Deuteronomy 21:23

21:23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury ¹  him that same day, for the one who is left exposed ²  on a tree is cursed by God. ³  You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 27:16

27:16 ‘Cursed ⁴  is the one who disrespects ⁵  his father and mother.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:20

27:20 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with ⁶  his father’s former wife, ⁷  for he dishonors his father.’ ⁸  Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Job 18:8-10

18:8 For he has been thrown into a net by his feet ⁹ 

and he wanders into a mesh. ¹⁰ 

18:9 A trap ¹¹  seizes him by the heel;

a snare ¹²  grips him.

18:10 A rope is hidden for him ¹³  on the ground

and a trap for him ¹⁴  lies on the path.

Job 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Psalms 63:9-10

63:9 Enemies seek to destroy my life, ¹⁵ 

but they will descend into the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ 

63:10 Each one will be handed over to the sword; ¹⁷ 

their corpses will be eaten by jackals. ¹⁸ 

Proverbs 20:20

20:20 The one who curses ¹⁹  his father and his mother,

his lamp ²⁰  will be extinguished in the blackest ²¹  darkness.

Proverbs 30:17

30:17 The eye ²²  that mocks at a father

and despises obeying ²³  a mother –

the ravens of the valley will peck it out

and the young vultures will eat it. ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 48:44

48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit.

Anyone who climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a trap. ²⁵ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ²⁶ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁷ 

Mark 7:10

7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ²⁸  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ²⁹ 

Galatians 3:13

3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming ³⁰  a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) ³¹ 

[21:23]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”

[21:23]  ² tn Heb “hung,” but this could convey the wrong image in English (hanging with a rope as a means of execution). Cf. NCV “anyone whose body is displayed on a tree.”

[21:23]  ³ sn The idea behind the phrase cursed by God seems to be not that the person was impaled because he was cursed but that to leave him exposed there was to invite the curse of God upon the whole land. Why this would be so is not clear, though the rabbinic idea that even a criminal is created in the image of God may give some clue (thus J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 198). Paul cites this text (see Gal 3:13) to make the point that Christ, suspended from a cross, thereby took upon himself the curse associated with such a display of divine wrath and judgment (T. George, Galatians [NAC], 238-39).

[27:16]  ⁴ tn The Levites speak again at this point; throughout this pericope the Levites pronounce the curse and the people respond with “Amen.”

[27:16]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term קָלָה (qalah) means to treat with disdain or lack of due respect (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “dishonors”; NLT “despises”). It is the opposite of כָּבֵד (kaved, “to be heavy,” that is, to treat with reverence and proper deference). To treat a parent lightly is to dishonor him or her and thus violate the fifth commandment (Deut 5:16; cf. Exod 21:17).

[27:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “who lies with” (so NASB, NRSV); also in vv. 22, 23. This is a Hebrew idiom for having sexual relations (cf. NIV “who sleeps with”; NLT “who has sexual intercourse with”).

[27:20]  ⁷ tn See note at Deut 22:30.

[27:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “he uncovers his father’s skirt” (NASB similar). See note at Deut 22:30.

[18:8]  ⁹ tn See Ps 25:15.

[18:8]  ¹⁰ tn The word שְׂבָכָה (sÿvakhah) is used in scripture for the lattice window (2 Kgs 1:2). The Arabic cognate means “to be intertwined.” So the term could describe a net, matting, grating, or lattice. Here it would be the netting stretched over a pit.

[18:9]  ¹¹ tn This word פָּח (pakh) specifically refers to the snare of the fowler – thus a bird trap. But its plural seems to refer to nets in general (see Job 22:10).

[18:9]  ¹² tn This word does not occur elsewhere. But another word from the same root means “plait of hair,” and so this term has something to do with a net like a trellis or lattice.

[18:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “his rope.” The suffix must be a genitive expressing that the trap was for him, to trap him, and so an objective genitive.

[18:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his trap.” The pronominal suffix is objective genitive here as well.

[63:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “but they for destruction seek my life.” The pronoun “they” must refer here to the psalmist’s enemies, referred to at this point for the first time in the psalm.

[63:9]  ¹⁶ sn The depths of the earth refers here to the underworld dwelling place of the dead (see Ezek 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24). See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 167.

[63:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).

[63:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”

[20:20]  ¹⁹ tn The form is the Piel participle of קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light”; in the Piel stem it means “to take lightly; to treat as worthless; to treat contemptuously; to curse.” Under the Mosaic law such treatment of parents brought a death penalty (Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9; Deut 27:16).

[20:20]  ²⁰ tn “His lamp” is a figure known as hypocatastasis (an implied comparison) meaning “his life.” Cf. NLT “the lamp of your life”; TEV “your life will end like a lamp.”

[20:20]  ²¹ tc The Kethib, followed by the LXX, Syriac, and Latin, has בְּאִישׁוֹן (bÿ’ishon), “in the pupil of the eye darkness,” the dark spot of the eye. But the Qere has בֶּאֱשׁוּן (be’eshun), probably to be rendered “pitch” or “blackest,” although the form occurs nowhere else. The meaning with either reading is approximately the same – deep darkness, which adds vividly to the figure of the lamp being snuffed out. This individual’s destruction will be total and final.

[30:17]  ²² sn The “eye” as the organ that exhibits the inner feelings most clearly, here represents a look of scorn or disdain that speaks volumes (a metonymy of cause or of adjunct). It is comparable to the “evil eye” which is stinginess (28:22).

[30:17]  ²³ tn The Hebrew word לִיקֲּהַת (liqqahat, “obeying”) occurs only here and in Gen 49:10; it seems to mean “to receive” in the sense of “receiving instruction” or “obeying.” C. H. Toy suggests emending to “to old age” (לְזִקְנַת, lÿziqnat) of the mother (Proverbs [ICC], 530). The LXX with γῆρας (ghra", “old age”) suggests that a root lhq had something to do with “white hair.” D. W. Thomas suggests a corruption from lhyqt to lyqht; it would have read, “The eye that mocks a father and despises an aged mother” (“A Note on לִיקֲּהַת in Proverbs 30:17,” JTS 42 [1941]: 154-55); this is followed by NAB “or scorns an aged mother.”

[30:17]  ²⁴ sn The sternest punishment is for the evil eye. The punishment is talionic – eye for eye. The reference to “the valley” may indicate a place where people are not be given decent burials and the birds of prey pick the corpses clean. It is an image the prophets use in judgment passages.

[48:44]  ²⁵ sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.

[48:44]  ²⁶ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[7:10]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[7:10]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[3:13]  ³⁰ tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.

[3:13]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Deut 21:23. By figurative extension the Greek word translated tree (ζύλον, zulon) can also be used to refer to a cross (L&N 6.28), the Roman instrument of execution.