Isaiah 59:14-15

59:14 Justice is driven back;

godliness ¹  stands far off.

Indeed, ²  honesty stumbles in the city square

and morality is not even able to enter.

59:15 Honesty has disappeared;

the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.

The Lord watches and is displeased, ³ 

for there is no justice.

Isaiah 5:7

5:7 Indeed ⁴  Israel ⁵  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ⁶  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁷ 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁸ 

Jeremiah 5:1

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

5:1 The Lord said, ⁹ 

“Go up and down ¹⁰  through the streets of Jerusalem. ¹¹ 

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. ¹² 

If you can, ¹³  then I will not punish this city. ¹⁴ 

Hosea 4:1-2

The Lord’s Covenant Lawsuit against the Nation Israel

4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites! ¹⁵ 

For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit ¹⁶  against the people of Israel. ¹⁷ 

For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land,

nor do they acknowledge God. ¹⁸ 

4:2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.

They resort to violence and bloodshed. ¹⁹ 

Amos 6:1-6

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ²⁰  to those who live in ease in Zion, ²¹ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ²²  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ²³  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ²⁴ 

6:2 They say to the people: ²⁵ 

“Journey over to Calneh and look at it!

Then go from there to Hamath-Rabbah! ²⁶ 

Then go down to Gath of the Philistines!

Are they superior to our two ²⁷  kingdoms?

Is their territory larger than yours?” ²⁸ 

6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, ²⁹ 

but you establish a reign of violence. ³⁰ 

6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, ³¹ 

and sprawl out on their couches.

They eat lambs from the flock,

and calves from the middle of the pen.

6:5 They sing ³²  to the tune of ³³  stringed instruments; ³⁴ 

like David they invent ³⁵  musical instruments.

6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, ³⁶ 

and pour the very best oils on themselves. ³⁷ 

Yet they are not concerned over ³⁸  the ruin ³⁹  of Joseph.

Matthew 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁴⁰  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ⁴¹  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁴²  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁴³  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

[59:14]  ¹ tn Or “righteousness” (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NAB “justice.”

[59:14]  ² tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).

[59:15]  ³ tn Heb “and it is displeasing in his eyes.”

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:1]  ⁹ tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31 where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.

[5:1]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:1]  ¹² tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”

[5:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”

[5:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”

[4:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB, NRSV “people of Israel.”

[4:1]  ¹⁶ tn The noun רִיב (riv, “dispute, lawsuit”) is used in two contexts: (1) nonlegal contexts: (a) “dispute” between individuals (e.g., Gen 13:7; Isa 58:1; Jer 15:10) or (b) “brawl; quarrel” between people (e.g., Exod 17:7; Deut 25:1); and (2) legal contexts: (a) “lawsuit; legal process” (e.g., Exod 23:3-6; Deut 19:17; 21:5; Ezek 44:24; Ps 35:23), (b) “lawsuit; legal case” (e.g., Deut 1:12; 17:8; Prov 18:17; 25:9), and (c) God’s “lawsuit” on behalf of a person or against his own people (Hos 4:1; 12:3; Mic 6:2; HALOT 1225-26 s.v. רִיב). The term in Hosea refers to a covenant lawsuit in which Yahweh the suzerain lodges a legal case against his disobedient vassal, accusing Israel and Judah of breach of covenant which will elicit the covenant curses.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “with the inhabitants of the land” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “against the inhabitants of the land.”

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “there is no truthfulness nor loyalty nor knowledge of God in the land.” Here “knowledge of God” refers to recognition of his authority and obedience to his will.

[4:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they break out and bloodshed touches bloodshed.” The Hebrew term פָּרַץ (parats, “to break out”) refers to violent and wicked actions (BDB 829 s.v. פָּרַץ 7; HALOT 972 s.v. פרץ 6.c). It is used elsewhere in a concrete sense to describe breaking through physical barriers. Here it is used figuratively to describe breaking moral barriers and restraints (cf. TEV “Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another”).

[6:1]  ²⁰ tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.

[6:1]  ²¹ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ²² tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.

[6:1]  ²³ tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[6:2]  ²⁵ tn The words “They say to the people” are interpretive and supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation understands v. 2 as the boastful words, which the leaders (described in v. 1) spoke to those who came to them (v. 1b). Some interpret v. 2 differently, understanding the words as directed to the leaders by the prophet. Verse 2b would then be translated: “Are you (i.e., Israel and Judah) better than these kingdoms (i.e., Calneh, etc.)? Is your border larger than their border?” (This reading requires an emendation of the Hebrew text toward the end of the verse.) In this case the verse is a reminder to Judah/Israel that they are not superior to other nations, which have already fallen victim to military conquest. Consequently Judah/Israel should not expect to escape the same fate. Following this line of interpretation, some take v. 2 as a later addition since the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser III conquered Calneh, Hamath, and Gath after the time of Amos’ ministry. However, this conclusion is not necessary since the kingdoms mentioned here had suffered military setbacks prior to Amos’ time as well. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 201-4.

[6:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “Great Hamath” (cf. NIV); or “Hamath the great” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); the word “rabbah” means “great” in Hebrew.

[6:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to these,” referring to Judah and Israel (see v. 1a).

[6:2]  ²⁸ tn Both rhetorical questions in this verse expect the answer “no.” If these words do come from the leaders, then this verse underscores their self-delusion of power (compare 6:13). The prophet had no such mistaken sense of national grandeur (7:2, 5).

[6:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “those who push away a day of disaster.”

[6:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “you bring near a seat of violence.” The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שֶׁבֶת (shevet, “seat, sitting”) is unclear in this context. The translation assumes that it refers to a throne from which violence (in the person of the oppressive leaders) reigns. Another option is that the expression refers not to the leaders’ oppressive rule, but to the coming judgment when violence will overtake the nation in the person of enemy invaders.

[6:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “beds of ivory.”

[6:5]  ³² tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּרַט (parat), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. Some translate “strum,” “pluck,” or “improvise.”

[6:5]  ³³ tn Heb “upon the mouth of,” that is, “according to.”

[6:5]  ³⁴ sn The stringed instruments mentioned here are probably harps (cf. NIV, NRSV) or lutes (cf. NEB).

[6:5]  ³⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew phrase חָשְׁבוּ לָהֶם (khoshvu lahem) is uncertain. Various options include: (1) “they think their musical instruments are like David’s”; (2) “they consider themselves musicians like David”; (3) “they esteem musical instruments highly like David”; (4) “they improvise [new songs] for themselves [on] instruments like David”; (5) “they invent musical instruments like David.” However, the most commonly accepted interpretation is that given in the translation (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 206-7).

[6:6]  ³⁶ sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).

[6:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”

[6:6]  ³⁸ tn Or “not sickened by.”

[6:6]  ³⁹ sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.

[23:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ⁴¹ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ⁴² sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁴³ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.