Keluaran 34:13

34:13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. ¹ 

Keluaran 34:2

34:2 Be prepared ²  in the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and station yourself ³  for me there on the top of the mountain.

Kisah Para Rasul 13:6

13:6 When they had crossed over ⁴  the whole island as far as Paphos, ⁵  they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁶ 

Kisah Para Rasul 17:16

Paul at Athens

17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, ⁷  his spirit was greatly upset ⁸  because he saw ⁹  the city was full of idols.

Kisah Para Rasul 21:3

21:3 After we sighted Cyprus ¹⁰  and left it behind on our port side, ¹¹  we sailed on to Syria and put in ¹²  at Tyre, ¹³  because the ship was to unload its cargo there.

Yeremia 17:1-2

17:1 ¹⁴ The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel

on their stone-hard ¹⁵  hearts.

It is inscribed with a diamond ¹⁶  point

on the horns of their altars. ¹⁷ 

17:2 Their children are always thinking about ¹⁸  their ¹⁹  altars

and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, ²⁰ 

set up beside the green trees on the high hills

[34:13]  ¹ tn Or “images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “their Asherah idols.”

[34:13]  sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

[34:2]  ² tn The form is a Niphal participle that means “be prepared, be ready.” This probably means that Moses was to do in preparation what the congregation had to do back in Exod 19:11-15.

[34:2]  ³ sn The same word is used in Exod 33:21. It is as if Moses was to be at his post when Yahweh wanted to communicate to him.

[13:6]  ⁴ tn Or “had passed through,” “had traveled through.”

[13:6]  ⁵ sn Paphos. A city on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. It was the seat of the Roman proconsul.

[13:6]  ⁶ sn Named Bar-Jesus. “Jesus” is the Latin form of the name “Joshua.” The Aramaic “bar” means “son of,” so this man was surnamed “son of Joshua.” The scene depicts the conflict between Judaism and the emerging new faith at a cosmic level, much like the Simon Magus incident in Acts 8:9-24. Paul’s ministry looks like Philip’s and Peter’s here.

[17:16]  ⁷ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[17:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “greatly upset within him,” but the words “within him” were not included in the translation because they are redundant in English. See L&N 88.189. The term could also be rendered “infuriated.”

[17:16]  sn His spirit was greatly upset. See Rom 1:18-32 for Paul’s feelings about idolatry. Yet he addressed both Jews and Gentiles with tact and reserve.

[17:16]  ⁹ tn Or “when he saw.” The participle θεωροῦντος (qewrounto") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as temporal.

[21:3]  ¹⁰ sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[21:3]  ¹¹ sn The expression left it behind on our port side here means “sailed past to the south of it” since the ship was sailing east.

[21:3]  ¹² tn BDAG 531 s.v. κατέρχομαι 2 states, “arrive, put in, nautical t.t. of ships and those who sail in them, who ‘come down’ fr. the ‘high seas’…ἔις τι at someth. a harbor 18:22; 21:3; 27:5.”

[21:3]  ¹³ sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia. From Patara to Tyre was about 400 mi (640 km). It required a large cargo ship over 100 ft (30 m) long, and was a four to five day voyage.

[21:3]  map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[17:1]  ¹⁴ tn The chapter division which was not a part of the original text but was added in the middle ages obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of the “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.

[17:1]  ¹⁵ tn The adjective “stone-hard” is not in the Hebrew text. It is implicit in the metaphor and is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26; and Job 19:24 for the figure.

[17:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “adamant.” The word “diamond” is an accommodation to modern times. There is no evidence that diamond was known in ancient times. This hard stone (perhaps emery) became metaphorical for hardness; see Ezek 3:9 and Zech 7:12. For discussion see W. E. Staples, “Adamant,” IDB 1:45.

[17:1]  ¹⁷ tn This verse has been restructured for the sake of the English poetry: Heb “The sin of Judah is engraved [or written] with an iron pen, inscribed with a point of a diamond [or adamant] upon the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”

[17:1]  sn There is biting sarcasm involved in the use of the figures here. The law was inscribed on the tablets of stone by the “finger” of God (Exod 31:18; 32:16). Later under the new covenant it would be written on their hearts (Jer 31:33). Blood was to be applied to the horns of the altar in offering the sin offering (cf., e.g., Lev 4:7, 18, 25, 20) and on the bronze altar to cleanse it from sin on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:18). Here their sins are engraved (permanently written, cf. Job 19:24) on their hearts (i.e., control their thoughts and actions) and on their altars (permanently polluting them).

[17:2]  ¹⁸ tn It is difficult to convey in good English style the connection between this verse and the preceding. The text does not have a finite verb but a temporal preposition with an infinitive: Heb “while their children remember their altars…” It is also difficult to translate the verb “literally.” (i.e., what does “remember” their altars mean?). Hence it has been rendered “always think about.” Another possibility would be “have their altars…on their minds.”

[17:2]  sn There is possibly a sarcastic irony involved here as well. The Israelites were to remember the Lord and what he had done and were to commemorate certain days, e.g., the Passover and the Sabbath which recalled their deliverance. Instead they resorted to the pagan altars and kept them in mind.

[17:2]  ¹⁹ tc This reading follows many Hebrew mss and ancient versions. Many other Hebrew mss read “your” [masc. pl.].

[17:2]  ²⁰ sn Sacred poles dedicated to…Asherah. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], plural). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).