Genesis 6:5

6:5 But the Lord saw ¹  that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination ²  of the thoughts ³  of their minds ⁴  was only evil ⁵  all the time. ⁶ 

Genesis 6:12

6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ⁷  it was ruined, ⁸  for all living creatures ⁹  on the earth were sinful. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 14:2-3

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ¹¹  at the human race, ¹² 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹³  and seeks God. ¹⁴ 

14:3 Everyone rejects God; ¹⁵ 

they are all morally corrupt. ¹⁶ 

None of them does what is right, ¹⁷ 

not even one!

Isaiah 1:9

1:9 If the Lord who commands armies ¹⁸  had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly become like Sodom, ¹⁹ 

we would have become like Gomorrah.

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.” ²⁰ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ²¹ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ²² 

3:14 “Their mouths are ²³  full of cursing and bitterness.” ²⁴ 

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.” ²⁵ 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ²⁶ 

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ²⁷  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Romans 3:2

3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. ²⁸  First of all, ²⁹  the Jews ³⁰  were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³¹ 

Colossians 4:4

4:4 Pray that I may make it known as I should. ³² 

Ephesians 2:2-3

2:2 in which ³³  you formerly lived ³⁴  according to this world’s present path, ³⁵  according to the ruler of the kingdom ³⁶  of the air, the ruler of ³⁷  the spirit ³⁸  that is now energizing ³⁹  the sons of disobedience, ⁴⁰  2:3 among whom ⁴¹  all of us ⁴²  also ⁴³  formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ⁴⁴  even as the rest… ⁴⁵ 

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ⁴⁶  dead ⁴⁷  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 5:19

5:19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music ⁴⁸  in ⁴⁹  your hearts to the Lord,

Revelation 12:9

12:9 So ⁵⁰  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

Revelation 13:8

13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, ⁵¹  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world ⁵²  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. ⁵³ 

Revelation 20:3

20:3 The angel ⁵⁴  then ⁵⁵  threw him into the abyss and locked ⁵⁶  and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

[6:5]  ¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.

[6:5]  ² tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).

[6:5]  ³ tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”

[6:5]  ⁵ sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.

[6:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “all the day.”

[6:12]  ⁷ tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”

[6:12]  ⁸ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ¹² tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ¹³ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “everyone turns aside.”

[14:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[14:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[1:9]  ¹⁸ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.

[1:9]  ¹⁹ tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.

[3:12]  ²⁰ sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ²² sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ²⁵ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:18]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.

[3:19]  ²⁷ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”

[3:2]  ²⁸ tn Grk “much in every way.”

[3:2]  ²⁹ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁷ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[3:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “they were.”

[3:2]  ³¹ tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.

[4:4]  ³² tn The phrase begins with the ἵνα (Jina) clause and is subordinate to the imperative προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite) in v. 2. The reference to the idea that Paul must make it known indicates that this clause is probably best viewed as purpose and not content, like the ἵνα of v. 3. It is the second purpose stated in the context; the first is expressed through the infinitive λαλῆσαι (lalhsai) in v. 3. The term “pray” at the beginning of the sentence is intended to pick up the imperative of v. 3.

[2:2]  ³³ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ³⁵ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ³⁷ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ³⁸ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ³⁹ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁰ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[2:3]  ⁴¹ sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).

[2:3]  ⁴² tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ⁴³ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁴ sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁵ sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.

[2:1]  ⁴⁶ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ⁴⁷ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[5:19]  ⁴⁸ tn See BDAG 1096 s.v. ψάλλω.

[5:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “with.”

[12:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[13:8]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ⁵² tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.

[13:8]  ⁵³ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[20:3]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel introduced in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[20:3]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “and shut.” While the lexical force of the term is closer to “shut,” it is acceptable to render the verb ἔκλεισεν (ekleisen) as “locked” here in view of the mention of the key in the previous verse.