Genesis 39:14

39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought ¹  in a Hebrew man ²  to us to humiliate us. ³  He tried to have sex with me, ⁴  but I screamed loudly. ⁵ 

Exodus 20:16

20:16 “You shall not give ⁶  false testimony ⁷  against your neighbor.

Exodus 23:1

Justice

23:1 ⁸ “You must not give ⁹  a false report. ¹⁰  Do not make common cause ¹¹  with the wicked ¹²  to be a malicious ¹³  witness.

Exodus 23:1

Justice

23:1 ¹⁴ “You must not give ¹⁵  a false report. ¹⁶  Do not make common cause ¹⁷  with the wicked ¹⁸  to be a malicious ¹⁹  witness.

Exodus 18:17

18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What ²⁰  you are doing is not good!

Exodus 21:9-13

21:9 If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights ²¹  of daughters. 21:10 If he takes another wife, ²²  he must not diminish the first one’s food, ²³  her clothing, or her marital rights. ²⁴  21:11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. ²⁵ 

Personal Injuries

21:12 ²⁶ “Whoever strikes someone ²⁷  so that he dies ²⁸  must surely be put to death. ²⁹  21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, ³⁰  but it happens by accident, ³¹  then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Psalms 37:14

37:14 Evil men draw their swords

and prepare their bows,

to bring down ³²  the oppressed and needy,

and to slaughter those who are godly. ³³ 

Psalms 55:3

55:3 because of what the enemy says, ³⁴ 

and because of how the wicked ³⁵  pressure me, ³⁶ 

for they hurl trouble ³⁷  down upon me ³⁸ 

and angrily attack me.

Psalms 120:2-4

120:2 I said, ³⁹  “O Lord, rescue me ⁴⁰ 

from those who lie with their lips ⁴¹ 

and those who deceive with their tongue. ⁴² 

120:3 How will he severely punish you,

you deceptive talker? ⁴³ 

120:4 Here’s how! ⁴⁴  With the sharp arrows of warriors,

with arrowheads forged over the hot coals. ⁴⁵ 

Proverbs 12:19

12:19 The one who tells the truth ⁴⁶  will endure forever,

but the one who lies ⁴⁷  will last only for a moment. ⁴⁸ 

Proverbs 19:5

19:5 A false witness ⁴⁹  will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ⁵⁰  lies will not escape punishment. ⁵¹ 

Proverbs 19:9

19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ⁵²  lies will perish. ⁵³ 

Matthew 26:65

26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, ⁵⁴  “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now ⁵⁵  you have heard the blasphemy!

[39:14]  ¹ tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[39:14]  ² sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.

[39:14]  ³ tn Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.

[39:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”

[20:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “answer” as in a court of law.

[20:16]  ⁷ tn The expression עֵד שָׁקֶר (’ed shaqer) means “a lying witness” (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 388). In this verse the noun is an adverbial accusative, “you will not answer as a lying witness.” The prohibition is against perjury. While the precise reference would be to legal proceedings, the law probably had a broader application to lying about other people in general (see Lev 5:1; Hos 4:2).

[23:1]  ⁸ sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).

[23:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.

[23:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ¹² tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rasha’) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.

[23:1]  ¹³ tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.

[23:1]  ¹⁴ sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).

[23:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.

[23:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ¹⁸ tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rasha’) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.

[23:1]  ¹⁹ tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.

[18:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the thing.”

[21:9]  ²¹ tn Or “after the manner of” (KJV, ASV); NRSV “shall deal with her as with a daughter.”

[21:10]  ²² tn “wife” has been supplied.

[21:10]  ²³ tn The translation of “food” does not quite do justice to the Hebrew word. It is “flesh.” The issue here is that the family she was to marry into is wealthy, they ate meat. She was not just to be given the basic food the ordinary people ate, but the fine foods that this family ate.

[21:10]  ²⁴ sn See S. Paul, “Exodus 21:10, A Threefold Maintenance Clause,” JNES 28 (1969): 48-53. Paul suggests that the third element listed is not marital rights but ointments since Sumerian and Akkadian texts list food, clothing, and oil as the necessities of life. The translation of “marital rights” is far from certain, since the word occurs only here. The point is that the woman was to be cared for with all that was required for a woman in that situation.

[21:11]  ²⁵ sn The lessons of slavery and service are designed to bring justice to existing customs in antiquity. The message is: Those in slavery for one reason or another should have the hope of freedom and the choice of service (vv. 2-6). For the rulings on the daughter, the message could be: Women, who were often at the mercy of their husbands or masters, must not be trapped in an unfortunate situation, but be treated well by their masters or husbands (vv. 7-11). God is preventing people who have power over others from abusing it.

[21:12]  ²⁶ sn The underlying point of this section remains vital today: The people of God must treat all human life as sacred.

[21:12]  ²⁷ tn The construction uses a Hiphil participle in construct with the noun for “man” (or person as is understood in a law for the nation): “the one striking [of] a man.” This is a casus pendens (independent nominative absolute); it indicates the condition or action that involves further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[21:12]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew word וָמֵת (vamet) is a Qal perfect with vav consecutive; it means “and he dies” and not “and killed him” (which require another stem). Gesenius notes that this form after a participle is the equivalent of a sentence representing a contingent action (GKC 333 §112.n). The word shows the result of the action in the opening participle. It is therefore a case of murder or manslaughter.

[21:12]  ²⁹ sn See A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[21:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “if he does not lie in wait” (NASB similar).

[21:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “and God brought into his hand.” The death is unintended, its circumstances outside human control.

[37:14]  ³² tn Heb “to cause to fall.”

[37:14]  ³³ tn Heb “the upright in way,” i.e., those who lead godly lives.

[55:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “because of [the] voice of [the] enemy.”

[55:3]  ³⁵ tn The singular forms “enemy” and “wicked” are collective or representative, as the plural verb forms in the second half of the verse indicate.

[55:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “from before the pressure of the wicked.” Some suggest the meaning “screech” (note the parallel “voice”; cf. NEB “shrill clamour”; NRSV “clamor”) for the rare noun עָקָה (’aqah, “pressure”).

[55:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “wickedness,” but here the term refers to the destructive effects of their wicked acts.

[55:3]  ³⁸ tc The verb form in the MT appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוֹט (mot, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in the Kethib (consonantal text) of Ps 140:10, where the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read. Here in Ps 55:3 it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). It is odd for “rain down” to be used with an abstract object like “wickedness,” but in Job 20:23 God “rains down” anger (unless one emends the text there; see BHS).

[120:2]  ³⁹ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.

[120:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “my life.”

[120:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”

[120:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”

[120:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “What will he give to you, and what will he add to you, O tongue of deception?” The psalmist addresses his deceptive enemies. The Lord is the understood subject of the verbs “give” and “add.” The second part of the question echoes a standard curse formula, “thus the Lord/God will do … and thus he will add” (see Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2 Sam 3:9, 35; 19:13; 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Kgs 6:31).

[120:4]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “here’s how” are supplied in the translation as a clarification. In v. 4 the psalmist answers the question he raises in v. 3.

[120:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “with coals of the wood of the broom plant.” The wood of the broom plant was used to make charcoal, which in turn was used to fuel the fire used to forge the arrowheads.

[12:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “a lip of truth.” The genitive אֱמֶת (’emet, “truth”) functions as an attributive adjective: “truthful lip.” The term שְׂפַת (sÿfat, “lip”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= lip) for the whole (= person): “truthful person.” The contrast is between “the lip of truth” and the “tongue of lying.”

[12:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “a tongue of deceit.” The genitive שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “deceit”) functions as an attributive genitive. The noun לָשׁוֹן (lashon, “tongue”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= tongue) for the whole (= person): “lying person.”

[12:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “while I would twinkle.” This expression is an idiom meaning “only for a moment.” The twinkling of the eye, the slightest movement, signals the brevity of the life of a lie (hyperbole). But truth will be established (תִּכּוֹן, tikon), that is, be made firm and endure.

[19:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “a witness of lies.” This expression is an attributive genitive: “a lying witness” (cf. CEV “dishonest witnesses”). This is paralleled by “the one who pours out lies.”

[19:5]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:5]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “will not escape” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “will not go free.” Here “punishment” is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:9]  ⁵² tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:9]  ⁵³ sn The verse is the same as v. 5, except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).

[26:65]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”

[26:65]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “Behold now.” 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).