Deuteronomy 4:16

4:16 I say this ¹  so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female,

Deuteronomy 31:29

31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally ²  corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly ³  before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 32:5

32:5 His people have been unfaithful ⁵  to him;

they have not acted like his children ⁶  – this is their sin. ⁷ 

They are a perverse ⁸  and deceitful generation.

Genesis 6:11-12

6:11 The earth was ruined ⁹  in the sight of ¹⁰  God; the earth was filled with violence. ¹¹  6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ¹²  it was ruined, ¹³  for all living creatures ¹⁴  on the earth were sinful. ¹⁵ 

Jude 1:10

1:10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. ¹⁶ 

[4:16]  ¹ tn The words “I say this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 16 is subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

[31:29]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”

[31:29]  ³ tn Heb “do the evil.”

[31:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

[32:5]  ⁵ tc The 3rd person masculine singular שָׁחַת (shakhat) is rendered as 3rd person masculine plural by Smr, a reading supported by the plural suffix on מוּם (mum, “defect”) as well as the plural of בֵּן (ben, “sons”).

[32:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “(they are) not his sons.”

[32:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “defect” (so NASB). This highly elliptical line suggests that Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.

[32:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “twisted,” “crooked.” See Ps 18:26.

[6:11]  ⁹ tn Apart from Gen 6:11-12, the Niphal form of this verb occurs in Exod 8:20 HT (8:24 ET), where it describes the effect of the swarms of flies on the land of Egypt; Jer 13:7 and 18:4, where it is used of a “ruined” belt and “marred” clay pot, respectively; and Ezek 20:44, where it describes Judah’s morally “corrupt” actions. The sense “morally corrupt” fits well in Gen 6:11 because of the parallelism (note “the earth was filled with violence”). In this case “earth” would stand by metonymy for its sinful inhabitants. However, the translation “ruined” works just as well, if not better. In this case humankind’s sin is viewed has having an adverse effect upon the earth. Note that vv. 12b-13 make a distinction between the earth and the living creatures who live on it.

[6:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “before.”

[6:11]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “violence” refers elsewhere to a broad range of crimes, including unjust treatment (Gen 16:5; Amos 3:10), injurious legal testimony (Deut 19:16), deadly assault (Gen 49:5), murder (Judg 9:24), and rape (Jer 13:22).

[6:12]  ¹² tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”

[6:12]  ¹³ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “flesh.” Since moral corruption is in view here, most modern western interpreters understand the referent to be humankind. However, the phrase “all flesh” is used consistently of humankind and the animals in Gen 6-9 (6:17, 19; 7:15-16, 21; 8:17; 9:11, 15-17), suggesting that the author intends to picture all living creatures, humankind and animals, as guilty of moral failure. This would explain why the animals, not just humankind, are victims of the ensuing divine judgment. The OT sometimes views animals as morally culpable (Gen 9:5; Exod 21:28-29; Jonah 3:7-8). The OT also teaches that a person’s sin can contaminate others (people and animals) in the sinful person’s sphere (see the story of Achan, especially Josh 7:10). So the animals could be viewed here as morally contaminated because of their association with sinful humankind.

[6:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “had corrupted its way.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “way” refers to the collective “all flesh.” The construction “corrupt one’s way” occurs only here (though Ezek 16:47 uses the Hiphil in an intransitive sense with the preposition בְּ [bet, “in”] followed by “ways”). The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) means “to ruin, to destroy, to corrupt,” often as here in a moral/ethical sense. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to behavior or moral character, a sense that it frequently carries (see BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a).

[1:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or “they should naturally comprehend.” The present tense in this context may have a conative force.