Kejadian 20:3

20:3 But God appeared ¹  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ²  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ³ 

Kejadian 20:6

20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. ⁴  That is why I have kept you ⁵  from sinning against me and why ⁶  I did not allow you to touch her.

Imamat 20:10

20:10 If a man ⁷  commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, ⁸  both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Imamat 20:2

20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel ⁹  who gives any of his children ¹⁰  to Molech ¹¹  must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. ¹² 

1 Samuel 11:1

Saul Comes to the Aid of Jabesh

11:1 ¹³ Nahash ¹⁴  the Ammonite marched ¹⁵  against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.”

Ayub 31:9-12

31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, ¹⁶ 

31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone ¹⁷  for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her. ¹⁸ 

31:11 For I would have committed ¹⁹  a shameful act, ²⁰ 

an iniquity to be judged. ²¹ 

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, ²² 

and it would uproot ²³  all my harvest.

Ayub 31:23

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, ²⁴ 

and by reason of his majesty ²⁵  I was powerless.

Amsal 6:29

6:29 So it is with ²⁶  the one who has sex with ²⁷  his neighbor’s wife;

no one ²⁸  who touches ²⁹  her will escape ³⁰  punishment. ³¹ 

Amsal 6:32

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, ³² 

whoever does it destroys his own life. ³³ 

Yeremia 5:8-9

5:8 They are like lusty, well-fed ³⁴  stallions.

Each of them lusts after ³⁵  his neighbor’s wife.

5:9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!” ³⁶ 

Yeremia 5:1

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

5:1 The Lord said, ³⁷ 

“Go up and down ³⁸  through the streets of Jerusalem. ³⁹ 

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. ⁴⁰ 

If you can, ⁴¹  then I will not punish this city. ⁴² 

Kolose 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁴³  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁴⁴  to fill ⁴⁵  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁴⁶  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁴⁷  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Galatia 5:19-21

5:19 Now the works of the flesh ⁴⁸  are obvious: ⁴⁹  sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ⁵⁰  hostilities, ⁵¹  strife, ⁵²  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ⁵³  factions, 5:21 envying, ⁵⁴  murder, ⁵⁵  drunkenness, carousing, ⁵⁶  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Ibrani 13:4

13:4 Marriage must be honored among all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

Wahyu 21:8

21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, ⁵⁷  idol worshipers, ⁵⁸  and all those who lie, their place ⁵⁹  will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. ⁶⁰  That ⁶¹  is the second death.”

Wahyu 22:15

22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers ⁶²  and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! ⁶³ 

[20:3]  ¹ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ² tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.

[20:3]  ³ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[20:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “therefore.”

[20:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “And a man who.” The syntax here and at the beginning of the following verses elliptically mirrors that of v. 9, which justifies the rendering as a conditional clause.

[20:10]  ⁸ tc The reading of the LXX minuscule mss has been followed here (see the BHS footnote a-a). The MT has a dittography, repeating “a man who commits adultery with the wife of” (see the explanation in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328). The duplication found in the MT is reflected in some English versions, e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV.

[20:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”

[20:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.

[20:2]  ¹¹ tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.

[20:2]  ¹² tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136).

[11:1]  ¹³ tc 4QSam^a and Josephus (Ant. 6.68-71) attest to a longer form of text at this point. The addition explains Nahash’s practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the MT. The NRSV adopts this reading, with the following English translation: “Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh-gilead.” This reading should not be lightly dismissed; it may in fact provide a text superior to that of the MT and the ancient versions. But the external evidence for it is so limited as to induce caution; the present translation instead follows the MT. However, for a reasonable case for including this reading in the text see the discussions in P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 199, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 103.

[11:1]  ¹⁴ sn The name “Nahash” means “serpent” in Hebrew.

[11:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “went up and camped”; NIV, NRSV “went up and besieged.”

[31:9]  ¹⁶ tn Gordis notes that the word פֶּתַח (petakh, “door”) has sexual connotations in rabbinic literature, based on Prov 7:6ff. (see b. Ketubbot 9b). See also the use in Song 4:12 using a synonym.

[31:10]  ¹⁷ tn Targum Job interpreted the verb טָחַן (takhan, “grind”) in a sexual sense, and this has influenced other versions and commentaries. But the literal sense fits well in this line. The idea is that she would be a slave for someone else. The second line of the verse then might build on this to explain what kind of a slave – a concubine (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 215).

[31:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations.

[31:10]  sn The idea is that if Job were guilty of adultery it would be an offense against the other woman’s husband, and so by talionic justice another man’s adultery with Job’s wife would be an offense against him. He is not wishing something on his wife; rather, he is simply looking at what would be offenses in kind.

[31:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for that [would be].” In order to clarify the referent of “that,” which refers to v. 9 rather than v. 10, the words “I have committed” have been supplied in the translation.

[31:11]  ²⁰ tn The word for “shameful act” is used especially for sexual offenses (cf. Lev 18:27).

[31:11]  ²¹ tc Some have deleted this verse as being short and irrelevant, not to mention problematic. But the difficulties are not insurmountable, and there is no reason to delete it. There is a Kethib-Qere reading in each half verse; in the first the Kethib is masculine for the subject but the Qere is feminine going with “shameless deed.” In the second colon the Kethib is the feminine agreeing with the preceding noun, but the Qere is masculine agreeing with “iniquity.”

[31:11]  tn The expression עָוֹן פְּלִילִים (’avon pÿlilim) means “an iniquity of the judges.” The first word is not spelled as a construct noun, and so this has led some to treat the second word as an adjective (with enclitic mem [ם]). The sense is similar in either case, for the adjective occurs in Job 31:28 meaning “calling for judgment” (See GKC 427 §131.s).

[31:12]  ²² tn Heb “to Abaddon.”

[31:12]  ²³ tn The verb means “to root out,” but this does not fit the parallelism with fire. Wright changed two letters and the vowels in the verb to get the root צָרַף (tsaraf, “to burn”). The NRSV has “burn to the root.”

[31:23]  ²⁴ tc The LXX has “For the terror of God restrained me.” Several commentators changed it to “came upon me.” Driver had “The fear of God was burdensome.” I. Eitan suggested “The terror of God was mighty upon me” (“Two unknown verbs: etymological studies,” JBL 42 [1923]: 22-28). But the MT makes clear sense as it stands.

[31:23]  ²⁵ tn The form is וּמִשְּׂאֵתוֹ (umissÿ’eto); the preposition is causal. The form, from the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to raise; to lift high”), refers to God’s exalted person, his majesty (see Job 13:11).

[6:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “thus is the one.”

[6:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “who goes in to” (so NAB, NASB). The Hebrew verb בּוֹא (bo’, “to go in; to enter”) is used throughout scripture as a euphemism for the act of sexual intercourse. Cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “who sleeps with”; NCV “have sexual relations with.”

[6:29]  ²⁸ tn Heb “anyone who touches her will not.”

[6:29]  ²⁹ sn The verb “touches” is intended here to be a euphemism for illegal sexual contact (e.g., Gen 20:6).

[6:29]  ³⁰ tn Heb “will be exempt from”; NASB, NLT “will not go unpunished.”

[6:29]  ³¹ tn The verb is יִנָּקֶה (yinnaqeh), the Niphal imperfect from נָקָה (naqah, “to be empty; to be clean”). From it we get the adjectives “clean,” “free from guilt,” “innocent.” The Niphal has the meanings (1) “to be cleaned out” (of a plundered city; e.g., Isa 3:26), (2) “to be clean; to be free from guilt; to be innocent” (Ps 19:14), (3) “to be free; to be exempt from punishment” [here], and (4) “to be free; to be exempt from obligation” (Gen 24:8).

[6:32]  ³² tn Heb “heart.” The term “heart” is used as a metonymy of association for discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”

[6:32]  ³³ tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[5:8]  ³⁴ tn The meanings of these two adjectives are uncertain. The translation of the first adjective is based on assuming that the word is a defectively written participle related to the noun “testicle” (a Hiphil participle מַאֲשִׁכִים [ma’ashikhim] from a verb related to אֶשֶׁךְ [’eshekh, “testicle”]; cf. Lev 21:20) and hence “having testicles” (cf. HALOT 1379 s.v. שָׁכָה) instead of the Masoretic form מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) from a root שָׁכָה (shakhah), which is otherwise unattested in either verbal or nominal forms. The second adjective is best derived from a verb root meaning “to feed” (a Hophal participle מוּזָנִים [muzanim, the Kethib] from a root זוּן [zun; cf. BDB 266 s.v. זוּן] for which there is the cognate noun מָזוֹן [mazon; cf. 2 Chr 11:23]). This is more likely than the derivation from a root יָזַן ([yazan]reading מְיֻזָּנִים [mÿyuzzanim], a Pual participle with the Qere) which is otherwise unattested in verbal or nominal forms and whose meaning is dependent only on a supposed Arabic cognate (cf. HALOT 387 s.v. יָזַן).

[5:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “neighs after.”

[5:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.

[5:1]  ³⁷ tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31 where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.

[5:1]  ³⁸ tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.

[5:1]  ³⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”

[5:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”

[5:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”

[1:9]  ⁴³ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ⁴⁴ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁴⁵ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ⁴⁶ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁷ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[5:19]  ⁴⁸ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

[5:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “clear,” “evident.”

[5:20]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “witchcraft.”

[5:20]  ⁵¹ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

[5:20]  ⁵² tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

[5:20]  ⁵³ tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).

[5:21]  ⁵⁴ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

[5:21]  ⁵⁵ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

[5:21]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).

[21:8]  ⁵⁷ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

[21:8]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “idolaters.”

[21:8]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “their share.”

[21:8]  ⁶⁰ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[21:8]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “sulfur, which is.” The relative pronoun has been translated as “that” to indicate its connection to the previous clause. The nearest logical antecedent is “the lake [that burns with fire and sulfur],” although “lake” (λίμνη, limnh) is feminine gender, while the pronoun “which” (ὅ, Jo) is neuter gender. This means that (1) the proper antecedent could be “their place” (Grk “their share,”) agreeing with the relative pronoun in number and gender, or (2) the neuter pronoun still has as its antecedent the feminine noun “lake,” since agreement in gender between pronoun and antecedent was not always maintained, with an explanatory phrase occurring with a neuter pronoun regardless of the case of the antecedent. In favor of the latter explanation is Rev 20:14, where the phrase “the lake of fire” is in apposition to the phrase “the second death.”

[22:15]  ⁶² tn On the term φάρμακοι (farmakoi) see L&N 53.101.

[22:15]  ⁶³ tn Or “lying,” “deceit.”