Ezekiel 7:23

7:23 (Make the chain, ¹  because the land is full of murder ²  and the city is full of violence.)

Genesis 6:11-12

6:11 The earth was ruined ³  in the sight of ⁴  God; the earth was filled with violence. ⁵  6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ⁶  it was ruined, ⁷  for all living creatures ⁸  on the earth were sinful. ⁹ 

Isaiah 59:6-7

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes. ¹⁰ 

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ¹¹ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ¹² 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 22:3

22:3 The Lord says, “Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those ¹⁴  who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. ¹⁵  Do not kill innocent people ¹⁶  in this land.

Jeremiah 22:16-17

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ¹⁷ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ¹⁸ 

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ¹⁹ 

Amos 3:10

3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)

“They store up ²⁰  the spoils of destructive violence ²¹  in their fortresses.

Amos 5:11-12

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ²² 

and exact a grain tax from them,

you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,

nor will you drink the wine from the fine ²³  vineyards you planted. ²⁴ 

5:12 Certainly ²⁵  I am aware of ²⁶  your many rebellious acts ²⁷ 

and your numerous sins.

You ²⁸  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ²⁹  the needy at the city gate. ³⁰ 

Amos 6:3

6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, ³¹ 

but you establish a reign of violence. ³² 

Zephaniah 1:9

1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, ³³ 

who fill the house of their master ³⁴  with wealth taken by violence and deceit. ³⁵ 

[7:23]  ¹ tc The Hebrew word “the chain” occurs only here in the OT. The reading of the LXX (“and they will make carnage”) seems to imply a Hebrew text of ַהבַּתּוֹק (habbattoq, “disorder, slaughter”) instead of הָרַתּוֹק (haratoq, “the chain”). The LXX is also translating the verb as a third person plural future and taking this as the end of the preceding verse. As M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:154) notes, this may refer to a chain for a train of exiles but “the context does not speak of exile but of the city’s fall. The versions guess desperately and we can do little better.”

[7:23]  ² tn Heb “judgment for blood,” i.e., indictment or accountability for bloodshed. The word for “judgment” does not appear in the similar phrase in 9:9.

[6:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “before.”

[6:11]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”

[6:12]  ⁷ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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).

[59:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”

[59:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ¹² tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[22:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the hand [or power] of.”

[22:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “aliens, orphans, or widows” treating the terms as generic or collective. However, the term “alien” carries faulty connotations and the term “orphan” is not totally appropriate because the Hebrew term does not necessarily mean that both parents have died.

[22:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Do not shed innocent blood.”

[22:16]  ¹⁷ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[3:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those who.”

[3:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.

[5:11]  ²² tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).

[5:11]  ²³ tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”

[5:12]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ²⁶ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ²⁷ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

[5:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[5:12]  ³⁰ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[6:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “those who push away a day of disaster.”

[6:3]  ³² tn Heb “you bring near a seat of violence.” The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שֶׁבֶת (shevet, “seat, sitting”) is unclear in this context. The translation assumes that it refers to a throne from which violence (in the person of the oppressive leaders) reigns. Another option is that the expression refers not to the leaders’ oppressive rule, but to the coming judgment when violence will overtake the nation in the person of enemy invaders.

[1:9]  ³³ sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).

[1:9]  ³⁴ tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.

[1:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.