Exodus 23:2

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ¹  in doing evil things; ²  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ³ 

Proverbs 29:25

29:25 The fear of people ⁴  becomes ⁵  a snare, ⁶ 

but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 38:4-5

38:4 So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing ⁸  the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. ⁹  This ¹⁰  man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” ¹¹  38:5 King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. ¹²  For I cannot do anything to stop you.” ¹³ 

Jeremiah 38:16

38:16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, ¹⁴  “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, ¹⁵  I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.” ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 38:19

38:19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. ¹⁷  The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.” ¹⁸ 

Matthew 27:20-26

27:20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 27:21 The ¹⁹  governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas!” 27:22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” ²⁰  They all said, “Crucify him!” ²¹  27:23 He asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!”

Jesus is Condemned and Mocked

27:24 When ²²  Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!” ²³  27:25 In ²⁴  reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” 27:26 Then he released Barabbas for them. But after he had Jesus flogged, ²⁵  he handed him over ²⁶  to be crucified. ²⁷ 

[23:2]  ¹ tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).

[23:2]  ² tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.

[23:2]  ³ tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”

[29:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “the fear of man.” This uses an objective genitive to describe a situation where fearing what people might do or think controls one’s life. There is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males, so the translation uses the more generic “people” here.

[29:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “gives [or yields, or produces]”; NIV “will prove to be.”

[29:25]  ⁶ sn “Snare” is an implied comparison; fearing people is like being in a trap – there is no freedom of movement or sense of security.

[29:25]  ⁷ sn The image of being set on high comes from the military experience of finding a defensible position, a place of safety and security, such as a high wall or a mountain. Trusting in the Lord sets people free and gives them a sense of safety and security (e.g, Prov 10:27; 12:2).

[38:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “weakening the hands of.” For this idiom see BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Pi. and compare the usage in Isa 13:7; Ezek 21:7 (21:12 HT).

[38:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “by saying these things.”

[38:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) has not been rendered here because it is introducing a parallel causal clause to the preceding one. To render “For” might be misunderstood as a grounds for the preceding statement. To render “And” or “Moreover” sounds a little odd here. If it must be represented, “Moreover” is perhaps the best rendering.

[38:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “is not looking out for these people’s best interests but is really trying to do them harm”; Heb “is not seeking the welfare [or “well-being”; Hebrew shalom] of this people but [their] harm [more literally, evil].”

[38:5]  ¹² tn Heb “Behold, he is in your hands [= power/control].”

[38:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “For the king cannot do a thing with/against you.” The personal pronoun “I” is substituted in the English translation due to differences in style; Hebrew style often uses the third person or the title in speaking of oneself but English rarely if ever does. Compare the common paraphrasis of “your servant” for “I” in Hebrew (cf. BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד 6 and usage in 1 Sam 20:7, 8) and compare the usage in Pss 63:11 (63:12 HT); 61:6 (61:7 HT) where the king is praying for himself. For the meaning of יָכֹל (yakhol) as “to be able to do anything,” see BDB 407 s.v. יָכֹל 1.g.

[38:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “So King Zedekiah secretly swore an oath to Jeremiah, saying.”

[38:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who has made this life/soul/ breath [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] for us.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ refers to the living, breathing substance of a person which constitutes his very life (cf. BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1; 3).

[38:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “who are seeking your life.”

[38:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[38:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “and they will badly abuse me.” For the usage of this verb in the situation presupposed see Judg 19:25 and 1 Sam 31:4.

[27:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answering, the governor said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:22]  ²⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[27:22]  ²¹ tn Grk “Him – be crucified!” The third person imperative is difficult to translate because English has no corresponding third person form for the imperative. The traditional translation “Let him be crucified” sounds as if the crowd is giving consent or permission. “He must be crucified” is closer, but it is more natural in English to convert the passive to active and simply say “Crucify him.”

[27:24]  ²² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:24]  ²³ sn You take care of it yourselves! Compare the response of the chief priests and elders to Judas in 27:4. The expression is identical except that in 27:4 it is singular and here it is plural.

[27:25]  ²⁴ tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[27:26]  ²⁵ tn The Greek term φραγελλόω (fragellow) refers to flogging. BDAG 1064 s.v. states, “flog, scourge, a punishment inflicted on slaves and provincials after a sentence of death had been pronounced on them. So in the case of Jesus before the crucifixion…Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15.”

[27:26]  ²⁶ tn Or “delivered him up.”

[27:26]  ²⁷ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.