Zakharia 11:8

11:8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month, ¹  for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well.

Zakharia 11:15-17

11:15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ²  11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ³  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ⁴  and tear off their hooves.

11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!

May his arm wither completely away,

and his right eye become completely blind!”

Yeremia 25:34-36

25:34 Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers!

Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! ⁵ 

The time for you to be slaughtered has come.

You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery. ⁶ 

25:35 The leaders will not be able to run away and hide. ⁷ 

The shepherds of the flocks will not be able to escape.

25:36 Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders.

Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks.

They are wailing because the Lord

is about to destroy their lands. ⁸ 

Yoel 1:13

1:13 Get dressed ⁹  and lament, you priests!

Wail, you who minister at the altar!

Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,

because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple of your God anymore. ¹⁰ 

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ¹¹  will quake, ¹² 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ¹³  will rise like the River Nile, ¹⁴ 

it will surge upward ¹⁵  and then grow calm, ¹⁶  like the Nile in Egypt. ¹⁷ 

Zefanya 1:10

1:10 On that day,” says the Lord,

“a loud cry will go up ¹⁸  from the Fish Gate, ¹⁹ 

wailing from the city’s newer district, ²⁰ 

and a loud crash ²¹  from the hills.

Matius 15:14

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. ²²  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ²³  both will fall into a pit.”

Matius 23:13-33

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ²⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ²⁵  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ²⁶  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

23:14 [[EMPTY]] ²⁷ 

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²⁸  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ²⁹  and when you get one, ³⁰  you make him twice as much a child of hell ³¹  as yourselves!

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ³²  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? 23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ³³  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ³⁵  of mint, dill, and cumin, ³⁶  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ³⁷  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ³⁸ 

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, ⁴⁰  so that the outside may become clean too!

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁴¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ⁴²  23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁴³  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ⁴⁴  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ⁴⁵  of the righteous. 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ⁴⁶  we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ⁴⁷ 

Yakobus 5:1-6

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ⁴⁸  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ⁴⁹  5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁵⁰  5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ⁵¹ 

[11:8]  ¹ sn Zechariah is only dramatizing what God had done historically (see the note on the word “cedars” in 11:1). The “one month” probably means just any short period of time in which three kings ruled in succession. Likely candidates are Elah, Zimri, Tibni (1 Kgs 16:8-20); Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem (2 Kgs 15:8-16); or Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:1–25:7).

[11:15]  ² sn The grammar (e.g., the incipient participle מֵקִים, maqim, “about to raise up,” v. 16) and overall sense of vv. 15-17 give the incident a future orientation. Zechariah once more is role-playing but this time he is a “foolish” shepherd, i.e., one who does not know God and who is opposed to him (cf. Prov 1:7; 15:5; 20:3; 27:22). The individual who best represents this eschatological enemy of God and his people is the Antichrist (cf. Matt 24:5, 24; 2 Thess 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

[11:16]  ³ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

[11:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”

[25:34]  ⁵ tn Heb “Wail and cry out, you shepherds. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.” The terms have been reversed to explain the figure.

[25:34]  sn The term “shepherd” has been used several times in the book of Jeremiah to refer to the leaders of the people who were responsible for taking care of their people who are compared to a flock. (See Jer 23:1-4 and the notes there.) Here the figure has some irony involved in it. It is the shepherds who are to be slaughtered like sheep. They may have considered themselves “choice vessels” (the literal translation of “fine pottery”), but they would be slaughtered and lie scattered on the ground (v. 33) like broken pottery.

[25:34]  ⁶ tn The meaning of this line is debated. The Greek version does not have the words “lie scattered” and it reads the words “like broken pieces of fine pottery” (Heb “like choice vessels”; כִּכְלִי חֶמְדָּה, kikhli khemdah) as “like choice rams” (כְּאֵילֵי חֶמְדָּה, kÿ’ele khemdah); i.e., “the days have been completed for you to be slaughtered and you will fall like choice rams.” The reading of the Greek version fits the context better, but is probably secondary for that very reason. The word translated “lie scattered” (תְּפוֹצָה, tÿfotsah) occurs nowhere else and the switch to the simile of “choice vessels” is rather abrupt. However, this section has been characterized by switching metaphors. The key to the interpretation and translation here is the consequential nature of the verbal actions involved. “Fall” does not merely refer to the action but the effect, i.e., “lie fallen” (cf. BDB 657 s.v. נָפַל 7 and compare Judg 3:25; 1 Sam 31:8). Though the noun translated “lie scattered” does not occur elsewhere, the verb does. It is quite commonly used of dispersing people and that has led many to see that as the reference here. The word, however, can be used of scattering other things like seed (Isa 28:25), arrows (2 Sam 22:15; metaphorical for lightning), etc. Here it follows “slaughtered” and refers to their dead bodies. The simile (Heb “ fallen like choice vessels”) is elliptical, referring to “broken pieces” of choice vessels. In this sense the simile fits in perfectly with v. 33.

[25:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “Flight [or “place of escape”] will perish from the shepherds.”

[25:35]  sn Judging from Gen 14:10 and Judg 8:12 (among many others), it was not uncommon for the leaders to try to save their own necks at the expense of their soldiers.

[25:36]  ⁸ tn Heb “their pastures,” i.e., the place where they “shepherd” their “flocks.” The verb tenses in this section are not as clear as in the preceding. The participle in this verse is followed by a vav consecutive perfect like the imperatives in v. 34. The verbs in v. 38 are perfects but they can be and probably should be understood as prophetic like the perfect in v. 31 (נְתָנָם, nÿtanam) which is surrounded by imperfects, participles, and vav consecutive perfects.

[25:36]  sn Jer 25:36-38 shifts to the future as though the action were already accomplished or going on. It is the sound that Jeremiah hears in his “prophetic ears” of something that has begun (v. 29) but will find its culmination in the future (vv. 13, 16, 27, 30-35).

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “put on.” There is no object present in the Hebrew text, but many translations assume “sackcloth” to be the understood object of the verb “put on.” Its absence in the Hebrew text of v. 13 is probably due to metrical considerations. The meter here is 3 + 3, and that has probably influenced the prophet’s choice of words.

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

[8:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ¹² tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the River Nile.

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ¹⁸ tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:10]  ¹⁹ sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).

[1:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from the second area.” This may refer to an area northwest of the temple where the rich lived (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 86; cf. NASB, NRSV “the Second Quarter”; NIV “the New Quarter”).

[1:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “great breaking.”

[15:14]  ²² tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א¹ C L W Z Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). The shorter reading is read by א*^,2 B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tufloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuflwn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is original: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁷ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[15:14]  ²³ tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”

[23:13]  ²⁴ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).

[23:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

[23:14]  ²⁷ tc The most important mss (א B D L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892* pc and several versional witnesses) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 ˹³ Ï and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually.

[23:15]  ²⁸ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:15]  ²⁹ tn Or “one proselyte.”

[23:15]  ³⁰ tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

[23:15]  ³¹ tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”

[23:15]  sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[23:16]  ³² tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ³³ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[23:23]  ³⁴ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ³⁵ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ³⁶ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ³⁷ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[23:24]  ³⁸ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[23:25]  ³⁹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:26]  ⁴⁰ tc A very difficult textual problem is found here. The most important Alexandrian and Byzantine, as well as significant Western, witnesses (א B C L W 0102 0281 ˹³ 33 Ï lat co) have “and the dish” (καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, kai th" paroyido") after “cup,” while few important witnesses (D Θ Ë¹ 700 and some versional and patristic authorities) omit the phrase. On the one hand, scribes sometimes tended to eliminate redundancy; since “and the dish” is already present in v. 25, it may have been deleted in v. 26 by well-meaning scribes. On the other hand, as B. M. Metzger notes, the singular pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou, “its”) with τὸ ἐκτός (to ekto", “the outside”) in some of the same witnesses that have the longer reading (viz., B* ˹³ al) hints that their archetype lacked the words (TCGNT 50). Further, scribes would be motivated both to add the phrase from v. 25 and to change αὐτοῦ to the plural pronoun αὐτῶν (aujtwn, “their”). Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is not compelling in itself, combined with these two prongs of internal evidence, it is to be slightly preferred.

[23:27]  ⁴¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ⁴² sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.

[23:29]  ⁴³ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ⁴⁵ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[23:30]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

[23:33]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:33]  sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[5:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”

[5:5]  ⁵⁰ sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).

[5:6]  ⁵¹ tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”