Yesaya 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ¹  are blind,

they are unaware. ² 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ³  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Matius 23:16-17

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ⁴  But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ 23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

Matius 23:19

23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Matius 23:1

Seven Woes

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

Titus 3:2-3

3:2 They must not slander ⁵  anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. 3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.

Titus 3:7

3:7 And so, ⁶  since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” ⁷ 

Titus 1:7

1:7 For the overseer ⁸  must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work, ⁹  not arrogant, not prone to anger, not a drunkard, not violent, not greedy for gain.

Titus 1:10

1:10 For there are many ¹⁰  rebellious people, idle talkers, and deceivers, especially those with Jewish connections, ¹¹ 

¹ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

² tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

³ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

⁴ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

⁵ tn Or “discredit,” “damage the reputation of.”

⁶ tn This is the conclusion of a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek encompassing Titus 3:4-7. Showing the goal of God’s merciful salvation, v. 7 begins literally, “in order that, being justified…we might become heirs…”

⁷ tn Grk “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

⁸ sn The overseer is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in this passage and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between these verses and 1 Tim 3:1-7.

⁹ tn Grk “as God’s steward.”

¹⁰ tc ‡ The earliest and best mss lack καί (kai) after πολλοί (polloi; so א A C P 088 81 104 365 614 629 630 al sy co), though the conjunction is found in several significant witnesses, chiefly of the Western and Byzantine texts (D F G I Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï lat). Although it is possible that some scribes omitted the word, thinking it was superfluous, it is also possible that others added the conjunction for clarification. Judging by the pedigree of the witnesses and the inconclusiveness of the internal evidence, the shorter reading is considered to be most likely original. NA²⁷ puts the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

¹¹ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” Some translations take this to refer to Jewish converts to Christianity (cf. NAB “Jewish Christians”; TEV “converts from Judaism”; CEV “Jewish followers”) while others are less clear (cf. NLT “those who insist on circumcision for salvation”).