Psalms 55:20

55:20 He ¹  attacks ²  his friends; ³ 

he breaks his solemn promises to them. ⁴ 

Isaiah 24:5

24:5 The earth is defiled by ⁵  its inhabitants, ⁶ 

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation, ⁷ 

and broken the permanent treaty. ⁸ 

Isaiah 33:8

33:8 Highways are empty, ⁹ 

there are no travelers. ¹⁰ 

Treaties are broken, ¹¹ 

witnesses are despised, ¹² 

human life is treated with disrespect. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 11:10

11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways ¹⁴  of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to ¹⁵  other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah ¹⁶  have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

Jeremiah 31:32

31:32 It will not be like the old ¹⁷  covenant that I made with their ancestors ¹⁸  when I delivered them ¹⁹  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ²⁰  says the Lord. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 31:1

31:1 At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel ²² 

and they will be my people.

I, the Lord, affirm it!” ²³ 

Colossians 1:27

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ²⁴  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:29

1:29 Toward this goal ²⁵  I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully ²⁶  works in me.

¹ sn He. This must refer to the psalmist’s former friend, who was addressed previously in vv. 12-14.

² tn Heb “stretches out his hand against.”

³ tc The form should probably be emended to an active participle (שֹׁלְמָיו, sholÿmayv) from the verbal root שָׁלַם (shalam, “be in a covenant of peace with”). Perhaps the translation “his friends” suggests too intimate a relationship. Another option is to translate, “he attacks those who made agreements with him.”

⁴ tn Heb “he violates his covenant.”

⁵ tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

⁶ sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

⁷ tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

⁸ tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

⁹ tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”

¹¹ tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”

¹² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (’arim, “cities”) is probably a corruption of an original עֵדִים (’edim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.

¹³ tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”

¹⁴ tn Or “They have repeated the evil actions of….”

¹⁵ tn Heb “have walked/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

¹⁶ tn Heb “house of Israel and house of Judah.”

¹⁷ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

¹⁸ tn Heb “fathers.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

²⁰ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

²¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

²² sn This verse repeats v. 22 but with specific reference to all the clans of Israel, i.e., to all Israel and Judah. It functions here as a transition to the next section which will deal with the restoration of Israel (31:3-20) and Judah (31:21-25) and their reunification in the land (31:27-29) under a new covenant relation with God (31:31-37). See also the study note on 30:3 for further reference to this reunification in Jeremiah and the other prophets.

²³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

²⁴ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

²⁵ tn The Greek phrase εἴς ὅ (eis Jo, “toward which”) implies “movement toward a goal” and has been rendered by the English phrase “Toward this goal.”

²⁶ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν δυνάμει (en dunamei) seems to be functioning adverbially, related to the participle, and has therefore been translated “powerfully.”