Yehezkiel 7:20

7:20 They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride, ¹  and with it they made their abominable images – their detestable idols. Therefore I will render it filthy to them.

Yehezkiel 8:5-16

8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward ²  the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.

8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people ³  of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”

8:7 He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.

8:9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ⁴  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ⁵  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ⁶  8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel ⁷  (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant ⁸  vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.

8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? ⁹  For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 8:13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”

8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed ¹⁰  women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. ¹¹  8:15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ¹²  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ¹³  were about twenty-five ¹⁴  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ¹⁵  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ¹⁶  toward the east!

Yehezkiel 8:2

8:2 As I watched, I noticed ¹⁷  a form that appeared to be a man. ¹⁸  From his waist downward was something like fire, ¹⁹  and from his waist upward something like a brightness, ²⁰  like an amber glow. ²¹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 21:4

21:4 After we located ²²  the disciples, we stayed there ²³  seven days. They repeatedly told ²⁴  Paul through the Spirit ²⁵  not to set foot ²⁶  in Jerusalem. ²⁷ 

Kisah Para Rasul 21:7

21:7 We continued the voyage from Tyre ²⁸  and arrived at Ptolemais, ²⁹  and when we had greeted the brothers, we stayed with them for one day.

Kisah Para Rasul 23:11-12

23:11 The following night the Lord ³⁰  stood near ³¹  Paul ³²  and said, “Have courage, ³³  for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, ³⁴  so you must also testify in Rome.” ³⁵ 

The Plot to Kill Paul

23:12 When morning came, ³⁶  the Jews formed ³⁷  a conspiracy ³⁸  and bound themselves with an oath ³⁹  not to eat or drink anything ⁴⁰  until they had killed Paul.

[7:20]  ¹ tc The MT reads “he set up the beauty of his ornament as pride.” The verb may be repointed as plural without changing the consonantal text. The Syriac reads “their ornaments” (plural), implying עֶדְיָם (’edyam) rather than עֶדְיוֹ (’edyo) and meaning “they were proud of their beautiful ornaments.” This understands “ornaments” in the common sense of women’s jewelry, which then were used to make idols. The singular suffix “his ornaments” would refer to using items from the temple treasury to make idols. D. I. Block points out the foreshadowing of Ezek 16:17 which, with Rashi and the Targum, supports the understanding that this is a reference to temple items. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:265.

[8:5]  ² tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”

[8:6]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[8:10]  ⁴ tn Or “pattern.”

[8:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.

[8:10]  ⁶ sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).

[8:11]  ⁷ sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).

[8:11]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[8:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  sn This type of image is explicitly prohibited in the Mosaic law (Lev 26:1).

[8:14]  ¹⁰ tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”

[8:14]  ¹¹ sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.

[8:16]  ¹² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ¹⁶ 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).

[8:2]  ¹⁷ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).

[8:2]  ¹⁸ tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.

[8:2]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.

[8:2]  ²⁰ tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”

[8:2]  ²¹ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[21:4]  ²² tn BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνευρίσκω has “look/search for (w. finding presupposed) τινά…τοὺς μαθητάς Ac 21:4.” The English verb “locate,” when used in reference to persons, has the implication of both looking for and finding someone. The participle ἀνευρόντες (aneuronte") has been taken temporally.

[21:4]  ²³ tn BDAG 154 s.v. αὐτοῦ states, “deictic adv. designating a position relatively near or far…there…Ac 21:4.”

[21:4]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἔλεγον (elegon) has been taken iteratively.

[21:4]  ²⁵ sn Although they told this to Paul through the Spirit, it appears Paul had a choice here (see v. 14). Therefore this amounted to a warning: There was risk in going to Jerusalem, so he was urged not to go.

[21:4]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 367 s.v. ἐπιβαίνω places Ac 21:4 under 1, “go up/upon, mount, board…πλοίῳ…Ac 27:2…Abs. go on board, embark…21:1 D, 2. – So perh. also ἐ. εἰς ᾿Ιεροσόλυμα embark for Jerusalem (i.e. to the seaport of Caesarea) vs. 4.” BDAG notes, however, “But this pass. may also belong to 2. to move to an area and be there, set foot in.” Because the message from the disciples to Paul through the Holy Spirit has the character of a warning, the latter meaning has been adopted for this translation.

[21:4]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[21:7]  ²⁸ sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia.

[21:7]  ²⁹ sn Ptolemais was a seaport on the coast of Palestine about 30 mi (48 km) south of Tyre.

[23:11]  ³⁰ sn The presence of the Lord indicated the vindicating presence and direction of God.

[23:11]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:11]  ³³ tn Or “Do not be afraid.”

[23:11]  ³⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[23:11]  ³⁵ 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.

[23:12]  ³⁶ tn Grk “when it was day.”

[23:12]  ³⁷ tn Grk “forming a conspiracy, bound.” The participle ποιήσαντες (poihsantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:12]  ³⁸ tn L&N 30.72 has ‘some Jews formed a conspiracy’ Ac 23:12”; BDAG 979 s.v. συστροφή 1 has “Judeans came together in a mob 23:12. But in the last pass. the word may also mean – 2. the product of a clandestine gathering, plot, conspiracy” (see also Amos 7:10; Ps 63:3).

[23:12]  ³⁹ tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” On such oaths see m. Shevi’it 3:1-5. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[23:12]  ⁴⁰ 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.