Yeremia 9:3

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ¹ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ² 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ³ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁴ 

and do not pay attention to me. ⁵ 

Ayub 15:5

15:5 Your sin inspires ⁶  your mouth;

you choose the language ⁷  of the crafty. ⁸ 

Mazmur 50:19

50:19 You do damage with words, ⁹ 

and use your tongue to deceive. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 64:3

64:3 They ¹¹  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ¹² 

Mazmur 140:3

140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; ¹³ 

a viper’s ¹⁴  venom is behind ¹⁵  their lips. (Selah)

Mazmur 140:1

Psalm 140 ¹⁶ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

140:1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! ¹⁷ 

Protect me from violent men, ¹⁸ 

Titus 1:2

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

² tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

³ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

⁴ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

⁵ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

⁶ tn The verb אַלֵּף (’allef) has the meaning of “to teach; to instruct,” but it is unlikely that the idea of revealing is intended. If the verb is understood metonymically, then “to inspire; to prompt” will be sufficient. Dahood and others find another root, and render the verb “to increase,” reversing subject and object: “your mouth increases your iniquity.”

⁷ tn Heb “tongue.”

⁸ tn The word means “shrewd; crafty; cunning” (see Gen 3:1). Job uses clever speech that is misleading and destructive.

⁹ tn Heb “your mouth you send with evil.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and your tongue binds together [i.e., “frames”] deceit.”

¹¹ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹² tn Heb “a bitter word.”

¹³ tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.

¹⁵ tn Heb “under.”

¹⁶ sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.

¹⁷ tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

¹⁸ tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

¹⁹ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”