16:5 The Lord abhors 1 every arrogant person; 2
rest assured 3 that they will not go unpunished. 4
23:2 “You must not follow a crowd 5 in doing evil things; 6 in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, 7
1 tn Heb “an abomination of the
2 tn Heb “every proud of heart”; NIV “all the proud of heart.” “Heart” is the genitive of specification; the phrase is talking about people who have proud hearts, whose ideas are arrogant. These are people who set themselves presumptuously against God (e.g., 2 Chr 26:16; Ps 131:1; Prov 18:12).
3 tn Heb “hand to hand.” This idiom means “you can be assured” (e.g., Prov 11:21).
4 tc The LXX has inserted two couplets here: “The beginning of a good way is to do justly, // and it is more acceptable with God than to do sacrifices; // he who seeks the
5 tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).
6 tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.
7 tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”