Amos 9:1-2

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ¹  standing by the altar ²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁴ 

and I will kill the survivors ⁵  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ⁶ 

no one will be able to escape. ⁷ 

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ⁸ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

Amos 9:1

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ⁹  standing by the altar ¹⁰  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ¹¹  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹² 

and I will kill the survivors ¹³  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹⁴ 

no one will be able to escape. ¹⁵ 

Kisah Para Rasul 20:29-30

20:29 I know that after I am gone ¹⁶  fierce wolves ¹⁷  will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 20:30 Even from among your own group ¹⁸  men ¹⁹  will arise, teaching perversions of the truth ²⁰  to draw the disciples away after them.

Ayub 20:24-25

20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,

then an arrow ²¹  from a bronze bow pierces him.

20:25 When he pulls it out ²²  and it comes out of his back,

the gleaming point ²³  out of his liver,

terrors come over him.

Yesaya 24:17-18

24:17 Terror, pit, and snare

are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! ²⁴ 

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ²⁵ 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ²⁶  are opened up ²⁷ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

Yeremia 15:2-3

15:2 If they ask you, ‘Where should we go?’ tell them the Lord says this:

“Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease.

Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war.

Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation.

Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.” ²⁸ 

15:3 “I will punish them in four different ways: I will have war kill them. I will have dogs drag off their dead bodies. I will have birds and wild beasts devour and destroy their corpses. ²⁹ 

Yeremia 48:43-44

48:43 Terror, pits, and traps ³⁰  are in store

for the people who live in Moab. ³¹ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ³² 

48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit.

Anyone who climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a trap. ³³ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ³⁴ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ³⁵ 

Kisah Para Rasul 28:4

28:4 When the local people ³⁶  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ³⁷  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ³⁸  has not allowed him to live!” ³⁹ 

[9:1]  ¹ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ² sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ³ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[9:1]  ⁹ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ¹⁰ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[20:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “after my departure.”

[20:29]  ¹⁷ tn That is, people like fierce wolves. See BDAG 167-68 s.v. βαρύς 4 on the term translated “fierce.” The battle that will follow would be a savage one.

[20:30]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “from among yourselves.”

[20:30]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only rarely is used in a generic sense to refer to both males and females. Since Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders at this point and there is nothing in the context to suggest women were included in that group (“from among your own group”), it is most likely Paul was not predicting that these false teachers would include women.

[20:30]  ²⁰ tn Grk “speaking crooked things”; BDAG 237 s.v. διαστρέφω 2 has “λαλεῖν διεστραμμένα teach perversions (of the truth) Ac 20:30.”

[20:30]  sn These perversions of the truth refer to the kinds of threats that would undermine repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. v. 21). Instead these false teachers would arise from within the Ephesian congregation (cf. 1 John 2:18-19) and would seek to draw the disciples away after them.

[20:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.

[20:25]  ²² tn The MT has “he draws out [or as a passive, “it is drawn out/forth”] and comes [or goes] out of his back.” For the first verb שָׁלַף (shalaf, “pull, draw”), many commentators follow the LXX and use שֶׁלַח (shelakh, “a spear”). It then reads “and a shaft comes out of his back,” a sword flash comes out of his liver.” But the verse could also be a continuation of the preceding.

[20:25]  ²³ tn Possibly a reference to lightnings.

[24:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.

[24:18]  ²⁵ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ²⁷ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[15:2]  ²⁸ tn It is difficult to render the rhetorical force of this passage in meaningful English. The text answers the question “Where should we go?” with four brief staccato-like expressions with a play on the preposition “to”: Heb “Who to the death, to the death and who to the sword, to the sword and who to the starvation, to the starvation and who to the captivity, to the captivity.” The word “death” here is commonly understood to be a poetic substitute for “plague” because of the standard trio of sword, famine, and plague (see, e.g., 14:12 and the notes there). This is likely here and in 18:21. For further support see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:440. The nuance “starvation” rather than “famine” has been chosen in the translation because the referents here are all things that accompany war.

[15:3]  ²⁹ tn The translation attempts to render in understandable English some rather unusual uses of terms here. The verb translated “punish” is often used that way (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.3 and compare usage in Jer 11:22, 13:21). However, here it is accompanied by a direct object and a preposition meaning “over” which is usually used in the sense of appointing someone over someone (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.B.1 and compare usage in Jer 51:27). Moreover the word translated “different ways” normally refers to “families,” “clans,” or “guilds” (cf. BDB 1046-47 s.v. מִשְׁפָּחָה for usage). Hence the four things mentioned are referred to figuratively as officers or agents into whose power the Lord consigns them. The Hebrew text reads: “I will appoint over them four guilds, the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.”

[48:43]  ³⁰ sn There is an extended use of assonance here and in the parallel passage in Isa 24:17. The Hebrew text reads פַּחַד וָפַחַת וָפָח (pakhad vafakhat vafakh). The assonance is intended to underscore the extensive trouble that is in store for them.

[48:43]  ³¹ tn Heb “are upon you, inhabitant of Moab.” This is another example of the rapid switch in person or direct address (apostrophe) in the midst of a third person description or prediction which the present translation typically keeps in the third person for smoother English style.

[48:43]  ³² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[48:44]  ³³ sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.

[48:44]  ³⁴ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[28:4]  ³⁶ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:4]  ³⁷ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ³⁸ tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

[28:4]  ³⁹ sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.