Amsal 1:28

1:28 Then they will call to me, but I will not answer;

they will diligently seek ¹  me, but they will not find me.

Mazmur 18:41

18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them; ² 

they cry out to the Lord, ³  but he does not answer them.

Lukas 13:25

13:25 Once ⁴  the head of the house ⁵  gets up ⁶  and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, ⁷  let us in!’ ⁸  But he will answer you, ⁹  ‘I don’t know where you come from.’ ¹⁰ 

[1:28]  ¹ tn Heb “look to.” The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar, “to look”) is used figuratively of intensely looking (=seeking) for deliverance out of trouble (W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 366); cf. NLT “anxiously search for.” It is used elsewhere in parallelism with בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek rescue”; Hos 5:15). It does not mean “to seek early” (cf. KJV) as is popularly taught due to etymological connections with the noun שַׁחַר (shakhar, “dawn”; so BDB 1007 s.v. שָׁחַר).

[18:41]  ² tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

[18:41]  ³ tn Heb “to the Lord.” The words “they cry out” are supplied in the translation because they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[18:41]  sn They cry out. This reference to the psalmist’s enemies crying out for help to the Lord suggests that the psalmist refers here to enemies within the covenant community, rather than foreigners. However, the militaristic context suggests foreign enemies are in view. Ancient Near Eastern literature indicates that defeated enemies would sometimes cry out for mercy to the god(s) of their conqueror. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 271.

[13:25]  ⁴ tn The syntactical relationship between vv. 24-25 is disputed. The question turns on whether v. 25 is connected to v. 24 or not. A lack of a clear connective makes an independent idea more likely. However, one must then determine what the beginning of the sentence connects to. Though it makes for slightly awkward English, the translation has opted to connect it to “he will answer” so that this functions, in effect, as an apodosis. One could end the sentence after “us” and begin a new sentence with “He will answer” to make simpler sentences, although the connection between the two sentences is thereby less clear. The point of the passage, however, is clear. Once the door is shut, because one failed to come in through the narrow way, it is closed permanently. The moral: Do not be too late in deciding to respond.

[13:25]  ⁵ tn Or “the master of the household.”

[13:25]  ⁶ tn Or “rises,” or “stands up.”

[13:25]  ⁷ tn Or “Sir.”

[13:25]  ⁸ tn Grk “Open to us.”

[13:25]  ⁹ tn Grk “and answering, he will say to you.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he will answer you.”

[13:25]  ¹⁰ sn For the imagery behind the statement “I do not know where you come from,” see Ps 138:6; Isa 63:16; Jer 1:5; Hos 5:3.