Yesaya 5:7
Konteks5:7 Indeed 1 Israel 2 is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,
the people 3 of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.
He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! 4
He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! 5
Kejadian 6:11
Konteks6:11 The earth was ruined 6 in the sight of 7 God; the earth was filled with violence. 8
Mazmur 58:2
Konteks58:2 No! 9 You plan how to do what is unjust; 10
you deal out violence in the earth. 11
Yeremia 6:7
Konteks6:7 As a well continually pours out fresh water
so it continually pours out wicked deeds. 12
Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. 13
All I see are sick and wounded people.’ 14
Yehezkiel 7:11
Konteks7:11 Violence 15 has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left 16 – not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence. 17
Yehezkiel 7:23
Konteks7:23 (Make the chain, 18 because the land is full of murder 19 and the city is full of violence.)
Amos 3:10
Konteks3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)
“They store up 20 the spoils of destructive violence 21 in their fortresses.
Amos 6:3
Konteks6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, 22
but you establish a reign of violence. 23
Mikha 2:1-3
Konteks2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, 24
those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. 25
As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, 26
because they have the power to do so.
2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,
and seize the houses they want. 27
They defraud people of their homes, 28
and deprive people of the land they have inherited. 29
2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! 30
It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. 31
You will no longer 32 walk proudly,
for it will be a time of catastrophe.
Mikha 2:8
Konteks2:8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. 33
You steal a robe from a friend, 34
from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. 35
Mikha 3:1-11
Konteks3:1 I said,
“Listen, you leaders 36 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 37 of Israel!
You ought to know what is just, 38
3:2 yet you 39 hate what is good, 40
and love what is evil. 41
You flay my people’s skin 42
and rip the flesh from their bones. 43
3:3 You 44 devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot 45 –
like meat in a kettle.
3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, 46
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have done such wicked deeds.”
3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people
are as good as dead. 47
If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace. 48
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him. 49
3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; 50
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. 51
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. 52
3:7 The prophets 53 will be ashamed;
the omen readers will be humiliated.
All of them will cover their mouths, 54
for they will receive no divine oracles.” 55
3:8 But I 56 am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,
and have a strong commitment to justice. 57
This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,
and Israel with its sin. 58
3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family 59 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 60 of Israel!
You 61 hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
3:10 You 62 build Zion through bloody crimes, 63
Jerusalem 64 through unjust violence.
3:11 Her 65 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, 66
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust 67 the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us. 68
Disaster will not overtake 69 us!”
Mikha 6:12
Konteks6:12 The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; 70
her inhabitants lie, 71
their tongues speak deceptive words. 72
Habakuk 1:2-4
Konteks1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help?
But you do not listen!
I call out to you, “Violence!”
But you do not intervene! 73
1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? 74
Why do you put up with wrongdoing? 75
Destruction and violence confront 76 me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife. 77
1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, 78
and justice is never carried out. 79
Indeed, 80 the wicked intimidate 81 the innocent. 82
For this reason justice is perverted. 83
Zefanya 1:9
Konteks1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, 84
who fill the house of their master 85 with wealth taken by violence and deceit. 86
Zefanya 3:3-4
Konteks3:3 Her princes 87 are as fierce as roaring lions; 88
her rulers 89 are as hungry as wolves in the desert, 90
who completely devour their prey by morning. 91
3:4 Her prophets are proud; 92
they are deceitful men.
Her priests defile what is holy; 93
they break God’s laws. 94
[5:7] 1 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[5:7] 2 tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:7] 3 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
[5:7] 4 tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.
[5:7] 5 tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.
[6:11] 6 tn Apart from Gen 6:11-12, the Niphal form of this verb occurs in Exod 8:20 HT (8:24 ET), where it describes the effect of the swarms of flies on the land of Egypt; Jer 13:7 and 18:4, where it is used of a “ruined” belt and “marred” clay pot, respectively; and Ezek 20:44, where it describes Judah’s morally “corrupt” actions. The sense “morally corrupt” fits well in Gen 6:11 because of the parallelism (note “the earth was filled with violence”). In this case “earth” would stand by metonymy for its sinful inhabitants. However, the translation “ruined” works just as well, if not better. In this case humankind’s sin is viewed has having an adverse effect upon the earth. Note that vv. 12b-13 make a distinction between the earth and the living creatures who live on it.
[6:11] 8 tn The Hebrew word translated “violence” refers elsewhere to a broad range of crimes, including unjust treatment (Gen 16:5; Amos 3:10), injurious legal testimony (Deut 19:16), deadly assault (Gen 49:5), murder (Judg 9:24), and rape (Jer 13:22).
[58:2] 9 tn The particle אַף (’af, “no”) is used here as a strong adversative emphasizing the following statement, which contrasts reality with the rulers’ claim alluded to in the rhetorical questions (see Ps 44:9).
[58:2] 10 tn Heb “in the heart unjust deeds you do.” The phrase “in the heart” (i.e., “mind”) seems to refer to their plans and motives. The Hebrew noun עַוְלָה (’avlah, “injustice”) is collocated with פָּעַל (pa’al, “do”) here and in Job 36:23 and Ps 119:3. Some emend the plural form עוֹלֹת (’olot, “unjust deeds”; see Ps 64:6) to the singular עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”; see Job 34:32), taking the final tav (ת) as dittographic (note that the following verbal form begins with tav). Some then understand עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”) as a genitive modifying “heart” and translate, “with a heart of injustice you act.”
[58:2] 11 tn Heb “in the earth the violence of your hands you weigh out.” The imagery is from the economic realm. The addressees measure out violence, rather than justice, and distribute it like a commodity. This may be ironic, since justice was sometimes viewed as a measuring scale (see Job 31:6).
[6:7] 12 tc Heb “As a well makes cool/fresh its water, she makes cool/fresh her wickedness.” The translation follows the reading proposed by the Masoretes (Qere) which reads a rare form of the word “well” (בַּיִר [bayir] for בְּאֵר [bÿ’er]) in place of the form written in the text (Kethib, בּוֹר [bor]), which means “cistern.” The latter noun is masculine and the pronoun “its” is feminine. If indeed בַּיִר (bayir) is a byform of בְּאֵר (be’er), which is feminine, it would agree in gender with the pronoun. It also forms a more appropriate comparison since cisterns do not hold fresh water.
[6:7] 13 tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”
[6:7] 14 tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”
[7:11] 15 tn Heb “the violence.”
[7:11] 16 tc The LXX reads “he will crush the wicked rod without confusion or haste.”
[7:11] tn The verb has been supplied for the Hebrew text to clarify the sense.
[7:11] 17 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[7:23] 18 tc The Hebrew word “the chain” occurs only here in the OT. The reading of the LXX (“and they will make carnage”) seems to imply a Hebrew text of ַהבַּתּוֹק (habbattoq, “disorder, slaughter”) instead of הָרַתּוֹק (haratoq, “the chain”). The LXX is also translating the verb as a third person plural future and taking this as the end of the preceding verse. As M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:154) notes, this may refer to a chain for a train of exiles but “the context does not speak of exile but of the city’s fall. The versions guess desperately and we can do little better.”
[7:23] 19 tn Heb “judgment for blood,” i.e., indictment or accountability for bloodshed. The word for “judgment” does not appear in the similar phrase in 9:9.
[3:10] 21 tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.
[6:3] 22 tn Heb “those who push away a day of disaster.”
[6:3] 23 tn Heb “you bring near a seat of violence.” The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שֶׁבֶת (shevet, “seat, sitting”) is unclear in this context. The translation assumes that it refers to a throne from which violence (in the person of the oppressive leaders) reigns. Another option is that the expression refers not to the leaders’ oppressive rule, but to the coming judgment when violence will overtake the nation in the person of enemy invaders.
[2:1] 24 tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.
[2:1] 25 tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”
[2:1] 26 tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”
[2:2] 27 tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”
[2:2] 28 tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”
[2:2] 29 tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
[2:3] 30 tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”
[2:3] 31 tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[2:3] 32 tn Or “you will not.”
[2:8] 33 tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (vÿ’etmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (vÿ’attem ’al, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yÿqomem, the imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a participle from the same root).
[2:8] 34 tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term מִמּוּל (mimmul, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in [ם] mem) and subsequent suppression of ע (ayin). The translation assumes an emendation to מֵעַל (me’al, “from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of שַׂלְמָה אֶדֶר (salmah ’eder, “a garment, glory [or robe]”) to שֹׁלְמִים אֲדֶרֶת (sholÿmim ’aderet, “[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s אֶדֶר (’eder) is the result of misdivision (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).
[2:8] 35 tc The passive participle שׁוּבֵי (shuvey) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle שָׁבִים (shavim).
[2:8] tn Heb “from those passing by peacefully, returnees from war.” Actual refugees, however, are probably not in view. The second line compares those who pass by peacefully with individuals returning from war. The battle is over and they do not expect their own countrymen to attack them.
[3:1] 38 tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”
[3:2] 39 tn Heb “the ones who.”
[3:2] 42 tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the
[3:2] 43 tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”
[3:2] sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.
[3:3] 45 tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).
[3:4] 46 tn Heb “then they will cry out to the
[3:5] 47 tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the
[3:5] 48 tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.
[3:5] 49 tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”
[3:6] 50 tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”
[3:6] sn The coming of night (and darkness in the following line) symbolizes the cessation of revelation.
[3:6] 51 tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”
[3:6] sn The reading of omens (Heb “divination”) was forbidden in the law (Deut 18:10), so this probably reflects the prophets’ view of how they received divine revelation.
[3:6] 52 tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”
[3:7] 54 tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”
[3:7] 55 tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.”
[3:8] 56 sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the
[3:8] 57 tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the
[3:8] 58 tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[3:9] 61 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).
[3:10] 63 tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”
[3:10] 64 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[3:11] 65 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
[3:11] 66 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
[3:11] 67 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
[3:11] 68 tn Heb “Is not the
[3:11] 69 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
[6:12] 70 tn Heb “because her rich are full of violence.”
[6:12] 71 tn Heb “speak lies.”
[6:12] 72 tn Heb “and their tongue is deceptive in their mouth.”
[1:3] 74 tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”
[1:3] 75 tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”
[1:3] sn Habakkuk complains that God tolerates social injustice and fails to intervene on behalf of the oppressed (put up with wrongdoing).
[1:3] 77 tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).
[1:4] 78 tn Heb “the law is numb,” i.e., like a hand that has “fallen asleep” (see Ps 77:2). Cf. NAB “is benumbed”; NIV “is paralyzed.”
[1:4] 79 tn Heb “never goes out.”
[1:4] 81 tn Heb “surround” (so NASB, NRSV).
[1:4] 82 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[1:4] 83 tn Heb “comes out crooked.”
[1:9] 84 sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).
[1:9] 85 tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.
[1:9] 86 tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.
[3:3] 88 tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.
[3:3] 89 tn Traditionally “judges.”
[3:3] 90 tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.
[3:3] 91 tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.
[3:4] 92 sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the
[3:4] 93 tn Or “defile the temple.”
[3:4] sn These priests defile what is holy by not observing the proper distinctions between what is ritually clean and unclean (see Ezek 22:26).
