2 Samuel 10:3

10:3 the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? ¹  No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!” ² 

Job 21:27

Futile Words, Deceptive Answers

21:27 “Yes, I know what you are thinking, ³ 

the schemes ⁴  by which you would wrong me. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 11:19

11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.

I did not know they were making plans to kill me. ⁶ 

I did not know they were saying, ⁷ 

“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! ⁸ 

Let’s remove Jeremiah ⁹  from the world of the living

so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 18:18-20

Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him

18:18 Then some people ¹¹  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ¹²  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ¹³  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ¹⁴  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

18:19 Then I said, ¹⁵ 

“Lord, pay attention to me.

Listen to what my enemies are saying. ¹⁶ 

18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?

Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. ¹⁷ 

Just remember how I stood before you

pleading on their behalf ¹⁸ 

to keep you from venting your anger on them. ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 40:13-16

Ishmael Murders Gedaliah and Carries the Judeans at Mizpah off as Captives

40:13 Johanan and all the officers of the troops that had been hiding in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 40:14 They said to him, “Are you at all aware ²⁰  that King Baalis of Ammon has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. 40:15 Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah there at Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah before anyone knows about it. Otherwise he will kill you ²¹  and all the Judeans who have rallied around you will be scattered. Then what remains of Judah will disappear.” 40:16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do that ²²  because what you are saying about Ishmael is not true.” ²³ 

Matthew 9:4

9:4 When Jesus saw their reaction he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?

Luke 7:39

7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, ²⁴  he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, ²⁵  he would know who and what kind of woman ²⁶  this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

[10:3]  ¹ tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

[10:3]  ² tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”

[21:27]  ³ tn The word is “your thoughts.” The word for “thoughts” (from חָצַב [khatsav, “to think; to reckon; to plan”]) has more to do with their intent than their general thoughts. He knows that when they talked about the fate of the wicked they really were talking about him.

[21:27]  ⁴ tn For the meaning of this word, and its root זָמַם (zamam), see Job 17:11. It usually means the “plans” or “schemes” that are concocted against someone.

[21:27]  ⁵ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 321) distinguishes the verb חָמַס (khamas) from the noun for “violence.” He proposes a meaning of “think, imagine”: “and the ideas you imagined about me.”

[11:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “against me.” The words “to kill me” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ⁷ tn The words “I did not know that they were saying” are not in the text. The quote is without formal introduction in the original. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ⁸ tn This word and its pronoun (לַחְמוֹ, lakhmo, “its bread”) is often emended to read “in/with its sap” = “in its prime” (either לֵחוֹ [lekho] or לֵחְמוֹ [lekhÿmo]); the latter would be more likely and the מוֹ (mo) could be explained as a rare use of the old poetic third plural suffix for the third singular; cf. GKC 258 §91.l for general use and Ps 11:7 and Job 27:23 for third singular use. Though this fits the context nicely the emendation is probably unnecessary since the word “bread” is sometimes used of other foodstuff than grain or its products (cf. BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 2.a).

[11:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “cut it [or him] off.” The metaphor of the tree may be continued, though the verb “cut off” is used also of killing people. The rendering clarifies the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that his name will not be remembered any more.”

[18:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.

[18:18]  ¹² tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.

[18:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

[18:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.

[18:19]  ¹⁵ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show that Jeremiah turns from description of the peoples’ plots to his address to God to deal with the plotters.

[18:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the voice of my adversaries.”

[18:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or “They are plotting to kill me”; Heb “They have dug a pit for my soul.” This is a common metaphor for plotting against someone. See BDB 500 s.v. כָּרָה Qal and for an example see Pss 7:16 (7:15 HT) in its context.

[18:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to speak good concerning them” going back to the concept of “good” being paid back with evil.

[18:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to turn back your anger from them.”

[40:14]  ²⁰ tn The translation is intended to reflect the emphasizing infinitive absolute before the finite verb.

[40:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “Why should he kill you?” However, this is one of those cases listed in BDB 554 s.v. מָה 4.d(b) where it introduces a question introducing rhetorically the reason why something should not be done. In cases like this BDB notes that it approximates the meaning “lest” and is translated in Greek by μήποτε (mhpote) or μή (mh) as the Greek version does here. Hence it is separated from the preceding and translated “otherwise” for the sake of English style.

[40:16]  ²² tn Heb “this thing.”

[40:16]  ²³ tn Heb “is false” or “is a lie.”

[7:39]  ²⁴ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[7:39]  ²⁵ tn This is a good example of a second class (contrary to fact) Greek conditional sentence. The Pharisee said, in effect, “If this man were a prophet (but he is not)…”

[7:39]  ²⁶ sn The Pharisees believed in a form of separationism that would have prevented them from any kind of association with such a sinful woman.