7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver 1 –
like a bird hurrying into a trap,
and he does not know that it will cost him his life. 2
32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,
and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”
5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.
The priests exercise power by their own authority. 3
And my people love to have it this way.
But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! 4
6:21 So what benefit 5 did you then reap 6 from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.
1 sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).
2 tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.
3 tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”
4 tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”
5 tn Grk “fruit.”
6 tn Grk “have,” in a tense emphasizing their customary condition in the past.
7 tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”
8 tn Grk “idolaters.”
9 tn Grk “their share.”
10 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
11 tn Grk “sulfur, which is.” The relative pronoun has been translated as “that” to indicate its connection to the previous clause. The nearest logical antecedent is “the lake [that burns with fire and sulfur],” although “lake” (λίμνη, limnh) is feminine gender, while the pronoun “which” (ὅ, Jo) is neuter gender. This means that (1) the proper antecedent could be “their place” (Grk “their share,”) agreeing with the relative pronoun in number and gender, or (2) the neuter pronoun still has as its antecedent the feminine noun “lake,” since agreement in gender between pronoun and antecedent was not always maintained, with an explanatory phrase occurring with a neuter pronoun regardless of the case of the antecedent. In favor of the latter explanation is Rev 20:14, where the phrase “the lake of fire” is in apposition to the phrase “the second death.”
12 tn On the term φάρμακοι (farmakoi) see L&N 53.101.
13 tn Or “lying,” “deceit.”