7:1 But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches. 1 Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, 2 son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches. 3 The Lord was furious with the Israelites. 4
20:15 The wealth that he consumed 5 he vomits up,
God will make him throw it out 6 of his stomach.
15:27 The one who is greedy for gain 7 troubles 8 his household, 9
but whoever hates bribes 10 will live.
5:13 Here is 11 a misfortune 12 on earth 13 that I have seen:
Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.
22:13 “‘See, I strike my hands together 14 at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed 15 they have done among you. 22:14 Can your heart endure, 16 or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? 17 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!
22:1 The word of the Lord came to me:
1 tn Heb “But the sons of Israel were unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the
2 tn 1 Chr 2:6 lists a “Zimri” (but no Zabdi) as one of the five sons of Zerah (cf. also 1 Chr 7:17, 18).
3 tn Heb “took from what was set apart [to the
4 tn Heb “the anger of the
5 tn Heb “swallowed.”
6 tn The choice of words is excellent. The verb יָרַשׁ (yarash) means either “to inherit” or “to disinherit; to dispossess.” The context makes the figure clear that God is administering the emetic to make the wicked throw up the wealth (thus, “God will make him throw it out…”); but since wealth is the subject there is a disinheritance meant here.
7 tn Heb “the one who gains.” The phrase בּוֹצֵעַ בָּצַע (botseakh batsa’) is a participle followed by its cognate accusative. This refers to a person who is always making the big deal, getting the larger cut, or in a hurry to get rich. The verb, though, makes it clear that the gaining of a profit is by violence and usually unjust, since the root has the idea of “cut off; break off; gain by violence.” The line is contrasted with hating bribes, and so the gain in this line may be through bribery.
8 sn The participle “troubles” (עֹכֵר, ’okher) can have the connotation of making things difficult for the family, or completely ruining the family (cf. NAB). In Josh 7:1 Achan took some of the “banned things” and was put to death: Because he “troubled Israel,” the
9 tn Heb “his house.”
10 tn Heb “gifts” (so KJV). Gifts can be harmless enough, but in a setting like this the idea is that the “gift” is in exchange for some “profit [or, gain].” Therefore they are bribes (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), and to be hated or rejected. Abram, for example, would not take anything that the king of Sodom had to offer, “lest [he] say, “I have made Abram rich” (Gen 14:22-24).
11 tn Heb “there is.” The term יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is”) is often used in aphorisms to assert the existence of a particular situation that occurs sometimes. It may indicate that the situation is not the rule but that it does occur on occasion, and may be nuanced “sometimes” (e.g., Prov 11:24; 13:7, 23; 14:12; 16:25; 18:24; 20:15; Eccl 2:21; 4:8; 5:12; 6:1; 7:15 [2x]; 8:14 [3x]).
12 tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice, wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b). The phrase רָעָה רַבָּה (ra’ah rabbah) connotes “grave injustice” or “great misfortune” (Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5).
13 tn Heb “under the sun.”
14 sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).
15 tn Heb “the blood which was in you.”
16 tn Heb “stand.” The heart here stands for the emotions; Jerusalem would panic in the face of God’s judgment.
17 tn Heb “in the days when I act against you.”
18 tn The words “they will realize” are not in the Hebrew text; they are added here for stylistic reasons since this clause assumes the previous verb “to remember” or “to take into account.”
19 tn Heb “how I was broken by their adulterous heart.” The image of God being “broken” is startling, but perfectly natural within the metaphorical framework of God as offended husband. The idiom must refer to the intense grief that Israel’s unfaithfulness caused God. For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of the Hebrew text, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:134.
20 tn Heb adds “in their faces.”
21 tn Heb “not in vain did I speak to do to them this catastrophe.” The wording of the last half of v. 10 parallels God’s declaration after the sin of the golden calf (Exod 32:14).