Kejadian 2:18

2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. ¹  I will make a companion ²  for him who corresponds to him.” ³ 

Kejadian 2:20

2:20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam ⁴  no companion who corresponded to him was found. ⁵ 

Kejadian 2:22

2:22 Then the Lord God made ⁶  a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Keluaran 32:21-24

32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?” 32:22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; ⁷  you know these people, that they tend to evil. ⁸  32:23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ 32:24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, break it off.’ So they gave it ⁹  to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” ¹⁰ 

Keluaran 32:1

The Sin of the Golden Calf

32:1 ¹¹ When the people saw that Moses delayed ¹²  in coming down ¹³  from the mountain, they ¹⁴  gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, ¹⁵  make us gods ¹⁶  that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, ¹⁷  the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what ¹⁸  has become of him!”

1 Samuel 15:20-24

15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed ¹⁹  the Lord! I went on the campaign ²⁰  the Lord sent me on. I brought back King Agag of the Amalekites after exterminating the Amalekites. 15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience? ²¹ 

Certainly, ²²  obedience ²³  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ²⁴  the fat of rams.

15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as ²⁵  king.”

15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded ²⁶  and what you said as well. ²⁷  For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. ²⁸ 

Ayub 31:33

31:33 if ²⁹  I have covered my transgressions as men do, ³⁰ 

by hiding ³¹  iniquity in my heart, ³² 

Amsal 19:3

19:3 A person’s folly ³³  subverts ³⁴  his way,

and ³⁵  his heart rages ³⁶  against the Lord.

Amsal 28:13

28:13 The one who covers ³⁷  his transgressions will not prosper, ³⁸ 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy. ³⁹ 

Lukas 10:29

10:29 But the expert, ⁴⁰  wanting to justify ⁴¹  himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Roma 10:3

10:3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

Yakobus 1:13-15

1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, ⁴²  and he himself tempts no one. 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

[2:18]  ¹ tn Heb “The being of man by himself is not good.” The meaning of “good” must be defined contextually. Within the context of creation, in which God instructs humankind to be fruitful and multiply, the man alone cannot comply. Being alone prevents the man from fulfilling the design of creation and therefore is not good.

[2:18]  ² tn Traditionally “helper.” The English word “helper,” because it can connote so many different ideas, does not accurately convey the connotation of the Hebrew word עֵזֶר (’ezer). Usage of the Hebrew term does not suggest a subordinate role, a connotation which English “helper” can have. In the Bible God is frequently described as the “helper,” the one who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, the one who meets our needs. In this context the word seems to express the idea of an “indispensable companion.” The woman would supply what the man was lacking in the design of creation and logically it would follow that the man would supply what she was lacking, although that is not stated here. See further M. L. Rosenzweig, “A Helper Equal to Him,” Jud 139 (1986): 277-80.

[2:18]  ³ tn The Hebrew expression כְּנֶגְדּוֹ (kÿnegdo) literally means “according to the opposite of him.” Translations such as “suitable [for]” (NASB, NIV), “matching,” “corresponding to” all capture the idea. (Translations that render the phrase simply “partner” [cf. NEB, NRSV], while not totally inaccurate, do not reflect the nuance of correspondence and/or suitability.) The man’s form and nature are matched by the woman’s as she reflects him and complements him. Together they correspond. In short, this prepositional phrase indicates that she has everything that God had invested in him.

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Here for the first time the Hebrew word אָדָם (’adam) appears without the article, suggesting that it might now be the name “Adam” rather than “[the] man.” Translations of the Bible differ as to where they make the change from “man” to “Adam” (e.g., NASB and NIV translate “Adam” here, while NEB and NRSV continue to use “the man”; the KJV uses “Adam” twice in v. 19).

[2:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “there was not found a companion who corresponded to him.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is indefinite. Without a formally expressed subject the verb may be translated as passive: “one did not find = there was not found.”

[2:22]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb is בָּנָה (banah, “to make, to build, to construct”). The text states that the Lord God built the rib into a woman. Again, the passage gives no indication of precisely how this was done.

[32:22]  ⁷ sn “My lord” refers to Moses.

[32:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “that on evil it is.”

[32:24]  ⁹ tn Here “it” has been supplied.

[32:24]  ¹⁰ sn Aaron first tried to blame the people, and then he tried to make it sound like a miracle – was it to sound like one of the plagues where out of the furnace came life? This text does not mention it, but Deut 9:20 tells how angry God was with Aaron. Only intercession saved his life.

[32:1]  ¹¹ sn This narrative is an unhappy interlude in the flow of the argument of the book. After the giving of the Law and the instructions for the tabernacle, the people get into idolatry. So this section tells what the people were doing when Moses was on the mountain. Here is an instant violation of the covenant that they had just agreed to uphold. But through it all Moses shines as the great intercessor for the people. So the subject matter is the sin of idolatry, its effects and its remedy. Because of the similarities to Jeroboam’s setting up the calves in Dan and Bethel, modern critics have often said this passage was written at that time. U. Cassuto shows how the language of this chapter would not fit an Iron Age setting in Dan. Rather, he argues, this story was well enough known for Jeroboam to imitate the practice (Exodus, 407-10). This chapter can be divided into four parts for an easier exposition: idolatry (32:1-6), intercession (32:7-14), judgment (32:15-29), intercession again (32:30-33:6). Of course, these sections are far more complex than this, but this gives an overview. Four summary statements for expository points might be: I. Impatience often leads to foolish violations of the faith, II. Violations of the covenant require intercession to escape condemnation, III. Those spared of divine wrath must purge evil from their midst, and IV. Those who purge evil from their midst will find reinstatement through intercession. Several important studies are available for this. See, among others, D. R. Davis, “Rebellion, Presence, and Covenant: A Study in Exodus 32-34,” WTJ 44 (1982): 71-87; M. Greenberg, “Moses’ Intercessory Prayer,” Ecumenical Institute for Advanced Theological Studies (1978): 21-35; R. A. Hamer, “The New Covenant of Moses,” Judaism 27 (1978): 345-50; R. L. Honeycutt, Jr., “Aaron, the Priesthood, and the Golden Calf,” RevExp 74 (1977): 523-35; J. N. Oswalt, “The Golden Calves and the Egyptian Concept of Deity,” EvQ 45 (1973): 13-20.

[32:1]  ¹² tn The meaning of this verb is properly “caused shame,” meaning cause disappointment because he was not coming back (see also Judg 5:28 for the delay of Sisera’s chariots [S. R. Driver, Exodus, 349]).

[32:1]  ¹³ tn The infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition is used here epexegetically, explaining the delay of Moses.

[32:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the people.”

[32:1]  ¹⁵ tn The imperative means “arise.” It could be serving here as an interjection, getting Aaron’s attention. But it might also have the force of prompting him to get busy.

[32:1]  ¹⁶ tn The plural translation is required here (although the form itself could be singular in meaning) because the verb that follows in the relative clause is a plural verb – that they go before us).

[32:1]  ¹⁷ tn The text has “this Moses.” But this instance may find the demonstrative used in an earlier deictic sense, especially since there is no article with it.

[32:1]  ¹⁸ tn The interrogative is used in an indirect question (see GKC 443-44 §137.c).

[15:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ²² tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ²³ tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ²⁴ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[15:23]  ²⁵ tn Or “from [being].”

[15:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[15:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and your words.”

[15:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

[31:33]  ²⁹ tn Now the protasis continues again.

[31:33]  ³⁰ sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.

[31:33]  ³¹ tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.

[31:33]  ³² tn The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.

[19:3]  ³³ tn Heb “the folly of a man.”

[19:3]  ³⁴ tn The verb סָלַף (salaf) normally means “to twist; to pervert; to overturn,” but in this context it means “to subvert” (BDB 701 s.v.); cf. ASV “subverteth.”

[19:3]  sn J. H. Greenstone comments: “Man’s own failures are the result of his own folly and should not be attributed to God” (Proverbs, 201).

[19:3]  ³⁵ tn The clause begins with vav on the nonverb phrase “against the Lord.” While clause structure and word order is less compelling in a book like Proverbs, this fits well as a circumstantial clause indicating concession.

[19:3]  ³⁶ sn The “heart raging” is a metonymy of cause (or adjunct); it represents the emotions that will lead to blaming God for the frustration. Genesis 42:28 offers a calmer illustration of this as the brothers ask what God was doing to them.

[28:13]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew participles provide the subject matter in this contrast. On the one hand is the person who covers over (מְכַסֶּה, mÿkhasseh) his sins. This means refusing to acknowledge them in confession, and perhaps rationalizing them away. On the other hand there is the one who both “confesses” (מוֹדֶה, modeh) and “forsakes” (עֹזֵב, ’ozev) the sin. To “confess” sins means to acknowledge them, to say the same thing about them that God does.

[28:13]  ³⁸ sn The verse contrasts the consequences of each. The person who refuses to confess will not prosper. This is an understatement (a figure of speech known as tapeinosis); the opposite is the truth, that eventually such a person will be undone and ruined. On the other hand, the penitent will find mercy. This expression is a metonymy of cause for the effect – although “mercy” is mentioned, what mercy provides is intended, i.e., forgiveness. In other passages the verb “conceal” is used of God’s forgiveness – he covers over the iniquity (Ps 32:1). Whoever acknowledges sin, God will cover it; whoever covers it, God will lay it open.

[28:13]  ³⁹ sn This verse is unique in the book of Proverbs; it captures the theology of forgiveness (e.g., Pss 32 and 51). Every part of the passage is essential to the point: Confession of sins as opposed to concealing them, coupled with a turning away from them, results in mercy.

[10:29]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:29]  ⁴¹ tn Or “vindicate.”

[10:29]  sn The expert in religious law picked up on the remark about the neighbor and sought to limit his responsibility for loving. Some believed this obligation would only be required toward the righteous (Sir 12:1-4). The lawyer was trying to see if that was right and thus confidently establish his righteousness (wanting to justify himself).

[1:13]  ⁴² tn Or “God must not be tested by evil people.”