Yeremia 3:1-2

3:1 “If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,

he may not take her back again. ¹ 

Doing that would utterly defile the land. ² 

But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. ³ 

So what makes you think you can return to me?” ⁴ 

says the Lord.

3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ⁵ 

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ⁶ 

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ⁷ 

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ⁸ 

Kisah Para Rasul 17:6-18

17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged ⁹  Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, ¹⁰  screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble ¹¹  throughout the world ¹²  have come here too, 17:7 and ¹³  Jason has welcomed them as guests! They ¹⁴  are all acting against Caesar’s ¹⁵  decrees, saying there is another king named ¹⁶  Jesus!” ¹⁷  17:8 They caused confusion among ¹⁸  the crowd and the city officials ¹⁹  who heard these things. 17:9 After ²⁰  the city officials ²¹  had received bail ²²  from Jason and the others, they released them.

Paul and Silas at Berea

17:10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea ²³  at once, during the night. When they arrived, ²⁴  they went to the Jewish synagogue. ²⁵  17:11 These Jews ²⁶  were more open-minded ²⁷  than those in Thessalonica, ²⁸  for they eagerly ²⁹  received ³⁰  the message, examining ³¹  the scriptures carefully every day ³²  to see if these things were so. 17:12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few ³³  prominent ³⁴  Greek women and men. 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica ³⁵  heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God ³⁶  in Berea, ³⁷  they came there too, inciting ³⁸  and disturbing ³⁹  the crowds. 17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast ⁴⁰  at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. ⁴¹  17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, ⁴²  and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. ⁴³ 

Paul at Athens

17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, ⁴⁴  his spirit was greatly upset ⁴⁵  because he saw ⁴⁶  the city was full of idols. 17:17 So he was addressing ⁴⁷  the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles ⁴⁸  in the synagogue, ⁴⁹  and in the marketplace every day ⁵⁰  those who happened to be there. 17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ⁵¹  and Stoic ⁵²  philosophers were conversing ⁵³  with him, and some were asking, ⁵⁴  “What does this foolish babbler ⁵⁵  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ⁵⁶  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ⁵⁷ 

Kisah Para Rasul 18:9-11

18:9 The Lord said to Paul by a vision ⁵⁸  in the night, ⁵⁹  “Do not be afraid, ⁶⁰  but speak and do not be silent, 18:10 because I am with you, and no one will assault ⁶¹  you to harm ⁶²  you, because I have many people in this city.” 18:11 So he stayed there ⁶³  a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ⁶⁴ 

Yehezkiel 23:9

23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ⁶⁵  for whom she lusted.

Hosea 2:2-3

Idolatrous Israel Will Be Punished Like a Prostitute

2:2 Plead earnestly ⁶⁶  with your ⁶⁷  mother

(for ⁶⁸  she is not my wife, and I am not her husband),

so that ⁶⁹  she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle, ⁷⁰ 

and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior. ⁷¹ 

2:3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked,

and expose her like she was when she was born.

I will turn her land into a wilderness

and make her country a parched land,

so that I might kill ⁷²  her with thirst.

Hosea 3:4

3:4 For the Israelites ⁷³  must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

Hosea 4:15-17

Warning to Judah: Do Not Join in Israel’s Apostasy!

4:15 Although you, O Israel, commit adultery,

do not let Judah become guilty!

Do not journey to Gilgal!

Do not go up to Beth Aven! ⁷⁴ 

Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”

4:16 Israel has rebelled ⁷⁵  like a stubborn heifer!

Soon ⁷⁶  the Lord will put them out to pasture

like a lamb in a broad field! ⁷⁷ 

4:17 Ephraim has attached himself to idols;

Do not go near him!

Hosea 9:15-17

9:15 Because of all their evil in Gilgal,

I hate them there.

On account of their evil deeds,

I will drive them out of my land. ⁷⁸ 

I will no longer love them;

all their rulers are rebels.

9:16 Ephraim will be struck down ⁷⁹  –

their root will be dried up;

they will not yield any fruit.

Even if they do bear children,

I will kill their precious offspring.

9:17 My God will reject them,

for they have not obeyed him;

so they will be fugitives among the nations.

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[3:1]  sn For the legal background for the illustration that is used here see Deut 24:1-4.

[3:1]  ² tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and see.”

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.

[17:6]  ⁹ tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

[17:6]  ¹⁰ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

[17:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

[17:6]  ¹² tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

[17:6]  sn Throughout the world. Note how some of those present had knowledge of what had happened elsewhere. Word about Paul and his companions and their message was spreading.

[17:7]  ¹³ tn Grk “whom.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who have stirred up trouble…whom Jason has welcomed”) the relative pronoun here (“whom”) has been replaced by the conjunction “and,” creating a clause that is grammatically coordinate but logically subordinate in the translation.

[17:7]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[17:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[17:7]  ¹⁶ tn The word “named” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.

[17:7]  ¹⁷ sn Acting…saying…Jesus. The charges are serious, involving sedition (Luke 23:2). If the political charges were true, Rome would have to react.

[17:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “They troubled the crowd and the city officials”; but this could be understood to mean “they bothered” or “they annoyed.” In reality the Jewish instigators managed to instill doubt and confusion into both the mob and the officials by their false charges of treason. Verse 8 suggests the charges raised again Paul, Silas, Jason, and the others were false.

[17:8]  ¹⁹ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official.’”

[17:9]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[17:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the city officials) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:9]  ²² tn That is, “a payment” or “a pledge of security” (BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 1) for which “bail” is the most common contemporary English equivalent.

[17:10]  ²³ sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) west of Thessalonica.

[17:10]  map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[17:10]  ²⁴ tn Grk “who arriving there, went to.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (οἵτινες, Joitine") has been left untranslated and a new English sentence begun. The participle παραγενόμενοι (paragenomenoi) has been taken temporally.

[17:10]  ²⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[17:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.

[17:11]  ²⁸ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:11]  map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[17:11]  ²⁹ tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”

[17:11]  ³⁰ tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.

[17:11]  ³¹ tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.

[17:11]  ³² tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[17:12]  ³³ tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[17:12]  ³⁴ tn Or “respected.”

[17:13]  ³⁵ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:13]  ³⁶ tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:13]  ³⁷ sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.

[17:13]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuonte") in Acts 17:13.

[17:13]  sn Inciting. Ironically, it was the Jews who were disturbing the peace, not the Christians.

[17:13]  ³⁹ tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.

[17:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “to the sea.” Here ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ({ew" epi thn qalassan) must mean “to the edge of the sea,” that is, “to the coast.” Since there is no mention of Paul taking a ship to Athens, he presumably traveled overland. The journey would have been about 340 mi (550 km).

[17:14]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “remained there”; the referent (Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ⁴² map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[17:15]  ⁴³ sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.

[17:16]  ⁴⁴ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[17:16]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “when he saw.” The participle θεωροῦντος (qewrounto") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as temporal.

[17:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 17:17. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.

[17:17]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “and the devout,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44, and the note on the phrase “God-fearing Greeks” in 17:4.

[17:17]  ⁴⁹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[17:17]  ⁵⁰ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[17:18]  ⁵¹ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ⁵² sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ⁵³ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ⁵⁶ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ⁵⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:9]  ⁵⁸ sn Frequently in Acts such a vision will tell the reader where events are headed. See Acts 10:9-16 and 16:9-10 for other accounts of visions.

[18:9]  ⁵⁹ tn BDAG 682 s.v. νύξ 1.c has “W. prep. ἐν ν. at night, in the night…Ac 18:9.”

[18:9]  ⁶⁰ tn The present imperative here (with negation) is used (as it normally is) of a general condition (BDF §335).

[18:10]  ⁶¹ tn BDAG 384 s.v. ἐπιτίθημι 2 has “to set upon, attack, lay a hand on” here, but “assault” is a contemporary English equivalent very close to the meaning of the original.

[18:10]  ⁶² tn Or “injure.”

[18:11]  ⁶³ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[18:11]  ⁶⁴ tn See BDAG 326-27 s.v. ἐν 1.d. However, it is also possible that ἐν (en) followed by the dative here stands for the ordinary dative (“to them”).

[23:9]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[2:2]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “Plead with your mother, plead!” The imperative רִיבוּ (rivu, “plead!”) is repeated twice in this line for emphasis. This rhetorical expression is handled in a woodenly literal sense by most English translations: NASB “Contend…contend”; NAB “Protest…protest!”; NIV “Rebuke…rebuke”; NRSV “Plead…plead”; CEV “Accuse! Accuse your mother!”

[2:2]  ⁶⁷ sn The suffix on the noun אִמְּכֶם (’immékhem, “your mother”) is a plural form (2nd person masculine). The children of Gomer represent the “children” (i.e., people) of Israel; Gomer represents the nation as a whole.

[2:2]  ⁶⁸ tn The particle כִּי (ki) introduces a parenthetical explanatory clause (however, cf. NCV “because”).

[2:2]  sn The reason that Hosea (representing the Lord) calls upon his children (representing the children of Israel) to plead with Gomer (representing the nation as a whole), rather than pleading directly with her himself, is because Hosea (the Lord) has turned his back on his unfaithful wife (Israel). He no longer has a relationship with her (“for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband”) because she abandoned him for her lovers.

[2:2]  ⁶⁹ tn The dependent volitive sequence of imperative followed by vav + jussive (רִיבוּ, rivu followed by וְתָסֵר, vétaser) creates a purpose clause: “so that she might turn away from” (= “put an end to”); cf. NRSV “that she put away”; KJV “let her therefore put away.” Many English translations begin a new sentence here, presumably to improve the English style (so NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT), but this obscures the connection with the preceding clause.

[2:2]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “put away her adulteries from her face.” The plural noun זְנוּנֶיהָ (zénuneha, “adulteries”) is an example of the plural of repeated (or habitual) action: she has had multiple adulterous affairs.

[2:2]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “[put away] her immoral behavior from between her breasts.” Cf. KJV “her adulteries”; NIV “the unfaithfulness.”

[2:3]  ⁷² tn Heb “and kill her with thirst.” The vav prefixed to the verb (וַהֲמִתִּיהָ, vahamittiha) introduces a purpose/result clause: “in order to make her die of thirst” (purpose) or “and thus make her die of thirst” (result).

[3:4]  ⁷³ tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB “people of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).

[4:15]  ⁷⁴ sn Beth Aven means “house of wickedness” in Hebrew; it is a polemic reference to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.” Cf. CEV “at sinful Bethel.”

[4:16]  ⁷⁵ tn The Hebrew verb “has rebelled” (סָרַר, sarar) can also mean “to be stubborn.” This is the same root used in the simile: “like a stubborn (סֹרֵרָה, sorerah) heifer.” The similarity between Israel and a stubborn heifer is emphasized by the repetition of the same term.

[4:16]  ⁷⁶ tn The particle עַתָּה (’attah) often refers to the imminent or the impending future: “very soon” (BDB 774 s.v. עַתָּה 1.b). In Hosea it normally introduces imminent judgment (Hos 2:12; 4:16; 5:7; 8:8, 13; 10:2).

[4:16]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “How can the Lord feed them like a lamb in a meadow?” The syntax of this line is difficult and has been understood in two ways: (1) a declarative statement as an announcement of judgment (BDB 774 s.v. עַתָּה 1.b): “Now the Lord will feed them like a lamb in the broad field” (cf. KJV, ASV, NCV, NLT) or (2) as a rhetorical question lamenting the uncooperative spirit of Israel: “How can the Lord feed them like a lamb in a meadow?”; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV), designed to produce a negative answer (“He cannot feed them…!”). However, this statement lacks an explicit interrogative marker. Although Hosea occasionally asks a rhetorical question without an explicit interrogative marker (e.g., 10:9; 13:14a), he normally does use a rhetorical particle to introduce rhetorical questions (e.g., 6:4; 8:5; 9:5, 14; 11:8; 13:9-10, 14b). Elsewhere, Hosea uses the introductory temporal adverb עַתָּה (“soon”) to introduce announcements of imminent future judgment (2:12; 4:16; 5:7; 8:8, 13; 10:2) and accusations of sin (5:3; 13:2). Although Israel has been as rebellious as a stubborn heifer, the Lord will indeed gain control of Israel: they will be like lambs (weakened and defeated) when he puts them out to pasture in a broad field (exile).

[9:15]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “out of my house” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV, NCV, NLT “my land.”

[9:16]  ⁷⁹ tn Or perhaps, following the plant metaphor, “will be blighted” (NIV similar).