 2.d states, “δυνάμεις οὐ τὰς τυχούσας extraordinary miracles Ac 19:11.”

[19:12]  ²¹ tn Or “skin” (the outer surface of the body).

[19:12]  ²² tn Or “were taken.” It might be that as word went out into the region that since the sick could not come to Paul, healing was brought to them this way. The “handkerchiefs” are probably face cloths for wiping perspiration (see BDAG 934 s.v. σουδάριον) while the “aprons” might be material worn by workmen (BDAG 923-24 s.v. σιμικίνθιον).

[19:12]  ²³ tn The words “of them” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[19:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “some Jewish exorcists who traveled about.” The adjectival participle περιερχομένων (periercomenwn) has been translated as “itinerant.”

[19:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “to name the name.”

[19:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “who had.” Here ἔχω (ecw) is used of demon possession, a common usage according to BDAG 421 s.v. ἔχω 7.a.α.

[19:13]  ²⁷ sn The expression I sternly warn you means “I charge you as under oath.”

[19:14]  ²⁸ tn Grk “a certain Sceva.”

[19:14]  ²⁹ sn Within the sequence of the narrative, this amounts to a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:15]  ³⁰ tn Grk “answered and said to them.” The expression, redundant in English, has been simplified to “replied.”

[19:15]  ³¹ tn Grk “Jesus I know about.” Here ᾿Ιησοῦν (Ihsoun) is in emphatic position in Greek, but placing the object first is not normal in contemporary English style.

[19:15]  ³² tn BDAG 380 s.v. ἐπίσταμαι 2 has “know, be acquainted with τινά…τὸν Παῦλον Ac 19:15.” Here the translation “be acquainted with” was used to differentiate from the previous phrase which has γινώσκω (ginwskw).

[19:15]  ³³ sn But who are you? This account shows how the power of Paul was so distinct that parallel claims to access that power were denied. In fact, such manipulation, by those who did not know Jesus, was judged (v. 16). The indirect way in which the exorcists made the appeal shows their distance from Jesus.

[19:16]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in whom the evil spirit was.”

[19:16]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the man in whom the evil spirit was, jumping on them.” The participle ἐφαλόμενος (efalomeno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. L&N 15.239 has “ἐφαλόμενος ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς ‘the man jumped on them’ Ac 19:16.”

[19:16]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and beating them all into submission.” The participle κατακυριεύσας (katakurieusa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. According to W. Foerster, TDNT 3:1098, the word means “the exercise of dominion against someone, i.e., to one’s own advantage.” These exorcists were shown to be powerless in comparison to Jesus who was working through Paul.

[19:16]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 484 s.v. ἰσχύω 3 has “win out, prevail…κατά τινος over, against someone Ac 19:16.”

[19:17]  ³⁸ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:17]  ³⁹ tn Grk “fell on.” BDAG 377 s.v. ἐπιπίπτω 2 has “φόβος ἐ. ἐπί τινα fear came upon someone…Ac 19:17.”

[19:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “exalted.”

[19:18]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “came”; the word “forward” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning and to conform to the contemporary English idiom.

[19:18]  ⁴² tn Or “confessing and disclosing their deeds.” BDAG 59 s.v. ἀναγγέλλω 2 has “W. ἐξομολογεῖσθαι: ἀ. τὰς πράξεις αὐτο'ν make their deeds known Ac 19:18.”

[19:18]  sn Making their deeds known. Ephesus was a major pagan religious center with much syncretistic “magical” practice. Coming to Jesus changed the lives and attitudes of these believers, creating a social impact.

[19:19]  ⁴³ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 4.a has “many, quite a few” for ἱκανοί (Jikanoi) in this verse.

[19:19]  ⁴⁴ tn On this term see BDAG 800 s.v. περίεργος 2.

[19:19]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “scrolls.”

[19:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “burned them up publicly.” L&N 14.66 has “‘they brought their books together and burned them up in the presence of everyone’ Ac 19:19.”

[19:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “and when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[19:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “fifty thousand silver drachmas” (about $10,000 US dollars). BDAG 128 s.v. ἀργύριον 2.c states, “ἀργυρίου μυριάδας πέντε 50,000 (Attic silver) drachmas Ac 19:19.” Another way to express the value would be in sheep: One drachma could buy one sheep. So this many drachmas could purchase a huge flock of sheep. A drachma also equals a denarius, or a day’s wage for the average worker. So this amount would be equal to 50,000 work days or in excess of 8,300 weeks of labor (the weeks are calculated at six working days because of the Jewish cultural context). The impact of Christianity on the Ephesian economy was considerable (note in regard to this the concerns expressed in 19:26-27).

[2:17]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “between the vestibule and the altar.” The vestibule was located at the entrance of the temple and the altar was located at the other end of the building. So “between the vestibule and the altar” is a merism referring to the entire structure. The priestly lament permeates the entire house of worship.

[2:17]  ⁵⁰ tn For the MT reading לִמְשָׁל (limshol, an infinitive, “to rule”), one should instead read לְמָשָׁל (lÿmashal, a noun, “to a byword”). While the consonantal Hebrew text permits either, the context suggests that the concern here is more one of not wanting to appear abandoned by God to ongoing economic depression rather than one of concern over potential political subjection of Israel (cf. v. 19). The possibility that the form in the MT is an infinitive construct of the denominative verb II מָשַׁל (mashal, “to utter a proverb”) does not seem likely because of the following preposition (Hebrew בְּ [bÿ], rather than עַל [’al]).

[2:17]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Why will they say?”