Ezekiel 8:17

8:17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! ¹ 

Ezekiel 8:2

8:2 As I watched, I noticed ²  a form that appeared to be a man. ³  From his waist downward was something like fire, ⁴  and from his waist upward something like a brightness, ⁵  like an amber glow. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 21:16

21:16 Cut sharply on the right!

Swing to ⁷  the left,

wherever your edge ⁸  is appointed to strike.

Ezekiel 24:4

24:4 add the pieces of meat to it,

every good piece,

the thigh and the shoulder;

fill it with choice bones.

Jeremiah 2:34

2:34 Even your clothes are stained with

the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;

you did not catch them breaking into your homes. ⁹ 

Yet, in spite of all these things you have done, ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 22:17

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. ¹¹ 

Lamentations 4:13-14

מ (Mem)

4:13 But it happened ¹²  due to the sins of her prophets ¹³ 

and the iniquities of her priests,

who poured out in her midst

the blood of the righteous.

נ (Nun)

4:14 They ¹⁴  wander blindly ¹⁵  through the streets,

defiled by the blood they shed, ¹⁶ 

while no one dares ¹⁷ 

to touch their garments.

Matthew 23:35-37

23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ¹⁸  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ¹⁹  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ²⁰ 

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²¹  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²²  How often I have longed ²³  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁴  you would have none of it! ²⁵ 

Luke 11:50

11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable ²⁶  for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning ²⁷  of the world, ²⁸ 

[8:17]  ¹ tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”

[8:2]  ² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).

[8:2]  ³ tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.

[8:2]  ⁴ tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.

[8:2]  ⁵ tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”

[8:2]  ⁶ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[21:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “Put to.”

[21:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “face.”

[2:34]  ⁹ tn The words “for example” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification. This is only one example of why their death was not legitimate.

[2:34]  ¹⁰ tn KJV and ASV read this line with 2:34. The ASV makes little sense and the KJV again erroneously reads the archaic second person feminine singular perfect as first person common singular. All the modern English versions and commentaries take this line with 2:35.

[22:17]  ¹¹ 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.

[4:13]  ¹² tn These words do not appear in the Hebrew, but are supplied to make sense of the line. The introductory causal preposition מִן (min) (“because”) indicates that this phrase – or something like it – is implied through elision.

[4:13]  ¹³ tn There is no main verb in the verse; it is an extended prepositional phrase. One must either assume a verbal idea such as “But it happened due to…” or connect it to the following verses, which themselves are quite difficult. The former option was employed in the present translation.

[4:14]  ¹⁴ tn “They” are apparently the people, rather than the prophets and priests mentioned in the preceding verse.

[4:14]  ¹⁵ tc The Hebrew word עִוְרִים (’ivrim) appears to be an adjective based on the root I עִוֵּר (’ivver, “blind”). The LXX, using a rare perfect optative of ἐγείρω (egeirw), seems to have read a form of II עוּר (’ur, “to rise”), while the Syriac reads “her nobles,” possibly from reading שָׂרִים (sarim). The evidence is unclear.

[4:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “defiled with blood.”

[4:14]  ¹⁷ tn The translation is conjecture. The MT has the preposition ב (bet, “in,” “by,” “with,” “when,” etc.), the negative particle לֹא (lo’), then a finite verb from יָכַל (yakhal, Qal impfect 3rd person masculine plural): “in not they are able.” Normally יָכַל (yakhal) would be followed by an infinitive, identifying what someone is or is not able to do, or by some other modifying clause. לֹא יָכַל (lo’ yakhal) on its own may mean “they do not prevail.” The preposition ב (bet) suggests possible dependence on another verb (cp. Jer 2:11, the only other verse with the sequence ב [bet] plus לֹא [lo’] plus finite verb). The following verb נָגַע (naga’, “touch”) regularly indicates its object with the preposition ב (bet), but the preposition ב (bet) is already used with “their garments.” If both are the object of נָגַע (naga’), the line would read “they touched what they could not, their garments.” As this makes no sense, one should note that any other verb on which the phrase would be dependent is not recoverable. The preposition ב (bet) can also introduce temporal clauses, though there are no examples with לֹא (lo’) plus a finite verb. A temporal understanding could yield “when they could not succeed, they touched [clutched?] their garments” or “while no one is able [to ?] they touch their garments.” In Jer 49:10 the meaning of יָכַל (yakhal) is completed by a finite verb (though it is not governed by the preposition ב [bet]). If so here, then we may understand “while (ב [bet]) no one dares (יָכַל, yakhal) to touch their garments.” This gives the picture of blind people stumbling about while others cannot help because they are afraid to touch them.

[23:35]  ¹⁸ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ²⁰ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[23:37]  ²¹ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ²² tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ²³ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ²⁵ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[11:50]  ²⁶ tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.

[11:50]  ²⁷ tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.

[11:50]  ²⁸ tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.