Genesis 4:11-17

4:11 So now, you are banished ¹  from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12 When you try to cultivate ²  the

ground it will no longer yield ³  its best ⁴  for you. You will be a homeless wanderer ⁵  on the earth.” 4:13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment ⁶  is too great to endure! ⁷  4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land ⁸  today, and I must hide from your presence. ⁹  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.” 4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ¹⁰  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ¹¹  Then the Lord put a special mark ¹²  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ¹³  4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, ¹⁴  east of Eden.

The Beginning of Civilization

4:17 Cain had marital relations ¹⁵  with his wife, and she became pregnant ¹⁶  and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after ¹⁷  his son Enoch.

Joshua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ¹⁸  “The man who attempts to rebuild ¹⁹  this city of Jericho ²⁰  will stand condemned before the Lord. ²¹  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ²² 

Joshua 6:1

6:1 Now Jericho ²³  was shut tightly ²⁴  because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. ²⁵ 

Joshua 16:1

Joseph’s Tribal Lands

16:1 The land allotted to Joseph’s descendants extended from the Jordan at Jericho ²⁶  to the waters of Jericho to the east, through the desert and on up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 22:13-17

Judgment on Jehoiakim

22:13 “‘Sure to be judged ²⁸  is the king who builds his palace using injustice

and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. ²⁹ 

He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.

He does not pay them for their labor.

22:14 He says, “I will build myself a large palace

with spacious upper rooms.”

He cuts windows in its walls,

panels it ³⁰  with cedar, and paints its rooms red. ³¹ 

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ³²  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ³³ 

He did what was just and right. ³⁴ 

So things went well with him.

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ³⁵ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ³⁶ 

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ³⁷ 

Ezekiel 24:9

24:9 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed!

I will also make the pile high.

Daniel 4:27-31

4:27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ³⁸ 

4:28 Now all of this happened ³⁹  to King Nebuchadnezzar. 4:29 After twelve months, he happened to be walking around on the battlements ⁴⁰  of the royal palace of Babylon. 4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ⁴¹  by my own mighty strength ⁴²  and for my majestic honor?” 4:31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, ⁴³  a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, ⁴⁴  King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you!

Micah 3:10

3:10 You ⁴⁵  build Zion through bloody crimes, ⁴⁶ 

Jerusalem ⁴⁷  through unjust violence.

Nahum 3:1

Reason for Judgment: Sins of Nineveh

3:1 Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed! ⁴⁸ 

She is full of lies; ⁴⁹ 

she is filled with plunder; ⁵⁰ 

she has hoarded her spoil! ⁵¹ 

John 11:47-50

11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees ⁵²  called the council ⁵³  together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. 11:48 If we allow him to go on in this way, ⁵⁴  everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary ⁵⁵  and our nation.”

11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, ⁵⁶  “You know nothing at all! 11:50 You do not realize ⁵⁷  that it is more to your advantage to have one man ⁵⁸  die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” ⁵⁹ 

Revelation 17:6

17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ⁶⁰  I ⁶¹  was greatly astounded ⁶²  when I saw her.

[4:11]  ¹ tn Heb “cursed are you from the ground.” As in Gen 3:14, the word “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as indicating source, then the idea is “cursed (i.e., punished) are you from [i.e., “through the agency of”] the ground” (see v. 12a). If the preposition is taken as separative, then the idea is “cursed and banished from the ground.” In this case the ground rejects Cain’s efforts in such a way that he is banished from the ground and forced to become a fugitive out in the earth (see vv. 12b, 14).

[4:12]  ² tn Heb “work.”

[4:12]  ³ tn Heb “it will not again (תֹסֵף, tosef) give (תֵּת, tet),” meaning the ground will no longer yield. In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb, and the imperfect verb form becomes adverbial.

[4:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “its strength.”

[4:12]  ⁵ tn Two similar sounding synonyms are used here: נָע וָנָד (na’ vanad, “a wanderer and a fugitive”). This juxtaposition of synonyms emphasizes the single idea. In translation one can serve as the main description, the other as a modifier. Other translation options include “a wandering fugitive” and a “ceaseless wanderer” (cf. NIV).

[4:13]  ⁶ tn The primary meaning of the Hebrew word עָוֹן (’avon) is “sin, iniquity.” But by metonymy it can refer to the “guilt” of sin, or to “punishment” for sin. The third meaning applies here. Just before this the Lord announces the punishment for Cain’s actions, and right after this statement Cain complains of the severity of the punishment. Cain is not portrayed as repenting of his sin.

[4:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “great is my punishment from bearing.” The preposition מִן (min, “from”) is used here in a comparative sense.

[4:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”

[4:14]  ⁹ sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the Lord as a result of sin also appears in Gen 3:8-10.

[4:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”

[4:15]  ¹¹ sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[4:15]  ¹² tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.

[4:15]  ¹³ sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.

[4:16]  ¹⁴ sn The name Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew (see vv. 12, 14).

[4:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “according to the name of.”

[6:26]  ¹⁸ tn Normally the Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) has a causative sense (“make [someone] take an oath”; see Josh 2:17, 20), but here (see also Josh 23:7) no object is stated or implied. If Joshua is calling divine judgment down upon the one who attempts to rebuild Jericho, then “make a solemn appeal [to God as judge]” or “pronounce a curse” would be an appropriate translation. However, the tone seems stronger. Joshua appears to be announcing the certain punishment of the violator. 1 Kgs 16:34, which records the fulfillment of Joshua’s prediction, supports this. Casting Joshua in a prophetic role, it refers to Joshua’s statement as the “word of the Lord” spoken through Joshua.

[6:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ²⁰ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew phrase אָרוּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (’arur lifney yÿhvah, “cursed [i.e., condemned] before the Lord”) also occurs in 1 Sam 26:19.

[6:26]  ²² tn Heb “With his firstborn he will lay its foundations and with his youngest he will erect its gates.” The Hebrew verb יַצִּיב (yatsiv, “he will erect”) is imperfect, not jussive, suggesting Joshua’s statement is a prediction, not an imprecation.

[6:1]  ²³ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[6:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “was shutting and shut up.” HALOT 2:743 paraphrases, “blocking [any way of access] and blocked [against any who would leave].”

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “there was no one going out and there was no one coming in.”

[16:1]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[16:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “The lot went out to the sons of Joseph from the Jordan [at] Jericho to the waters of Jericho to the east, the desert going up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.”

[22:13]  ²⁸ sn Heb “Woe.” This particle is used in laments for the dead (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 34:5) and as an introductory particle in indictments against a person on whom judgment is pronounced (cf., e.g., Isa 5:8, 11; Jer 23:1). The indictment is found here in vv. 13-17 and the announcement of judgment in vv. 18-19.

[22:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Woe to the one who builds his house by unrighteousness and its upper rooms with injustice using his neighbor [= countryman] as a slave for nothing and not giving to him his wages.”

[22:14]  ³⁰ tc The MT should be emended to read חַלֹּנָיו וְסָפוֹן (khallonayv vÿsafon) instead of חַלֹּנָי וְסָפוּן (khallonay vÿsafon), i.e., the plural noun with third singular suffix rather than the first singular suffix and the infinitive absolute rather than the passive participle. The latter form then parallels the form for “paints” and functions in the same way (cf. GKC 345 §113.z for the infinitive with vav [ו] continuing a perfect). The errors in the MT involve reading the וְ once instead of twice (haplography) and reading the וּ (u) for the וֹ (o).

[22:14]  ³¹ tn The word translated “red” only occurs here and in Ezek 23:14 where it refers to the pictures of the Babylonians on the wall of the temple. Evidently this was a favorite color for decoration. It is usually identified as vermilion, a mineral product from red ocher (cf. C. L. Wickwire, “Vermilion,” IDB 4:748).

[22:15]  ³² tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ³³ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ³⁴ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[22:16]  ³⁵ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:17]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[4:27]  ³⁸ tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”

[4:28]  ³⁹ tn Aram “reached.”

[4:29]  ⁴⁰ tn The word “battlements” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context. Many English versions supply “roof” here (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NLT “on the flat roof.”

[4:30]  ⁴¹ tn Aram “house.”

[4:30]  ⁴² tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”

[4:31]  ⁴³ tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”

[4:31]  ⁴⁴ tn Aram “to you they say.”

[3:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ⁴⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “of bloods.” The plural noun דָּמִים (damim, “bloods”) connotes “bloodshed” or “blood guilt” (BDB 196-97 s.v. דָּם 2.f; HALOT 224-25 s.v. דָּם 5; DCH 2:443-47 s.v. דָּם). Human blood in its natural state in the body is generally designated by the singular form דָּם (dam, “blood”); after it has been spilled, the plural form is used to denote the abundance of blood in quantity (IBHS 119-20 §7.4.1; BDB 196-97 s.v. דָּם 2.f). The plural is often used with the verb שָׁפַךְ (shafakh, “to spill, to shed”) to connote bloodshed (Gen 9:6; 37:22; Lev 17:4; Num 35:33; Deut 21:7; 1 Sam 25:31; 1 Kgs 18:28; 2 Kgs 21:16; 24:4; 1 Chr 22:8; Ezek 16:38; 22:4, 6, 9, 12, 27; 23:45; 33:25; 36:18; Prov 1:16). The plural often denotes bloodshed (Gen 4:10; 2 Sam 3:27, 28; 16:8; 20:12; 1 Kgs 2:5; 2 Kgs 9:7, 26, 33; 2 Chr 24:25; Job 16:18; Isa 1:15; 4:4; 9:4; 26:21; 33:15; 34:3, 6, 7; Ezek 7:23; 16:6, 9, 36; 21:37; 22:13; 24:8; Hos 1:4; 4:2; Hab 2:8, 12, 17; Mic 3:10; Zech 9:7) or blood-guilt (Exod 22:1; Lev 20:9; Num 35:27; Deut 19:10; 22:8; Judg 9:24; 1 Sam 25:26, 33; 2 Sam 21:1; Isa 33:15; Ezek 9:9). The term can refer to murder (2 Sam 16:7, 8; Pss 5:7; 26:9; 55:24; 59:3; 139:10; Prov 29:10) or more generally, connote social injustice, cruelty, and oppression (Deut 21:8, 9; 1 Sam 19:5; 2 Kgs 21:6; 24:4; Pss 94:21; 106:38; Prov 6:17; Isa 59:7; Jer 7:6; 22:3; Joel 4:19; Jonah 1:14). The term may refer to blood that has been shed in war (1 Kgs 2:5) and the unnecessary shedding of blood of one’s enemy (1 Kgs 2:31), which is probably the intended meaning here. The phrase “city of bloodshed” (עִיר דָּמִים [’ir damim], “city of bloods”) is used elsewhere to describe a city held guilty before God of blood-guilt and about to be judged by God (Ezek 22:2; 24:6).

[3:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “All of her [is] lying.”

[3:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “full of plunder.”

[3:1]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “prey does not depart.”

[11:47]  ⁵² tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.

[11:47]  ⁵³ tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The συνέδριον (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word συνέδριον in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning “councils.” The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as “one of them” supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities.

[11:48]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “If we let him do thus.”

[11:48]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “holy place”; Grk “our place” (a reference to the temple in Jerusalem).

[11:49]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “said to them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[11:50]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “you are not considering.”

[11:50]  ⁵⁸ tn Although it is possible to argue that ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") should be translated “person” here since it is not necessarily masculinity that is in view in Caiaphas’ statement, “man” was retained in the translation because in 11:47 “this man” (οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, outo" Jo anqrwpo") has as its referent a specific individual, Jesus, and it was felt this connection should be maintained.

[11:50]  ⁵⁹ sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45). Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the time.

[17:6]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6]  ⁶¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6]  ⁶² tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).