Bilangan 9:20

9:20 When ¹  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ²  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ³  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey.

Bilangan 14:9

14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. ⁴  Their protection ⁵  has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

Bilangan 14:14

14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ⁶  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ⁷  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

Bilangan 14:42

14:42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be ⁸  defeated before your enemies.

Bilangan 16:3

16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, ⁹  seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”

Bilangan 23:21

23:21 He ¹⁰  has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, ¹¹ 

nor has he seen trouble ¹²  in Israel.

The Lord their God is with them;

his acclamation ¹³  as king is among them.

Yosua 3:10

3:10 Joshua continued, ¹⁴  “This is how you will know the living God is among you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

Yosua 3:2

3:2 After three days the leaders went through the camp

Yosua 1:8

1:8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! ¹⁵  You must memorize it ¹⁶  day and night so you can carefully obey ¹⁷  all that is written in it. Then you will prosper ¹⁸  and be successful. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 46:5

46:5 God lives within it, ²⁰  it cannot be moved. ²¹ 

God rescues it ²²  at the break of dawn. ²³ 

Mazmur 46:7

46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ²⁴ 

The God of Jacob ²⁵  is our protector! ²⁶  (Selah)

Mazmur 46:11

46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ²⁷ 

The God of Jacob ²⁸  is our protector! ²⁹  (Selah)

Yesaya 8:9-10

8:9 You will be broken, ³⁰  O nations;

you will be shattered! ³¹ 

Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! ³² 

8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted!

Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! ³³ 

For God is with us! ³⁴ 

Zakharia 2:10-11

2:10 “Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! ³⁵  For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst,” says the Lord. 2:11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, ³⁶  and they will also be my ³⁷  people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Zakharia 2:1

Vision Three: The Surveyor

2:1 (2:5) I looked again, and there was a man with a measuring line in his hand.

Kolose 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ³⁸  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ³⁹  the word of God,

[9:20]  ¹ tn The sentence uses וְיֵשׁ (vÿyesh) followed by a noun clause introduced with אֲשֶׁר (’asher) to express an existing situation; it is best translated as an adverbial clause of time: “and it was when the cloud was….”

[9:20]  ² tn The word “number” is in apposition to the word “days” to indicate that their stay was prolonged for quite a few days.

[9:20]  ³ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”

[14:9]  ⁴ sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.

[14:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.

[14:14]  ⁶ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ⁷ tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

[14:42]  ⁸ tn This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”

[16:3]  ⁹ tn The meaning of רַב־לָכֶם (rab-lakhem) is something like “you have assumed far too much authority.” It simply means “much to you,” perhaps “you have gone to far,” or “you are overreaching yourselves” (M. Noth, Numbers [OTL], 123). He is objecting to the exclusiveness of the system that Moses has been introducing.

[23:21]  ¹⁰ tn These could be understood as impersonal and so rendered “no one has discovered.”

[23:21]  ¹¹ sn The line could mean that God has regarded Israel as the ideal congregation without any blemish or flaw. But it could also mean that God has not looked on their iniquity, meaning, held it against them.

[23:21]  ¹² tn The word means “wrong, misery, trouble.” It can mean the idea of “disaster” as well, for that too is trouble. Here it is parallel to “iniquity” and so has the connotation of something that would give God reason to curse them.

[23:21]  ¹³ tn The people are blessed because God is their king. In fact, the shout of acclamation is among them – they are proclaiming the Lord God as their king. The word is used normally for the sound of the trumpet, but also of battle shouts, and then here acclamation. This would represent their conviction that Yahweh is king. On the usage of this Hebrew word see further BDB 929-30 s.v. תְּרוּעָה; HALOT 1790-91 s.v.

[3:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[1:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

[1:8]  sn This law scroll must not leave your lips. The ancient practice of reading aloud to oneself as an aid to memorization is in view here.

[1:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).

[1:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “be careful to do.”

[1:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”

[1:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[46:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “God [is] within her.” The feminine singular pronoun refers to the city mentioned in v. 4.

[46:5]  ²¹ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “it will not be upended.” Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense. The verb מוֹט (mot), translated “upended” here, is used in v. 2 of the mountains “tumbling” into the seas and in v. 6 of nations being “upended.” By way of contrast, Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place, is secure and immune from such turmoil and destruction.

[46:5]  ²² tn Or “helps her.” The imperfect draws attention to the generalizing character of the statement.

[46:5]  ²³ tn Heb “at the turning of morning.” (For other uses of the expression see Exod 14:27 and Judg 19:26).

[46:5]  sn At the break of dawn. The “morning” is viewed metaphorically as a time of deliverance and vindication after the dark “night” of trouble (see Ps 30:5; Isa 17:14). There may be an allusion here to Exod 14:27 (where the Lord destroyed the Egyptians at the “break of dawn”) or, more likely, to the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege, when the people discovered the dead bodies of the Assyrian army in the morning (Isa 37:36).

[46:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:7]  ²⁵ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[46:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:11]  ²⁸ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[8:9]  ³⁰ tn The verb רֹעוּ (ro’u) is a Qal imperative, masculine plural from רָעַע (ra’a’, “break”). Elsewhere both transitive (Job 34:24; Ps 2:9; Jer 15:12) and intransitive (Prov 25:19; Jer 11:16) senses are attested for the Qal of this verb. Because no object appears here, the form is likely intransitive: “be broken.” In this case the imperative is rhetorical (like “be shattered” later in the verse) and equivalent to a prediction, “you will be broken.” On the rhetorical use of the imperative in general, see IBHS 572 §34.4c; GKC 324 §110.c.

[8:9]  ³¹ tn The imperatival form (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speaker’s firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. See the note on “be broken.”

[8:9]  ³² tn The initial imperative (“get ready for battle”) acknowledges the reality of the nations’ hostility; the concluding imperative (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speakers’ firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. (See the note on “be broken.”) One could paraphrase, “Okay, go ahead and prepare for battle since that’s what you want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll be shattered.” This rhetorical use of the imperatives is comparable to saying to a child who is bent on climbing a high tree, “Okay, go ahead, climb the tree and break your arm!” What this really means is: “Okay, go ahead and climb the tree since that’s what you really want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll break your arm.” The repetition of the statement in the final two lines of the verse gives the challenge the flavor of a taunt (ancient Israelite “trash talking,” as it were).

[8:10]  ³³ tn Heb “speak a word, but it will not stand.”

[8:10]  ³⁴ sn In these vv. 9-10 the tone shifts abruptly from judgment to hope. Hostile nations like Assyria may attack God’s people, but eventually they will be destroyed, for God is with his people, sometimes to punish, but ultimately to vindicate. In addition to being a reminder of God’s presence in the immediate crisis faced by Ahaz and Judah, Immanuel (whose name is echoed in this concluding statement) was a guarantee of the nation’s future greatness in fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises. Eventually God would deliver his people from the hostile nations (vv. 9-10) through another child, an ideal Davidic ruler who would embody God’s presence in a special way (see 9:6-7). Jesus the Messiah is the fulfillment of the Davidic ideal prophesied by Isaiah, the one whom Immanuel foreshadowed. Through the miracle of the incarnation he is literally “God with us.” Matthew realized this and applied Isaiah’s ancient prophecy of Immanuel’s birth to Jesus (Matt 1:22-23). The first Immanuel was a reminder to the people of God’s presence and a guarantee of a greater child to come who would manifest God’s presence in an even greater way. The second Immanuel is “God with us” in a heightened and infinitely superior sense. He “fulfills” Isaiah’s Immanuel prophecy by bringing the typology intended by God to realization and by filling out or completing the pattern designed by God. Of course, in the ultimate fulfillment of the type, the incarnate Immanuel’s mother must be a virgin, so Matthew uses a Greek term (παρθένος, parqenos), which carries that technical meaning (in contrast to the Hebrew word עַלְמָה [’almah], which has the more general meaning “young woman”). Matthew draws similar analogies between NT and OT events in 2:15, 18. The linking of these passages by analogy is termed “fulfillment.” In 2:15 God calls Jesus, his perfect Son, out of Egypt, just as he did his son Israel in the days of Moses, an historical event referred to in Hos 11:1. In so doing he makes it clear that Jesus is the ideal Israel prophesied by Isaiah (see Isa 49:3), sent to restore wayward Israel (see Isa 49:5, cf. Matt 1:21). In 2:18 Herod’s slaughter of the infants is another illustration of the oppressive treatment of God’s people by foreign tyrants. Herod’s actions are analogous to those of the Assyrians, who deported the Israelites, causing the personified land to lament as inconsolably as a mother robbed of her little ones (Jer 31:15).

[2:10]  ³⁵ sn This individualizing of Zion as a daughter draws attention to the corporate nature of the covenant community and also to the tenderness with which the Lord regards his chosen people.

[2:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “on that day.” The descriptive phrase “of salvation” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:11]  ³⁷ tc The LXX and Syriac have the 3rd person masculine singular suffix in both places (“his people” and “he will settle”; cf. NAB, TEV) in order to avoid the Lord’s speaking of himself in the third person. Such resort is unnecessary, however, in light of the common shifting of person in Hebrew narrative (cf. 3:2).

[1:25]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ³⁹ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.