Genesis 6:11-12

6:11 The earth was ruined ¹  in the sight of ²  God; the earth was filled with violence. ³  6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ⁴  it was ruined, ⁵  for all living creatures ⁶  on the earth were sinful. ⁷ 

Psalms 14:2-3

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ⁸  at the human race, ⁹ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹⁰  and seeks God. ¹¹ 

14:3 Everyone rejects God; ¹² 

they are all morally corrupt. ¹³ 

None of them does what is right, ¹⁴ 

not even one!

Isaiah 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ¹⁵ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ¹⁶ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ¹⁷ 

Romans 1:22-32

1:22 Although they claimed ¹⁸  to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ¹⁹  or birds or four-footed animals ²⁰  or reptiles.

1:24 Therefore God gave them over ²¹  in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor ²²  their bodies among themselves. ²³  1:25 They ²⁴  exchanged the truth of God for a lie ²⁵  and worshiped and served the creation ²⁶  rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, ²⁷  1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women ²⁸  and were inflamed in their passions ²⁹  for one another. Men ³⁰  committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ³¹  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ³²  1:29 They are filled ³³  with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with ³⁴  envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, ³⁵  heartless, ruthless. 1:32 Although they fully know ³⁶  God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, ³⁷  they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. ³⁸ 

Romans 3:9-19

The Condemnation of the World

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” ³⁹ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ⁴⁰ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ⁴¹ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ⁴²  full of cursing and bitterness.” ⁴³ 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” ⁴⁴ 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ⁴⁵ 

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ⁴⁶  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

[6:11]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “before.”

[6:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”

[6:12]  ⁵ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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).

[14:2]  ⁸ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ¹¹ sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[14:3]  ¹² tn Heb “everyone turns aside.”

[14:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[14:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[50:1]  ¹⁵ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ¹⁶ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ¹⁷ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[1:22]  ¹⁸ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ²⁰ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:24]  ²¹ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 81:12.

[1:24]  ²² tn The genitive articular infinitive τοῦ ἀτιμάζεσθαι (tou atimazesqai, “to dishonor”) has been taken as (1) an infinitive of purpose; (2) an infinitive of result; or (3) an epexegetical (i.e., explanatory) infinitive, expanding the previous clause.

[1:24]  ²³ tn Grk “among them.”

[1:25]  ²⁴ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:25]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the lie.”

[1:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “creature, created things.”

[1:26]  ²⁷ tn Grk “for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is contrary to nature.” The term χρῆσις (crhsi") has the force of “sexual relations” here (L&N 23.65).

[1:27]  ²⁸ tn Grk “likewise so also the males abandoning the natural function of the female.”

[1:27]  ²⁹ tn Grk “burned with intense desire” (L&N 25.16).

[1:27]  ³⁰ tn Grk “another, men committing…and receiving,” continuing the description of their deeds. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:28]  ³¹ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

[1:28]  ³² tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

[1:29]  ³³ tn Grk “being filled” or “having been filled,” referring to those described in v. 28. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:29]  ³⁴ tn Grk “malice, full of,” continuing the description. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:31]  ³⁵ tn Or “promise-breakers.”

[1:32]  ³⁶ tn Grk “who, knowing…, not only do them but also approve…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:32]  ³⁷ tn Grk “are worthy of death.”

[1:32]  ³⁸ sn “Vice lists” like vv. 28-32 can be found elsewhere in the NT in Matt 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and 1 Pet 4:3. An example from the intertestamental period can be found in Wis 14:25-26.

[3:12]  ³⁹ sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ⁴¹ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ⁴² tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ⁴³ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ⁴⁴ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:18]  ⁴⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.

[3:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”