Ezekiel 6:9

6:9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize ¹  how I was crushed by their unfaithful ²  heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves ³  because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices.

Ezekiel 18:6

18:6 does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains ⁴  or pray to the idols ⁵  of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not have sexual relations with a ⁶  woman during her period,

Ezekiel 18:12

18:12 oppresses the poor and the needy, ⁷  commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to ⁸  idols, performs abominable acts,

Ezekiel 18:15

18:15 He does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, does not pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife,

Deuteronomy 4:19

4:19 When you look up ⁹  to the sky ¹⁰  and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation ¹¹  – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, ¹²  for the Lord your God has assigned ¹³  them to all the people ¹⁴  of the world. ¹⁵ 

Job 31:26-27

31:26 if I looked at the sun ¹⁶  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, ¹⁷ 

Amos 2:4

2:4 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions ¹⁸  –

make that four! ¹⁹  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ²⁰ 

They rejected the Lord’s law; ²¹ 

they did not obey his commands.

Their false gods, ²² 

to which their fathers were loyal, ²³ 

led them astray.

[6:9]  ¹ tn The words “they will realize” are not in the Hebrew text; they are added here for stylistic reasons since this clause assumes the previous verb “to remember” or “to take into account.”

[6:9]  ² tn Heb “how I was broken by their adulterous heart.” The image of God being “broken” is startling, but perfectly natural within the metaphorical framework of God as offended husband. The idiom must refer to the intense grief that Israel’s unfaithfulness caused God. For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of the Hebrew text, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:134.

[6:9]  ³ tn Heb adds “in their faces.”

[18:6]  ⁴ tn Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten (Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6).

[18:6]  ⁵ tn Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.

[18:6]  ⁶ tn Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Lev 18:14; Deut 22:14; Isa 8:3).

[18:12]  ⁷ sn The poor and needy are often mentioned together in the OT (Deut 24:14; Jer 22:16; Ezek 14:69; Ps 12:6; 35:10; 37:14).

[18:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “lifts up his eyes.”

[4:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

[4:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[4:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”

[4:19]  ¹² tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.

[4:19]  ¹³ tn Or “allotted.”

[4:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “nations.”

[4:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “under all the heaven.”

[31:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[31:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ tn This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.

[2:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.”

[2:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:4]  ²¹ tn Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”

[2:4]  ²² tn Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26) and a delusion (Isa 66:3). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9; cf. Hab 2:3). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.

[2:4]  ²³ tn Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76.