Ulangan 28:15-68
Konteks28:15 “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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.”
Lukas 2:41--3:14
Konteks2:41 Now 51 Jesus’ 52 parents went to Jerusalem 53 every 54 year for the feast of the Passover. 55 2:42 When 56 he was twelve years old, 57 they went up 58 according to custom. 2:43 But 59 when the feast was over, 60 as they were returning home, 61 the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His 62 parents 63 did not know it, 2:44 but (because they assumed that he was in their group of travelers) 64 they went a day’s journey. Then 65 they began to look for him among their relatives and acquaintances. 66 2:45 When 67 they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem 68 to look for him. 2:46 After 69 three days 70 they found him in the temple courts, 71 sitting among the teachers, 72 listening to them and asking them questions. 2:47 And all who heard Jesus 73 were astonished 74 at his understanding and his answers. 2:48 When 75 his parents 76 saw him, they were overwhelmed. His 77 mother said to him, “Child, 78 why have you treated 79 us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” 80 2:49 But 81 he replied, 82 “Why were you looking for me? 83 Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 84 2:50 Yet 85 his parents 86 did not understand 87 the remark 88 he made 89 to them. 2:51 Then 90 he went down with them and came to Nazareth, 91 and was obedient 92 to them. But 93 his mother kept all these things 94 in her heart. 95
2:52 And Jesus increased 96 in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and with people.
3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, 97 when Pontius Pilate 98 was governor of Judea, and Herod 99 was tetrarch 100 of Galilee, and his brother Philip 101 was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias 102 was tetrarch of Abilene, 3:2 during the high priesthood 103 of Annas and Caiaphas, the word 104 of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 105 3:3 He 106 went into all the region around the Jordan River, 107 preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 108
3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice 109 of one shouting in the wilderness: 110
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make 111 his paths straight.
3:5 Every valley will be filled, 112
and every mountain and hill will be brought low,
and the crooked will be made straight,
and the rough ways will be made smooth,
3:6 and all humanity 113 will see the salvation of God.’” 114
3:7 So John 115 said to the crowds 116 that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! 117 Who warned you to flee 118 from the coming wrath? 3:8 Therefore produce 119 fruit 120 that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say 121 to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ 122 For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 123 3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, 124 and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be 125 cut down and thrown into the fire.”
3:10 So 126 the crowds were asking 127 him, “What then should we do?” 3:11 John 128 answered them, 129 “The person who has two tunics 130 must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.” 3:12 Tax collectors 131 also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 3:13 He told them, “Collect no more 132 than you are required to.” 133 3:14 Then some soldiers 134 also asked him, “And as for us – what should we do?” 135 He told them, “Take money from no one by violence 136 or by false accusation, 137 and be content with your pay.”
[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
[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
[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
[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
[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.
[2:41] 51 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
[2:41] 52 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:41] 53 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[2:41] 54 tn On the distributive use of the term κατά (kata), see BDF §305.
[2:41] 55 sn The custom of Jesus and his family going to Jerusalem every year for the feast of the Passover shows their piety in obeying the law (Exod 23:14-17).
[2:42] 56 tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:42] 57 sn According to the Mishnah, the age of twelve years old is one year before a boy becomes responsible for his religious commitments (m. Niddah 5.6).
[2:42] 58 tc Most
[2:43] 59 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated contrastively in keeping with the context. This outcome is different from what had happened all the times before.
[2:43] 60 tn Grk “when the days ended.”
[2:43] 61 tn The word “home” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity.
[2:43] 62 tn Grk “And his.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:43] 63 tc Most
[2:44] 64 sn An ancient journey like this would have involved a caravan of people who traveled together as a group for protection and fellowship.
[2:44] 65 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[2:44] 66 tn Or “and friends.” See L&N 28.30 and 34.17.
[2:45] 67 tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:45] 68 sn The return to Jerusalem would have taken a second day, since they were already one day’s journey away.
[2:46] 69 tn Grk “And it happened that after.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:46] 70 sn Three days means there was one day out, another day back, and a third day of looking in Jerusalem.
[2:46] 71 tn Grk “the temple.”
[2:46] 72 tn This is the only place in Luke’s Gospel where the term διδάσκαλος (didaskalo", “teacher”) is applied to Jews.
[2:47] 73 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:47] 74 sn There was wonder (all who heard…were astonished) that Jesus at such a young age could engage in such a discussion. The fact that this story is told of a preteen hints that Jesus was someone special.
[2:48] 75 tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:48] 76 tn Grk “when they”; the referent (his parents) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[2:48] 77 tn Grk “And his.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[2:48] 78 tn The Greek word here is τέκνον (teknon) rather than υἱός (Juios, “son”).
[2:48] 79 tn Or “Child, why did you do this to us?”
[2:48] 80 tn Or “your father and I have been terribly worried looking for you.”
[2:49] 81 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.
[2:49] 82 tn Grk “he said to them.”
[2:49] 83 tn Grk “Why is it that you were looking for me?”
[2:49] 84 tn Or “I must be about my Father’s business” (so KJV, NKJV); Grk “in the [things] of my Father,” with an ellipsis. This verse involves an idiom that probably refers to the necessity of Jesus being involved in the instruction about God, given what he is doing. The most widely held view today takes this as a reference to the temple as the Father’s house. Jesus is saying that his parents should have known where he was.
[2:50] 85 tn Grk “And they.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.
[2:50] 86 tn Grk “they”; the referent (his parents) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:50] 87 sn This was the first of many times those around Jesus did not understand what he was saying at the time (9:45; 10:21-24; 18:34).
[2:50] 89 tn Grk “which he spoke.”
[2:51] 90 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[2:51] 91 map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.
[2:51] 92 tn Or “was submitting.”
[2:51] 93 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.
[2:51] 94 tn Or “all these words.”
[2:51] 95 sn On the phrase his mother kept all these things in her heart compare Luke 2:19.
[2:52] 96 tn Or “kept increasing.” The imperfect tense suggests something of a progressive force to the verb.
[3:1] 97 tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
[3:1] sn Tiberius Caesar was the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, who ruled from
[3:1] 98 sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).
[3:1] 99 sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4
[3:1] 100 sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.
[3:1] 101 sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4
[3:1] 102 sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.
[3:2] 103 sn Use of the singular high priesthood to mention two figures is unusual but accurate, since Annas was the key priest from
[3:2] 104 tn The term translated “word” here is not λόγος (logos) but ῥῆμα (rJhma), and thus could refer to the call of the Lord to John to begin ministry.
[3:3] 106 tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[3:3] 107 tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
[3:3] 108 sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it (Luke 3:10-14).
[3:4] 110 tn Or “desert.” The syntactic position of the phrase “in the wilderness” is unclear in both Luke and the LXX. The MT favors taking it with “Prepare a way,” while the LXX takes it with “a voice shouting.” If the former, the meaning would be that such preparation should be done “in the wilderness.” If the latter, the meaning would be that the place from where John’s ministry went forth was “in the wilderness.” There are Jewish materials that support both renderings: 1QS 8:14 and 9.19-20 support the MT while certain rabbinic texts favor the LXX (see D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:290-91). While it is not absolutely necessary that a call in the wilderness led to a response in the wilderness, it is not unlikely that such would be the case. Thus, in the final analysis, the net effect between the two choices may be minimal. In any case, a majority of commentators and translations take “in the wilderness” with “The voice of one shouting” (D. L. Bock; R. H. Stein, Luke [NAC], 129; I. H. Marshall, Luke [NIGTC], 136; NIV, NRSV, NKJV, NLT, NASB, REB).
[3:4] 111 tn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance as the verb ποιέω (poiew) reappears in vv. 8, 10, 11, 12, 14.
[3:5] 112 sn The figurative language of this verse speaks of the whole creation preparing for the arrival of a major figure, so all obstacles to his approach are removed.
[3:6] 114 sn A quotation from Isa 40:3-5. Though all the synoptic gospels use this citation from Isaiah, only Luke cites the material of vv. 5-6. His goal may well be to get to the declaration of v. 6, where all humanity (i.e., all nations) see God’s salvation (see also Luke 24:47).
[3:7] 115 tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:7] 116 sn The crowds. It is interesting to trace references to “the crowd” in Luke. It is sometimes noted favorably, other times less so. The singular appears 25 times in Luke while the plural occurs 16 times. Matt 3:7 singles out the Sadducees and Pharisees here.
[3:7] 118 sn The rebuke “Who warned you to flee…?” compares the crowd to snakes who flee their desert holes when the heat of a fire drives them out.
[3:8] 119 tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).
[3:8] 120 tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).
[3:8] 121 tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”
[3:8] 122 sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.
[3:8] 123 sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.
[3:9] 124 sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).
[3:9] 125 tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.
[3:10] 126 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.
[3:10] 127 tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.
[3:11] 128 tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:11] 129 tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”
[3:11] 130 tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.
[3:12] 131 sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked. Yet even they were moved by John’s call.
[3:13] 132 tn In the Greek text μηδὲν πλέον (mhden pleon, “no more”) is in an emphatic position.
[3:13] sn By telling the tax collectors to collect no more than…required John was calling for honesty and integrity in a business that was known for greed and dishonesty.
[3:13] 133 tn Or “than you are ordered to.”
[3:14] 134 tn Grk “And soldiers.”
[3:14] 135 tn Grk “And what should we ourselves do?”
[3:14] 136 tn Or “Rob no one.” The term διασείσητε (diaseishte) here refers to “shaking someone.” In this context it refers to taking financial advantage of someone through violence, so it refers essentially to robbery. Soldiers are to perform their tasks faithfully. A changed person is to carry out his tasks in life faithfully and without grumbling.
[3:14] 137 tn The term translated “accusation” (συκοφαντήσητε, sukofanthshte) refers to a procedure by which someone could bring charges against an individual and be paid a part of the fine imposed by the court. Soldiers could do this to supplement their pay, and would thus be tempted to make false accusations.
