Exodus 22:28

22:28 “You must not blaspheme ¹  God ²  or curse the ruler of your people.

Exodus 22:1

Laws about Property

22:1 ³ (21:37) ⁴  “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back ⁵  five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. ⁶ 

Exodus 17:1

Water at Massa and Meribah

17:1 ⁷ The whole community ⁸  of the Israelites traveled on their journey ⁹  from the Desert of Sin according to the Lord’s instruction, and they pitched camp in Rephidim. ¹⁰  Now ¹¹  there was no water for the people to drink. ¹² 

Psalms 69:26

69:26 For they harass ¹³  the one whom you discipline; ¹⁴ 

they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 109:16-19

109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; ¹⁶ 

he harassed the oppressed and needy,

and killed the disheartened. ¹⁷ 

109:17 He loved to curse ¹⁸  others, so those curses have come upon him. ¹⁹ 

He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings. ²⁰ 

109:18 He made cursing a way of life, ²¹ 

so curses poured into his stomach like water

and seeped into his bones like oil. ²² 

109:19 May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on, ²³ 

or a belt ²⁴  one wears continually!

Psalms 109:28

109:28 They curse, but you will bless. ²⁵ 

When they attack, they will be humiliated, ²⁶ 

but your servant will rejoice.

Proverbs 26:2

26:2 Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow,

so a curse without cause ²⁷  does not come to rest. ²⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 10:20

10:20 Do not curse a king even in your thoughts,

and do not curse the rich ²⁹  while in your bedroom; ³⁰ 

for a bird ³¹  might report what you are thinking, ³² 

or some winged creature ³³  might repeat your ³⁴  words. ³⁵ 

Isaiah 8:21

8:21 They will pass through the land ³⁶  destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, ³⁷  and they will curse their king and their God ³⁸  as they look upward.

Matthew 5:11-12

5:11 “Blessed are you when people ³⁹  insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely ⁴⁰  on account of me. 5:12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

[22:28]  ¹ tn The two verbs in this verse are synonyms: קָלַל (qalal) means “to treat lightly, curse,” and אָרַר (’arar) means “to curse.”

[22:28]  ² tn The word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is “gods” or “God.” If taken as the simple plural, it could refer to the human judges, as it has in the section of laws; this would match the parallelism in the verse. If it was taken to refer to God, then the idea of cursing God would be more along the line of blasphemy. B. Jacob says that the word refers to functioning judges, and that would indirectly mean God, for they represented the religious authority, and the prince the civil authority (Exodus, 708).

[22:1]  ³ sn The next section of laws concerns property rights. These laws protected property from thieves and oppressors, but also set limits to retribution. The message could be: God’s laws demand that the guilty make restitution for their crimes against property and that the innocent be exonerated.

[22:1]  ⁴ sn Beginning with 22:1, the verse numbers through 22:31 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:1 ET = 21:37 HT, 22:2 ET = 22:1 HT, etc., through 22:31 ET = 22:30 HT. Thus in the English Bible ch. 22 has 31 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 30 verses, with the one extra verse attached to ch. 21 in the Hebrew Bible.

[22:1]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of obligatory imperfect – he must pay back.

[22:1]  ⁶ tn בָּקַר (baqar) and צֹאן (tso’n) are the categories to which the ox and the sheep belonged, so that the criminal had some latitude in paying back animals.

[17:1]  ⁷ sn This is the famous story telling how the people rebelled against Yahweh when they thirsted, saying that Moses had brought them out into the wilderness to kill them by thirst, and how Moses with the staff brought water from the rock. As a result of this the name was called Massa and Meribah because of the testing and the striving. It was a challenge to Moses’ leadership as well as a test of Yahweh’s presence. The narrative in its present form serves an important point in the argument of the book. The story turns on the gracious provision of God who can give his people water when there is none available. The narrative is structured to show how the people strove. Thus, the story intertwines God’s free flowing grace with the sad memory of Israel’s sins. The passage can be divided into three parts: the situation and the complaint (1-3), the cry and the miracle (4-6), and the commemoration by naming (7).

[17:1]  ⁸ tn Or “congregation” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[17:1]  ⁹ tn The text says that they journeyed “according to their journeyings.” Since the verb form (and therefore the derived noun) essentially means to pull up the tent pegs and move along, this verse would be saying that they traveled by stages, or, from place to place.

[17:1]  ¹⁰ sn The location is a bit of a problem. Exod 19:1-2 suggests that it is near Sinai, whereas it is normally located near Kadesh in the north. Without any details provided, M. Noth concludes that two versions came together (Exodus [OTL], 138). S. R. Driver says that the writer wrote not knowing that they were 24 miles apart (Exodus, 157). Critics have long been bothered by this passage because of the two names given at the same place. If two sources had been brought together, it is not possible now to identify them. But Noth insisted that if there were two names there were two different locations. The names Massah and Meribah occur alone in Scripture (Deut 9:22, and Num 20:1 for examples), but together in Ps 95 and in Deut 33:8. But none of these passages is a clarification of the difficulty. Most critics would argue that Massah was a secondary element that was introduced into this account, because Exod 17 focuses on Meribah. From that starting point they can diverge greatly on the interpretation, usually having something to do with a water test. But although Num 20 is parallel in several ways, there are major differences: 1) it takes place 40 years later than this, 2) the name Kadesh is joined to the name Meribah there, and 3) Moses is punished there. One must conclude that if an event could occur twice in similar ways (complaint about water would be a good candidate for such), then there is no reason a similar name could not be given.

[17:1]  ¹¹ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a parenthetical clause that is essential for this passage – there was no water.

[17:1]  ¹² tn Here the construction uses a genitive after the infinitive construct for the subject: “there was no water for the drinking of the people” (GKC 353-54 §115.c).

[69:26]  ¹³ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

[69:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

[69:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

[109:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”

[109:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”

[109:17]  ¹⁸ sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.

[109:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.

[109:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”

[109:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”

[109:18]  ²² tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”

[109:19]  ²³ tn Heb “may it be for him like a garment one puts on.”

[109:19]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew noun מֵזַח (mezakh, “belt; waistband”) occurs only here in the OT. The form apparently occurs in Isa 23:10 as well, but an emendation is necessary there.

[109:28]  ²⁵ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).

[109:28]  ²⁶ tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.

[26:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “causeless curse” (KJV similar) describes an undeserved curse (cf. NIV, NRSV). The Hebrew word translated “causeless” is the adverb from ָחנַן (khanan); it means “without cause; gratuitous.”

[26:2]  ²⁸ tc The MT has the negative with the verb “to enter; to come” to mean “will not come” (לֹא תָבֹא, lo’ tavo’). This is interpreted to mean “will not come to rest” or “will not come home.” Some commentators have taken the Qere reading of לוֹ (lo) instead, and read it as “will come home to him.” This is also a little difficult; but it gives the idea that an undeserved curse will come [back] to him [who gave it]. Just as a bird will fly around and eventually come home, so will the undeserved curse return on the one who gave it. This is plausible; but there is no referent for the suffix, making it syntactically difficult.

[10:20]  ²⁹ tn Perhaps the referent is people who are in authority because of their wealth.

[10:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in chambers of your bedroom.”

[10:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “a bird of the air.”

[10:20]  ³² tn Heb “might carry the voice.” The article is used here with the force of a possessive pronoun.

[10:20]  ³³ tn The Hebrew phrase בַּעַל הַכְּנָפַיִם (ba’al hakkÿnafayim, “possessor of wings”) is an idiom for a winged creature, that is, a bird (e.g., Prov 1:17; see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל A.6; BDB 127 s.v. בַּעַל 5.a). The term בַּעַל (“master; possessor”) is the construct governing the attributive genitive הַכְּנָפַיִם (“wings”); see IBHS 149-51 §9.5.3b.

[10:20]  ³⁴ tn The term “your” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[10:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “tell the matter.”

[8:21]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he will pass through it.” The subject of the collective singular verb is the nation. (See the preceding note.) The immediately preceding context supplies no antecedent for “it” (a third feminine singular suffix in the Hebrew text); the suffix may refer to the land, which would be a reasonable referent with a verb of motion. Note also that אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) does appear at the beginning of the next verse.

[8:21]  ³⁷ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[8:21]  ³⁸ tn Or “gods” (NAB, NRSV, CEV).

[5:11]  ³⁹ tn Grk “when they insult you.” The third person pronoun (here implied in the verb ὀνειδίσωσιν [ojneidiswsin]) has no specific referent, but refers to people in general.

[5:11]  ⁴⁰ tc Although ψευδόμενοι (yeudomenoi, “bearing witness falsely”) could be a motivated reading, clarifying that the disciples are unjustly persecuted, its lack in only D it sy^s Tert does not help its case. Since the Western text is known for numerous free alterations, without corroborative evidence the shorter reading must be judged as secondary.