2 Korintus 10:4

10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, ¹  but are made powerful by God ²  for tearing down strongholds. ³  We tear down arguments ⁴ 

Yeremia 1:10

1:10 Know for certain that ⁵  I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be ⁶  uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.” ⁷ 

Yeremia 1:2

1:2 The Lord ⁸  began to speak to him ⁹  in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah.

1 Korintus 13:10

13:10 but when what is perfect ¹⁰  comes, the partial will be set aside.

¹ tn Grk “are not fleshly [weapons].” The repetition of the word “warfare” does not occur in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.

² tn Or “but (are) divinely powerful,” “but they have divine power,” or “but are powerful for God’s [service]”; Grk “but are powerful to God.”

³ sn Ultimately Paul is referring here to the false arguments of his opponents, calling them figuratively “strongholds.” This Greek word (ὀχύρωμα, ocurwma) is used only here in the NT.

⁴ tn Or “speculations.”

⁵ tn Heb “See!” The Hebrew imperative of the verb used here (רָאָה, ra’ah) functions the same as the particle in v. 9. See the translator’s note there.

⁶ tn Heb “I appoint you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot….” The phrase refers to the Lord giving Jeremiah authority as a prophet to declare what he, the Lord, will do; it does not mean that Jeremiah himself will do these things. The expression involves a figure of speech where the subject of a declaration is stated instead of the declaration about it. Compare a similar use of the same figure in Gen 41:13.

⁷ sn These three pairs represent the twofold nature of Jeremiah’s prophecies, prophecies of judgment and restoration. For the further programmatic use of these pairs for Jeremiah’s ministry see 18:7-10 and 31:27-28.

⁸ sn The translation reflects the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the word for “Lord” for the proper name for Israel’s God which is now generally agreed to have been Yahweh. Jewish scribes wrote the consonants YHWH but substituted the vowels for the word “Lord.” The practice of calling him “Lord” rather than using his proper name is also reflected in the Greek translation which is the oldest translation of the Hebrew Bible. The meaning of the name Yahweh occurs in Exod 3:13-14 where God identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and tells Moses that his name is “I am” (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). However, he instructs the Israelites to refer to him as YHWH (“Yahweh” = “He is”); see further Exod 34:5-6.

⁹ tn Heb “to whom the word of the Lord came.” The present translation is more in keeping with contemporary English idiom. The idea of “began to speak” comes from the context where the conclusion of his speaking is signaled by the phrases “until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah” and “until the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile” in v. 3.

¹⁰ tn Or “when completion.”