Yehezkiel 16:48-51

16:48 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ¹  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ²  the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them. 16:51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. ³  You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done.

Matius 10:15

10:15 I tell you the truth, ⁴  it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah ⁵  on the day of judgment than for that town!

Matius 11:20-24

Woes on Unrepentant Cities

11:20 Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities ⁶  in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent. 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ⁷  Woe to you, Bethsaida! If ⁸  the miracles ⁹  done in you had been done in Tyre ¹⁰  and Sidon, ¹¹  they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 11:22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! 11:23 And you, Capernaum, ¹²  will you be exalted to heaven? ¹³  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ¹⁴  For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. 11:24 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom ¹⁵  on the day of judgment than for you!”

Lukas 10:12-15

10:12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom ¹⁶  than for that town! ¹⁷ 

10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ¹⁸  Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if ¹⁹  the miracles ²⁰  done in you had been done in Tyre ²¹  and Sidon, ²²  they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 10:14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you! 10:15 And you, Capernaum, ²³  will you be exalted to heaven? ²⁴  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ²⁵ 

Yohanes 15:22-24

15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. ²⁶  But they no longer have any excuse for their sin. 15:23 The one who hates me hates my Father too. 15:24 If I had not performed ²⁷  among them the miraculous deeds ²⁸  that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. ²⁹  But now they have seen the deeds ³⁰  and have hated both me and my Father. ³¹ 

Ibrani 6:4-8

6:4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 6:5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6:6 and then have committed apostasy, ³²  to renew them again to repentance, since ³³  they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again ³⁴  and holding him up to contempt. 6:7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on ³⁵  it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; ³⁶  its fate is to be burned.

Ibrani 10:26-31

10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, ³⁷  10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury ³⁸  of fire that will consume God’s enemies. ³⁹  10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ⁴⁰  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ⁴¹  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ⁴²  the Son of God, and profanes ⁴³  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ⁴⁴  and insults the Spirit of grace? 10:30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ⁴⁵  and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ⁴⁶  10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Ibrani 10:2

10:2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have ⁴⁷  no further consciousness of sin?

Pengkhotbah 2:6

2:6 I constructed pools of water for myself,

to irrigate my grove ⁴⁸  of flourishing trees.

Yudas 1:7

1:7 So also ⁴⁹  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ⁵⁰  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ⁵¹  in a way similar to ⁵²  these angels, ⁵³  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

[16:49]  ¹ tn Or “guilt.”

[16:49]  ² tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

[16:51]  ³ tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”

[10:15]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:15]  ⁵ sn The allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment.

[11:20]  ⁶ tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis) which can be translated “city” or “town.” “Cities” was chosen here to emphasize the size of the places Jesus’ mentions in the following verses.

[11:21]  ⁷ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[11:21]  ⁸ tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[11:21]  ⁹ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[11:21]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:21]  ¹¹ sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[11:21]  map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:23]  ¹² sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[11:23]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[11:23]  ¹³ tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

[11:23]  ¹⁴ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Luke 10:15; 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).

[11:24]  ¹⁵ sn The allusion to Sodom, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious, and will result in more severe punishment, than the worst sins of the old era. The phrase region of Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[10:12]  ¹⁶ sn The allusion to Sodom, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment. The noun Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[10:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “city.”

[10:13]  ¹⁸ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[10:13]  ¹⁹ tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[10:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[10:13]  ²¹ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:13]  ²² sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[10:13]  map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:15]  ²³ sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[10:15]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[10:15]  ²⁴ tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

[10:15]  ²⁵ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).

[15:22]  ²⁶ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:22]  sn Jesus now describes the guilt of the world. He came to these people with both words (15:22) and sign-miracles (15:24), yet they remained obstinate in their unbelief, and this sin of unbelief was without excuse. Jesus was not saying that if he had not come and spoken to these people they would be sinless; rather he was saying that if he had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of the sin of rejecting him and the Father he came to reveal. Rejecting Jesus is the one ultimate sin for which there can be no forgiveness, because the one who has committed this sin has at the same time rejected the only cure that exists. Jesus spoke similarly to the Pharisees in 9:41: “If you were blind, you would have no sin (same phrase as here), but now you say ‘We see’ your sin remains.”

[15:24]  ²⁷ tn Or “If I had not done.”

[15:24]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the works.”

[15:24]  ²⁹ tn Grk “they would not have sin” (an idiom).

[15:24]  ³⁰ tn The words “the deeds” are supplied to clarify from context what was seen. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[15:24]  ³¹ tn Or “But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.” It is possible to understand both the “seeing” and the “hating” to refer to both Jesus and the Father, but this has the world “seeing” the Father, which seems alien to the Johannine Jesus. (Some point out John 14:9 as an example, but this is addressed to the disciples, not to the world.) It is more likely that the “seeing” refers to the miraculous deeds mentioned in the first half of the verse. Such an understanding of the first “both – and” construction is apparently supported by BDF §444.3.

[6:6]  ³² tn Or “have fallen away.”

[6:6]  ³³ tn Or “while”; Grk “crucifying…and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying…and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).

[6:6]  ³⁴ tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”

[6:7]  ³⁵ tn Grk “comes upon.”

[6:8]  ³⁶ tn Grk “near to a curse.”

[10:26]  ³⁷ tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.

[10:27]  ³⁸ tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).

[10:27]  sn An allusion to Zeph 1:18.

[10:27]  ³⁹ tn Grk “the enemies.”

[10:27]  sn An allusion to Isa 26:11.

[10:28]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ⁴¹ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ⁴² tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ⁴³ tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”

[10:30]  ⁴⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[10:30]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.

[10:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”

[2:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “to water from them a grove” (or “forest).

[1:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ⁵² tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ⁵³ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.