Genesis 3:6

3:6 When ¹  the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, ²  was attractive ³  to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, ⁴  she took some of its fruit and ate it. ⁵  She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. ⁶ 

Genesis 4:5-8

4:5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. ⁷  So Cain became very angry, ⁸  and his expression was downcast. ⁹ 

4:6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 4:7 Is it not true ¹⁰  that if you do what is right, you will be fine? ¹¹  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching ¹²  at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” ¹³ 

4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” ¹⁴  While they were in the field, Cain attacked ¹⁵  his brother ¹⁶  Abel and killed him.

Job 15:35

15:35 They conceive ¹⁷  trouble and bring forth evil;

their belly ¹⁸  prepares deception.”

Psalms 7:14

7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,

who conceives destructive plans,

and gives birth to harmful lies – ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 59:4

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ²⁰ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ²¹  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ²² 

and give birth to sin.

Micah 2:1-3

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ²³ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²⁴ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ²⁵ 

because they have the power to do so.

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ²⁶ 

They defraud people of their homes, ²⁷ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ²⁸ 

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ²⁹ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ³⁰ 

You will no longer ³¹  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Matthew 26:14

The Plan to Betray Jesus

26:14 Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

Matthew 26:48-59

26:48 (Now the betrayer ³²  had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. ³³  Arrest him!”) ³⁴  26:49 Immediately ³⁵  he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi,” and kissed him. ³⁶  26:50 Jesus ³⁷  said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and took hold ³⁸  of Jesus and arrested him. 26:51 But ³⁹  one of those with Jesus grabbed ⁴⁰  his sword, drew it out, and struck the high priest’s slave, ⁴¹  cutting off his ear. 26:52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place! ⁴²  For all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword. 26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions ⁴³  of angels right now? 26:54 How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?” 26:55 At that moment Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? ⁴⁴  Day after day I sat teaching in the temple courts, yet ⁴⁵  you did not arrest me. 26:56 But this has happened so that ⁴⁶  the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ⁴⁷  the experts in the law ⁴⁸  and the elders had gathered. 26:58 But Peter was following him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After ⁴⁹  going in, he sat with the guards ⁵⁰  to see the outcome. 26:59 The ⁵¹  chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death.

Acts 5:1-3

The Judgment on Ananias and Sapphira

5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. 5:2 He ⁵²  kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought ⁵³  only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet. 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled ⁵⁴  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of ⁵⁵  the land?

[3:6]  ¹ tn Heb “And the woman saw.” The clause can be rendered as a temporal clause subordinate to the following verb in the sequence.

[3:6]  ² tn Heb “that the tree was good for food.” The words “produced fruit that was” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[3:6]  ³ tn The Hebrew word תַּאֲוָה (ta’avah, translated “attractive” here) actually means “desirable.” This term and the later term נֶחְמָד (nekhmad, “desirable”) are synonyms.

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “that good was the tree for food, and that desirable it was to the eyes, and desirable was the tree to make one wise.” On the connection between moral wisdom and the “knowledge of good and evil,” see the note on the word “evil” in 2:9.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied (here and also after “ate” at the end of this verse) for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ⁶ sn This pericope (3:1-7) is a fine example of Hebrew narrative structure. After an introductory disjunctive clause that introduces a new character and sets the stage (3:1), the narrative tension develops through dialogue, culminating in the action of the story. Once the dialogue is over, the action is told in a rapid sequence of verbs – she took, she ate, she gave, and he ate.

[4:5]  ⁷ sn The Letter to the Hebrews explains the difference between the brothers as one of faith – Abel by faith offered a better sacrifice. Cain’s offering as well as his reaction to God’s displeasure did not reflect faith. See further B. K. Waltke, “Cain and His Offering,” WTJ 48 (1986): 363-72.

[4:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it was hot to Cain.” This Hebrew idiom means that Cain “burned” with anger.

[4:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “And his face fell.” The idiom means that the inner anger is reflected in Cain’s facial expression. The fallen or downcast face expresses anger, dejection, or depression. Conversely, in Num 6 the high priestly blessing speaks of the Lord lifting up his face and giving peace.

[4:7]  ¹⁰ tn The introduction of the conditional clause with an interrogative particle prods the answer from Cain, as if he should have known this. It is not a condemnation, but an encouragement to do what is right.

[4:7]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text is difficult, because only one word occurs, שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et), which appears to be the infinitive construct from the verb “to lift up” (נָאָשׂ, na’as). The sentence reads: “If you do well, uplifting.” On the surface it seems to be the opposite of the fallen face. Everything will be changed if he does well. God will show him favor, he will not be angry, and his face will reflect that. But more may be intended since the second half of the verse forms the contrast: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching….” Not doing well leads to sinful attack; doing well leads to victory and God’s blessing.

[4:7]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term translated “crouching” (רֹבֵץ, rovets) is an active participle. Sin is portrayed with animal imagery here as a beast crouching and ready to pounce (a figure of speech known as zoomorphism). An Akkadian cognate refers to a type of demon; in this case perhaps one could translate, “Sin is the demon at the door” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 29, 32-33).

[4:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “and toward you [is] its desire, but you must rule over it.” As in Gen 3:16, the Hebrew noun “desire” refers to an urge to control or dominate. Here the desire is that which sin has for Cain, a desire to control for the sake of evil, but Cain must have mastery over it. The imperfect is understood as having an obligatory sense. Another option is to understand it as expressing potential (“you can have [or “are capable of having”] mastery over it.”). It will be a struggle, but sin can be defeated by righteousness. In addition to this connection to Gen 3, other linguistic and thematic links between chaps. 3 and 4 are discussed by A. J. Hauser, “Linguistic and Thematic Links Between Genesis 4:1-6 and Genesis 2–3,” JETS 23 (1980): 297-306.

[4:8]  ¹⁴ tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָּׂדֶה (basadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָּׂדֶה.

[4:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).

[4:8]  ¹⁶ sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).

[15:35]  ¹⁷ tn Infinitives absolute are used in this verse in the place of finite verbs. They lend a greater vividness to the description, stressing the basic meaning of the words.

[15:35]  ¹⁸ tn At the start of the speech Eliphaz said Job’s belly was filled with the wind; now it is there that he prepares deception. This inclusio frames the speech.

[7:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”

[59:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ²² tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[2:1]  ²³ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ³¹ tn Or “you will not.”

[26:48]  ³² tn Grk “the one who betrays him.”

[26:48]  ³³ tn Grk “The one I kiss is he.”

[26:48]  ³⁴ sn This remark is parenthetical within the narrative and has thus been placed in parentheses.

[26:49]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:49]  ³⁶ sn Judas’ act of betrayal when he kissed Jesus is especially sinister when it is realized that it was common in the culture of the times for a disciple to kiss his master when greeting him.

[26:50]  ³⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:50]  ³⁸ tn Grk “and put their hands on Jesus.”

[26:51]  ³⁹ tn Grk “And behold one.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[26:51]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “extending his hand, drew out his sword, and struck.” Because rapid motion is implied in the circumstances, the translation “grabbed” was used.

[26:51]  ⁴¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[26:52]  ⁴² tn The translation “put your sword back in its place” for this phrase is given in L&N 85.52.

[26:53]  ⁴³ sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.

[26:55]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “a revolutionary.” This term can refer to one who stirs up rebellion: BDAG 594 s.v. λῃστής 2 has “revolutionary, insurrectionist, guerrilla” citing evidence from Josephus (J. W. 2.13.2-3 [2.253-254]). However, this usage generally postdates Jesus’ time. It does refer to a figure of violence. Luke uses the same term for the highwaymen who attack the traveler in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30).

[26:55]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “and” (καί, kai), a conjunction that is elastic enough to be used to indicate a contrast, as here.

[26:56]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “But so that”; the verb “has happened” is implied.

[26:57]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[26:58]  ⁴⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:58]  ⁵⁰ sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.

[26:59]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[5:2]  ⁵² tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[5:2]  ⁵³ tn The participle ἐνέγκας (enenka") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:3]  ⁵⁴ sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).

[5:3]  ⁵⁵ tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.