1 Corinthians 15:56
New English Translation
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
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Genesis 2:17
New English Translation
17 but[a] you must not eat[b] from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when[c] you eat from it you will surely die.”[d]
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- Genesis 2:17 tn The disjunctive clause here indicates contrast: “but from the tree of the knowledge….”
- Genesis 2:17 tn The negated imperfect verb form indicates prohibition, “you must not eat.”
- Genesis 2:17 tn Or “in the very day, as soon as.” If one understands the expression to have this more precise meaning, then the following narrative presents a problem, for the man does not die physically as soon as he eats from the tree. In this case one may argue that spiritual death is in view. If physical death is in view here, there are two options to explain the following narrative: (1) The following phrase “You will surely die” concerns mortality which ultimately results in death (a natural paraphrase would be, “You will become mortal”), or (2) God mercifully gave man a reprieve, allowing him to live longer than he deserved.
- Genesis 2:17 tn Heb “dying you will die.” The imperfect verb form here has the nuance of the specific future because it is introduced with the temporal clause, “when you eat…you will die.” That certainty is underscored with the infinitive absolute, “you will surely die.”sn The Hebrew text (“dying you will die”) does not refer to two aspects of death (“dying spiritually, you will then die physically”). The construction simply emphasizes the certainty of death, however it is defined. Death is essentially separation. To die physically means separation from the land of the living, but not extinction. To die spiritually means to be separated from God. Both occur with sin, although the physical alienation is more gradual than instant, and the spiritual is immediate, although the effects of it continue the separation.
Genesis 3:19
New English Translation
19 By the sweat of your brow[a] you will eat food
until you return to the ground,[b]
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”[c]
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:19 tn The expression “the sweat of your brow” is a metonymy, the sweat being the result of painful toil in the fields.
- Genesis 3:19 sn Until you return to the ground. The theme of humankind’s mortality is critical here in view of the temptation to be like God. Man will labor painfully to provide food, obviously not enjoying the bounty that creation promised. In place of the abundance of the orchard’s fruit trees, thorns and thistles will grow. Man will have to work the soil so that it will produce the grain to make bread. This will continue until he returns to the soil from which he was taken (recalling the creation in 2:7 with the wordplay on Adam and ground). In spite of the dreams of immortality and divinity, man is but dust (2:7), and will return to dust. So much for his pride.
- Genesis 3:19 sn In general, the themes of the curse oracles are important in the NT teaching that Jesus became the cursed one hanging on the tree. In his suffering and death, all the motifs are drawn together: the tree, the sweat, the thorns, and the dust of death (see Ps 22:15). Jesus experienced it all, to have victory over it through the resurrection.
Proverbs 21:16
New English Translation
16 The one who wanders[a] from the way of wisdom[b]
will end up[c] in the company of the departed.[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 21:16 tn The text uses “man” as the subject and the active participle תּוֹעֶה (toʿeh) as the predicate. The image of “wandering off the path” signifies leaving a life of knowledge, prudence, and discipline.
- Proverbs 21:16 tn Or “prudence”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “understanding”; NLT “common sense.”
- Proverbs 21:16 tn Heb “will remain” or “will rest.” The Hebrew word נוּחַ (nuakh) does not here carry any of the connotations of comforting repose in death that the righteous enjoy; it simply means “to remain; to reside; to dwell.” The choice of this verb might have an ironic twist to it, reminding the wicked what might have been.
- Proverbs 21:16 sn The departed are the Shades (the Rephaim). The literal expression “will rest among the Shades” means “will be numbered among the dead.” So once again physical death is presented as the punishment for folly.
Romans 5:12-14
New English Translation
The Amplification of Justification
12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people[a] because[b] all sinned— 13 for before the law was given,[c] sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin[d] when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type[e] of the coming one) transgressed.[f]
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- Romans 5:12 tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anthrōpous) has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.
- Romans 5:12 tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (eph hō) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”
- Romans 5:13 tn Grk “for before the law.”
- Romans 5:13 tn Or “sin is not reckoned.”
- Romans 5:14 tn Or “pattern.”
- Romans 5:14 tn Or “disobeyed”; Grk “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.”
Romans 6:21-23
New English Translation
21 So what benefit[a] did you then reap[b] from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now, freed[c] from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit[d] leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 23 For the payoff[e] of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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- Romans 6:21 tn Grk “fruit.”
- Romans 6:21 tn Grk “have,” in a tense emphasizing their customary condition in the past.
- Romans 6:22 tn The two aorist participles translated “freed” and “enslaved” are causal in force; their full force is something like “But now, since you have become freed from sin and since you have become enslaved to God….”
- Romans 6:22 tn Grk “fruit.”
- Romans 6:23 tn A figurative extension of ὀψώνιον (opsōnion), which refers to a soldier’s pay or wages. Here it refers to the end result of an activity, seen as something one receives back in return. In this case the activity is sin, and the translation “payoff” captures this thought. See also L&N 89.42.
1 Corinthians 15:22
New English Translation
22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
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James 1:15
New English Translation
15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
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