Ulangan 28:15-68

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 “But if you ignore ¹  the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: ²  28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children ³  will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. ⁴ 

Curses by Disease and Drought

28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you ⁵  in everything you undertake ⁶  until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. ⁷  28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases ⁸  until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He ⁹  will afflict you with weakness, ¹⁰  fever, inflammation, infection, ¹¹  sword, ¹²  blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. 28:23 The ¹³  sky ¹⁴  above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 28:24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

Curses by Defeat and Deportation

28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror ¹⁵  to all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26 Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. 28:27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28:28 The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. ¹⁶  28:29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; ¹⁷  you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape ¹⁸  her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. ¹⁹  28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. 28:34 You will go insane from seeing all this. 28:35 The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 28:36 The Lord will force you and your king ²⁰  whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.

The Curse of Reversed Status

28:38 “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. ²¹  28:41 You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. 28:42 Whirring locusts ²²  will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. 28:43 The foreigners ²³  who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 28:44 They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail!

28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given ²⁴  you. 28:46 These curses ²⁵  will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. ²⁶ 

The Curse of Military Siege

28:47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty ²⁷  you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They ²⁸  will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth ²⁹  as the eagle flies, ³⁰  a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 28:51 They ³¹  will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, ³²  or lambs of your flocks ³³  until they have destroyed you. 28:52 They will besiege all of your villages ³⁴  until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, ³⁵  the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege ³⁶  by which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 28:55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict ³⁷  you in your villages. 28:56 Likewise, the most ³⁸  tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, ³⁹  will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth ⁴⁰  and her newborn children ⁴¹  (since she has nothing else), ⁴²  because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.

The Curse of Covenant Termination

28:58 “If you refuse to obey ⁴³  all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 28:60 He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt ⁴⁴  that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. ⁴⁵  28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, ⁴⁶  until you have perished. 28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, ⁴⁷  because you will have disobeyed ⁴⁸  the Lord your God. 28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he ⁴⁹  will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. 28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. ⁵⁰  28:67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. 28:68 Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

Ulangan 29:24-28

29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ⁵¹  all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ⁵²  29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ⁵³  written in this scroll. 29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”

Ulangan 31:17

31:17 At that time ⁵⁴  my anger will erupt against them ⁵⁵  and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome ⁵⁶  them ⁵⁷  so that they ⁵⁸  will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters ⁵⁹  overcome us ⁶⁰  because our ⁶¹  God is not among us ⁶² ?’

Ulangan 32:30

32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, ⁶³ 

and two pursue ten thousand;

unless their Rock had delivered them up, ⁶⁴ 

and the Lord had handed them over?

Yudas 1:14

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, ⁶⁵  even prophesied of them, ⁶⁶  saying, “Look! The Lord is coming ⁶⁷  with thousands and thousands ⁶⁸  of his holy ones,

Yudas 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁶⁹ 

Yudas 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ⁷⁰  a slave ⁷¹  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ⁷²  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ⁷³  God the Father and kept for ⁷⁴  Jesus Christ.

Yudas 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ⁷⁵  a slave ⁷⁶  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ⁷⁷  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ⁷⁸  God the Father and kept for ⁷⁹  Jesus Christ.

Kisah Para Rasul 9:6-9

9:6 But stand up ⁸⁰  and enter the city and you will be told ⁸¹  what you must do.” 9:7 (Now the men ⁸²  who were traveling with him stood there speechless, ⁸³  because they heard the voice but saw no one.) ⁸⁴  9:8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, ⁸⁵  he could see nothing. ⁸⁶  Leading him by the hand, his companions ⁸⁷  brought him into Damascus. 9:9 For ⁸⁸  three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything. ⁸⁹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 9:2

9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues ⁹⁰  in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, ⁹¹  either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners ⁹²  to Jerusalem. ⁹³ 

Kisah Para Rasul 7:19-22

7:19 This was the one who exploited ⁹⁴  our people ⁹⁵  and was cruel to our ancestors, ⁹⁶  forcing them to abandon ⁹⁷  their infants so they would die. ⁹⁸  7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful ⁹⁹  to God. For ¹⁰⁰  three months he was brought up in his father’s house, 7:21 and when he had been abandoned, ¹⁰¹  Pharaoh’s daughter adopted ¹⁰²  him and brought him up ¹⁰³  as her own son. 7:22 So Moses was trained ¹⁰⁴  in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful ¹⁰⁵  in his words and deeds.

Mazmur 106:40

106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people ¹⁰⁶ 

and despised the people who belong to him. ¹⁰⁷ 

[28:15]  ¹ tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”

[28:15]  ² tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”

[28:18]  ³ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[28:19]  ⁴ sn See note on the similar expression in v. 6.

[28:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”

[28:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”

[28:20]  ⁷ tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.

[28:20]  tn Heb “the evil of your doings wherein you have forsaken me”; CEV “all because you rejected the Lord.”

[28:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”

[28:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “The Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:22]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).

[28:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”

[28:22]  ¹² tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[28:23]  ¹³ tc The MT reads “Your.” The LXX reads “Heaven will be to you.”

[28:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[28:25]  ¹⁵ tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿva’ah, “terror”).

[28:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “heart” (so KJV, NASB).

[28:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you will not cause your ways to prosper.”

[28:30]  ¹⁸ tc For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.

[28:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and there will be no power in your hand”; NCV “there will be nothing you can do.”

[28:36]  ²⁰ tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”

[28:40]  ²¹ tn Heb “your olives will drop off” (נָשַׁל, nashal), referring to the olives dropping off before they ripen.

[28:42]  ²² tn The Hebrew term denotes some sort of buzzing or whirring insect; some have understood this to be a type of locust (KJV, NIV, CEV), but other insects have also been suggested: “buzzing insects” (NAB); “the cricket” (NASB); “the cicada” (NRSV).

[28:43]  ²³ tn Heb “the foreigner.” This is a collective singular and has therefore been translated as plural; this includes the pronouns in the following verse, which are also singular in the Hebrew text.

[28:45]  ²⁴ tn Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”

[28:46]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the curses mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:46]  ²⁶ tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).

[28:48]  ²⁷ tn Heb “lack of everything.”

[28:48]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[28:49]  ²⁹ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”

[28:49]  ³⁰ tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.

[28:51]  ³¹ tn Heb “it” (so NRSV), a collective singular referring to the invading nation (several times in this verse and v. 52).

[28:51]  ³² tn Heb “increase of herds.”

[28:51]  ³³ tn Heb “growth of flocks.”

[28:52]  ³⁴ tn Heb “gates,” also in vv. 55, 57.

[28:53]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”

[28:53]  ³⁶ tn Heb “siege and stress.”

[28:55]  ³⁷ tn Heb “besiege,” redundant with the noun “siege.”

[28:56]  ³⁸ tc The LXX adds σφόδρα (sfodra, “very”) to bring the description into line with v. 54.

[28:56]  ³⁹ tn Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”

[28:57]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”

[28:57]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “her sons that she will bear.”

[28:57]  ⁴² tn Heb includes “in her need for everything.”

[28:58]  ⁴³ tn Heb “If you are not careful to do.”

[28:60]  ⁴⁴ sn These are the plagues the Lord inflicted on the Egyptians prior to the exodus which, though they did not fall upon the Israelites, must have caused great terror (cf. Exod 15:26).

[28:60]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “will cling to you” (so NIV); NLT “will claim you.”

[28:61]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”

[28:62]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[28:62]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”

[28:63]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:66]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “you will not be confident in your life.” The phrase “from one day to the next” is implied by the following verse.

[29:24]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

[29:26]  ⁵² tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

[29:27]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the entire curse.”

[31:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.

[31:17]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”

[31:17]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.

[31:17]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “evils.”

[31:17]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

[31:17]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “my.”

[31:17]  ⁶² tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.

[32:30]  ⁶³ tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:30]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:14]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”

[1:14]  sn The genealogical count is inclusive, counting Adam as the first, for Enoch is really the sixth in descent from Adam (Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch). In this way, the picture of perfection/completion was retained (for the number seven is often used for perfection or completion in the Bible) starting with Adam and concluding with Enoch.

[1:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).

[1:14]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.

[1:14]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.

[1:2]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:1]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁷¹ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ⁷² sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ⁷³ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[1:1]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁷⁶ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ⁷⁷ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[9:6]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “But arise.”

[9:6]  ⁸¹ tn Literally a passive construction, “it will be told to you.” This has been converted to another form of passive construction in the translation.

[9:7]  ⁸² tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which is used only rarely in a generic sense of both men and women. In the historical setting here, Paul’s traveling companions were almost certainly all males.

[9:7]  ⁸³ tn That is, unable to speak because of fear or amazement. See BDAG 335 s.v. ἐνεός.

[9:7]  ⁸⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Acts 22:9 appears to indicate that they saw the light but did not hear a voice. They were “witnesses” that something happened.

[9:8]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “his eyes being open,” a genitive absolute construction that has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[9:8]  ⁸⁶ sn He could see nothing. This sign of blindness, which was temporary until v. 18, is like the sign of deafness experienced by Zechariah in Luke 1. It allowed some time for Saul (Paul) to reflect on what had happened without distractions.

[9:8]  ⁸⁷ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Saul’s companions) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:9]  ⁸⁸ tn Grk “And for.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:9]  ⁸⁹ tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader. The fasting might indicate an initial realization of Luke 5:33-39. Fasting was usually accompanied by reflective thought.

[9:2]  ⁹⁰ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:2]  ⁹¹ sn The expression “the way” in ancient religious literature refers at times to “the whole way of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint” (BDAG 692 s.v. ὁδός 3.c), and it has been so used of Christianity and its teachings in the book of Acts (see also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It is a variation of Judaism’s idea of two ways, the true and the false, where “the Way” is the true one (1 En. 91:18; 2 En. 30:15).

[9:2]  ⁹² tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

[9:2]  ⁹³ sn From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into Syria.

[9:2]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:19]  ⁹⁴ tn According to L&N 88.147 it is also possible to translate κατασοφισάμενος (katasofisameno") as “took advantage by clever words” or “persuaded by sweet talk.”

[7:19]  ⁹⁵ tn Or “race.”

[7:19]  ⁹⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:19]  ⁹⁷ tn Or “expose” (BDAG 303 s.v. ἔκθετος).

[7:19]  ⁹⁸ tn Grk “so that they could not be kept alive,” but in this context the phrase may be translated either “so that they would not continue to live,” or “so that they would die” (L&N 23.89).

[7:20]  ⁹⁹ tn Or “was well-formed before God,” or “was well-pleasing to God” (BDAG 145 s.v. ἀστεῖος suggests the meaning is more like “well-bred” as far as God was concerned; see Exod 2:2).

[7:20]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Grk “who was brought up for three months.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation by changing the relative pronoun to a regular pronoun (“he”).

[7:21]  ¹⁰¹ tn Or “exposed” (see v. 19).

[7:21]  ¹⁰² tn Grk “Pharaoh’s daughter took him up for herself.” According to BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω, “The pap. exx. involve exposed children taken up and reared as slaves…The rendering ‘adopt’ lacks philological precision and can be used only in a loose sense (as NRSV), esp. when Gr-Rom. terminology relating to adoption procedures is taken into account.” In this instance both the immediate context and the OT account (Exod 2:3-10) do support the normal sense of the English word “adopt,” although it should not be understood to refer to a technical, legal event.

[7:21]  ¹⁰³ tn Or “and reared him” (BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b).

[7:22]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Or “instructed.”

[7:22]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Or “was able” (BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b.α).

[106:40]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”

[106:40]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “his inheritance.”