Yeremia 16:12

16:12 And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me. ¹ 

Kejadian 6:5

6:5 But the Lord saw ²  that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination ³  of the thoughts ⁴  of their minds ⁵  was only evil ⁶  all the time. ⁷ 

Kejadian 8:21

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ⁸  and said ⁹  to himself, ¹⁰  “I will never again curse ¹¹  the ground because of humankind, even though ¹²  the inclination of their minds ¹³  is evil from childhood on. ¹⁴  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Ayub 15:14-16

15:14 What is man that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, ¹⁵ 

if even the heavens ¹⁶  are not pure in his eyes,

15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, ¹⁷ 

who drinks in evil like water! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 51:5

51:5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,

a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 53:1-3

Psalm 53 ²⁰ 

For the music director; according to the machalath style; ²¹  a well-written song ²²  by David.

53:1 Fools say to themselves, ²³  “There is no God.” ²⁴ 

They sin and commit evil deeds; ²⁵ 

none of them does what is right. ²⁶ 

53:2 God looks down from heaven ²⁷  at the human race, ²⁸ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ²⁹  and seeks God. ³⁰ 

53:3 Everyone rejects God; ³¹ 

they are all morally corrupt. ³² 

None of them does what is right, ³³ 

not even one!

Amsal 28:26

28:26 The one who trusts in his own heart ³⁴  is a fool,

but the one who walks in wisdom ³⁵  will escape. ³⁶ 

Pengkhotbah 9:3

9:3 This is the unfortunate fact ³⁷  about everything that happens on earth: ³⁸ 

the same fate awaits ³⁹  everyone.

In addition to this, the hearts of all people ⁴⁰  are full of evil,

and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die. ⁴¹ 

Matius 15:19

15:19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Markus 7:21-22

7:21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 7:22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly.

Ibrani 3:12

3:12 See to it, ⁴²  brothers and sisters, ⁴³  that none of you has ⁴⁴  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ⁴⁵  the living God. ⁴⁶ 

Yakobus 1:14-15

1:14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

[16:12]  ¹ sn For the argumentation here compare Jer 7:23-26.

[6:5]  ² sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.

[6:5]  ³ tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).

[6:5]  ⁴ tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”

[6:5]  ⁶ sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the day.”

[6:5]  sn The author of Genesis goes out of his way to emphasize the depth of human evil at this time. Note the expressions “every inclination,” “only evil,” and “all the time.”

[8:21]  ⁸ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

[8:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

[8:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[8:21]  ¹¹ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

[8:21]  ¹² tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.

[8:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

[8:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from his youth.”

[15:15]  ¹⁵ tn Eliphaz here reiterates the point made in Job 4:18.

[15:15]  ¹⁶ sn The question here is whether the reference is to material “heavens” (as in Exod 24:10 and Job 25:5), or to heavenly beings. The latter seems preferable in this context.

[15:16]  ¹⁷ tn The two descriptions here used are “abominable,” meaning “disgusting” (a Niphal participle with the value of a Latin participle [see GKC 356-57 §116.e]), and “corrupt” (a Niphal participle which occurs only in Pss 14:3 and 53:4), always in a moral sense. On the significance of the first description, see P. Humbert, “Le substantif toáe„ba„ et le verbe táb dans l’Ancien Testament,” ZAW 72 [1960]: 217ff.). On the second word, G. R. Driver suggests from Arabic, “debauched with luxury, corrupt” (“Some Hebrew Words,” JTS 29 [1927/28]: 390-96).

[15:16]  ¹⁸ sn Man commits evil with the same ease and facility as he drinks in water – freely and in large quantities.

[51:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Look, in wrongdoing I was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The prefixed verbal form in the second line is probably a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive), stating a simple historical fact. The psalmist is not suggesting that he was conceived through an inappropriate sexual relationship (although the verse has sometimes been understood to mean that, or even that all sexual relationships are sinful). The psalmist’s point is that he has been a sinner from the very moment his personal existence began. By going back beyond the time of birth to the moment of conception, the psalmist makes his point more emphatically in the second line than in the first.

[53:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 53. This psalm is very similar to Ps 14. The major difference comes in v. 5, which corresponds to, but differs quite a bit from, Ps 14:5-6, and in the use of the divine name. Ps 14 uses “the Lord” (יְהוָה, yÿhvah, “Yahweh”) in vv. 2a, 4, 6, and 7, while Ps 53 employs “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) throughout, as one might expect in Pss 42-83, where the name “Yahweh” is relatively infrequent. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.

[53:1]  ²¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מָחֲלַת (makhalat, “machalath”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term also appears in the heading of Ps 88.

[53:1]  ²² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[53:1]  ²³ tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.

[53:1]  ²⁴ sn There is no God. This statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).

[53:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they act corruptly, they do evil [with] injustice.” Ps 14:1 has עֲלִילָה (’alilah, “a deed”) instead of עָוֶל (’aval, “injustice”). The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.

[53:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[53:2]  ²⁷ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[53:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[53:2]  ²⁹ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[53:2]  ³⁰ tn That is, who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[53:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “all of it turns away.” Ps 14:1 has הָכֹּל (hakkol) instead of כֻּלּוֹ, and סָר (sar, “turn aside”) instead of סָג (sag, “turn away”).

[53:3]  ³² tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[53:3]  ³³ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[28:26]  ³⁴ sn The idea of “trusting in one’s own heart” is a way of describing one who is self-reliant. C. H. Toy says it means to follow the untrained suggestions of the mind or to rely on one’s own mental resources (Proverbs [ICC], 505). It is arrogant to take no counsel but to rely only on one’s own intelligence.

[28:26]  ³⁵ sn The idiom of “walking in wisdom” means to live life according to the acquired skill and knowledge passed on from the sages. It is the wisdom from above that the book of Proverbs presents, not the undisciplined and uninformed wit and wisdom from below.

[28:26]  ³⁶ tn The verb form יִמָּלֵט (yimmalet) is the Niphal imperfect; the form means “to escape.” In this context one would conclude that it means “to escape from trouble,” because the one who lives in this life by wisdom will escape trouble, and the one who trusts in himself will not.

[9:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “evil.”

[9:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:3]  ³⁹ tn The term “awaits” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.

[9:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “also the heart of the sons of man.” Here “heart” is a collective singular.

[9:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and after that [they go] to [the place of] the dead.”

[3:12]  ⁴² tn Or “take care.”

[3:12]  ⁴³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”

[3:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”

[3:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”