Ulangan 17:3

17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, ¹  moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. ² 

Ulangan 17:2

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ³  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ⁴  and breaks his covenant

Kisah Para Rasul 23:4-5

23:4 Those standing near him ⁵  said, “Do you dare insult ⁶  God’s high priest?” 23:5 Paul replied, ⁷  “I did not realize, ⁸  brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’” ⁹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 23:11

23:11 The following night the Lord ¹⁰  stood near ¹¹  Paul ¹²  and said, “Have courage, ¹³  for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, ¹⁴  so you must also testify in Rome.” ¹⁵ 

Ayub 31:26-27

31:26 if I looked at the sun ¹⁶  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, ¹⁷ 

Yeremia 8:2

8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. ¹⁸  These are things they ¹⁹  adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, ²⁰  from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people ²¹  will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. ²² 

Yehezkiel 8:16

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ²³  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ²⁴  were about twenty-five ²⁵  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ²⁶  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ²⁷  toward the east!

Amos 5:25-26

5:25 You did not bring me ²⁸  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ²⁹  of Israel.

5:26 You will pick up your images ³⁰  of Sikkuth, ³¹  your king, ³² 

and Kiyyun, ³³  your star god, which you made for yourselves,

[17:3]  ¹ tc The MT reads “and to the sun,” thus including the sun, the moon, and other heavenly spheres among the gods. However, Theodotion and Lucian read “or to the sun,” suggesting perhaps that the sun and the other heavenly bodies are not in the category of actual deities.

[17:3]  ² tn Heb “which I have not commanded you.” The words “to worship” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[17:2]  ³ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

[23:4]  ⁵ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[23:4]  ⁶ tn L&N 33.393 has for λοιδορέω (loidorew) “to speak in a highly insulting manner – ‘to slander, to insult strongly, slander, insult.’”

[23:4]  sn Insult God’s high priest. Paul was close to violation of the Mosaic law with his response, as the citation from Exod 22:28 in v. 5 makes clear.

[23:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “said.”

[23:5]  ⁸ tn Or “know.”

[23:5]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 22:28. This text defines a form of blasphemy. Paul, aware of the fact that he came close to crossing the line, backed off out of respect for the law.

[23:11]  ¹⁰ sn The presence of the Lord indicated the vindicating presence and direction of God.

[23:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “standing near Paul, said.” The participle ἐπιστάς (epistas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:11]  ¹² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:11]  ¹³ tn Or “Do not be afraid.”

[23:11]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[23:11]  ¹⁵ sn Like Jesus went to Jerusalem, Paul would now go to Rome. This trip forms the concluding backdrop to Acts. This is the second notice about going to Rome (see Acts 19:21 for the first).

[23:11]  map For location see JP4 A1.

[31:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[31:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.

[8:2]  ¹⁸ tc MT, 4QJer^a and LXX read “the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,” but 4QJer^c reads “the sun and all the stars.”

[8:2]  tn Heb “the host of heaven.”

[8:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the sun, moon, and host of heaven which they…”

[8:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[8:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “they will not” but the referent is far enough removed that it might be ambiguous.

[8:2]  ²² tn Heb “like dung/manure on the surface of the ground.”

[8:16]  ²³ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ²⁴ sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).

[8:16]  ²⁵ tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.

[8:16]  tn Or “exactly twenty-five.”

[8:16]  ²⁶ sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “the sun god.”

[8:16]  sn The worship of astral entities may have begun during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5).

[5:25]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.

[5:25]  sn Like Jer 7:22-23, this passage seems to contradict the Pentateuchal accounts that indicate Israel did offer sacrifices during the wilderness period. It is likely that both Amos and Jeremiah overstate the case to emphasize the relative insignificance of sacrifices in comparison to weightier matters of the covenant. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 428.

[5:25]  ²⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[5:26]  ³⁰ tn This word appears in an awkward position in the Hebrew, following “Kiyyun.” It is placed here for better sense.

[5:26]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew term סִכּוּת (sikkut) apparently refers to Sakkuth, a Mesopotamian star god identified with Ninurta in an Ugaritic god list. The name is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some English versions, following the LXX, translate as “tent” or “shrine” (NEB, NIV), pointing the term as סֻכַּת (sukkat; cf. 9:11).

[5:26]  ³² tc LXX, Vulgate, and Acts 7:43 read “Moloch” (cf. KJV). The Hebrew consonants are the same for both “king” and “Moloch” (מֹלֶךְ; molekh).

[5:26]  ³³ tn The Hebrew term כִּיּוּן (kiyyun) apparently refers to the Mesopotamian god Kayamanu, or Saturn. The name, like “Sikkuth” in the previous line, is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some versions translate as “pedestal” (NEB, NIV), relating the term to the root כּוּן (kun).