Genesis 11:5

11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people ¹  had started ²  building.

Genesis 18:21

18:21 that I must go down ³  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ⁴  If not, ⁵  I want to know.”

Exodus 32:9-10

32:9 Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. ⁶  Look ⁷  what a stiff-necked people they are! ⁸  32:10 So now, leave me alone ⁹  so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”

Psalms 50:7

50:7 He says: ¹⁰ 

“Listen my people! I am speaking!

Listen Israel! I am accusing you! ¹¹ 

I am God, your God!

Jeremiah 7:11

7:11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own ¹²  is to be a hideout for robbers? ¹³  You had better take note! ¹⁴  I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

Jeremiah 13:27

13:27 People of Jerusalem, ¹⁵  I have seen your adulterous worship,

your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. ¹⁶ 

I have seen your disgusting acts of worship ¹⁷ 

on the hills throughout the countryside.

You are doomed to destruction! ¹⁸ 

How long will you continue to be unclean?’”

Hosea 6:10

6:10 I have seen a disgusting thing in the temple of Israel:

there Ephraim practices temple prostitution

and Judah defiles itself.

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ¹⁹  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ²⁰  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ²¹  who refuse to help ²²  the immigrant ²³  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

[11:5]  ¹ tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.

[11:5]  ² tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.

[18:21]  ³ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ⁵ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[32:9]  ⁶ sn This is a bold anthropomorphism; it is as if God has now had a chance to get to know these people and has discovered how rebellious they are. The point of the figure is that there has been discernible evidence of their nature.

[32:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and behold” or “and look.” The expression directs attention in order to persuade the hearer.

[32:9]  ⁸ sn B. Jacob says the image is that of the people walking before God, and when he called to them the directions, they would not bend their neck to listen; they were resolute in doing what they intended to do (Exodus, 943). The figure describes them as refusing to submit, but resisting in pride.

[32:10]  ⁹ tn The imperative, from the word “to rest” (נוּחַ, nuakh), has the sense of “leave me alone, let me be.” It is a directive for Moses not to intercede for the people. B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 567) reflects the Jewish interpretation that there is a profound paradox in God’s words. He vows the severest punishment but then suddenly conditions it on Moses’ agreement. “Let me alone that I may consume them” is the statement, but the effect is that he has left the door open for intercession. He allows himself to be persuaded – that is what a mediator is for. God could have slammed the door (as when Moses wanted to go into the promised land). Moreover, by alluding to the promise to Abraham God gave Moses the strongest reason to intercede.

[50:7]  ¹⁰ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s charges against his people follow.

[50:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Israel, and I will testify against you.” The imperative “listen” is understood in the second line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[7:11]  ¹² tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “Is this house…a den/cave of robbers in your eyes?”

[7:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Behold!”

[13:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Jerusalem.” This word has been pulled up from the end of the verse to help make the transition. The words “people of” have been supplied in the translation here to ease the difficulty mentioned earlier of sustaining the personification throughout.

[13:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[I have seen] your adulteries, your neighings, and your shameless prostitution.” The meanings of the metaphorical references have been incorporated in the translation for the sake of clarity for readers of all backgrounds.

[13:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your disgusting acts.” This word is almost always used of idolatry or of the idols themselves. See BDB 1055 s.v. שִׁקֻּוּץ and Deut 29:17 and Jer 4:1; 7:30.

[13:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Woe to you!”

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ²² tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ²³ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”