139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
15:26 The Lord abhors 1 the plans 2 of the wicked, 3
but pleasant words 4 are pure. 5
24:9 A foolish scheme 6 is sin,
and the scorner is an abomination to people. 7
55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle 8
and sinful people their plans. 9
They should return 10 to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, 11
and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 12
38:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, 13 and you will devise an evil plan.
1 tn Heb “an abomination of the
2 tn The noun מַחְשְׁבוֹת (makhshÿvot) means “thoughts” (so KJV, NIV, NLT), from the verb חָשַׁב (khashav, “to think; to reckon; to devise”). So these are intentions, what is being planned (cf. NAB “schemes”).
3 tn The word רַע (“evil; wicked”) is a genitive of source or subjective genitive, meaning the plans that the wicked devise – “wicked plans.”
4 sn The contrast is between the “thoughts” and the “words.” The thoughts that are designed to hurt people the
5 tc The MT simply has “but pleasant words are pure” (Heb “but pure [plural] are the words of pleasantness”). Some English versions add “to him” to make the connection to the first part (cf. NAB, NIV). The LXX has: “the sayings of the pure are held in honor.” The Vulgate has: “pure speech will be confirmed by him as very beautiful.” The NIV has paraphrased here: “but those of the pure are pleasing to him.”
6 tn Heb “the scheme of folly” (NIV similar). The genitive functions as an attributive genitive, meaning “foolish scheme.” But it could also be interpreted as a genitive of source, the scheme that comes from folly (or from the fool if “folly” were metonymical).
7 tn Heb “to a man”; cf. CEV “Everyone hates senseless fools.”
8 tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.
9 tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.
10 tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”
11 tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.
12 sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.
13 tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”
14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
15 tn Or “disturbed,” “troubled.”
16 tn The expression here is an idiom; see BDAG 58 s.v. ἀναβαίνω 2. Here καρδία (kardia) is a collective singular; the expression has been translated as plural in English.
17 sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).
18 tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.
19 tn Or “and implore the Lord.”
20 tn Grk “that if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in contemporary English and has thus been converted to an active construction in the translation.