Judges 18:7

18:7 So the five men journeyed on ¹  and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there ²  were living securely, like the Sidonians do, ³  undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. ⁴  They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 12:8

12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone ⁶  doing what seems best to him,

Psalms 12:4

12:4 They say, ⁷  “We speak persuasively; ⁸ 

we know how to flatter and boast. ⁹ 

Who is our master?” ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 3:5

3:5 Trust ¹¹  in the Lord with all your heart, ¹² 

and do not rely ¹³  on your own understanding. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 14:12

14:12 There is a way that seems right to a person, ¹⁵ 

but its end is the way that leads to death. ¹⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Enjoy Life to the Fullest under the Fear of God

11:9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, ¹⁷ 

and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Follow the impulses ¹⁸  of your heart and the desires ¹⁹  of your eyes,

but know that God will judge your motives and actions. ²⁰ 

Micah 2:1-2

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ²¹ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²² 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ²³ 

because they have the power to do so.

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ²⁴ 

They defraud people of their homes, ²⁵ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ²⁶ 

[18:7]  ¹ tn Or “went.”

[18:7]  ² tn Heb “who were in its midst.”

[18:7]  ³ tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”

[18:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”

[18:7]  ⁵ tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.

[12:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man.”

[12:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “which say.” The plural verb after the relative pronoun indicates a plural antecedent for the pronoun, probably “lips” in v. 3.

[12:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “to our tongue we make strong.” The Hiphil of גָבַר (gavar) occurs only here and in Dan 9:27, where it refers to making strong, or confirming, a covenant. Here in Ps 12 the evildoers “make their tongue strong” in the sense that they use their tongue to produce flattering and arrogant words to accomplish their purposes. The preposition -לְ (l) prefixed to “our tongue” may be dittographic.

[12:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “our lips [are] with us.” This odd expression probably means, “our lips are in our power,” in the sense that they say what they want, whether it be flattery or boasting. For other cases where אֵת (’et, “with”) has the sense “in the power of,” see Ps 38:10 and other texts listed by BDB 86 s.v. 3.a.

[12:4]  ¹⁰ sn The rhetorical question expresses the arrogant attitude of these people. As far as they are concerned, they are answerable to no one for how they speak.

[3:5]  ¹¹ sn The word בְּטַח (bÿtakh, “trust”) is used in the OT in (1) literal physical sense: to physically lean upon something for support and (2) figurative sense: to rely upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 105 s.v. I בְּטַח; HALOT 120 s.v. I בטח). The verb is often used with false securities, people trusting in things that prove to be worthless. But here the object of the secure trust is the Lord who is a reliable object of confidence.

[3:5]  ¹² sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not lean.” The verb שָׁעַן (sha’an, “to lean; to rely”) is used in (1) literal physical sense of leaning upon something for support and (2) figurative sense of relying upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 1043 s.v.). Here it functions figuratively (hypocatastasis: implied comparison); relying on one’s own understanding is compared to leaning on something that is unreliable for support (e.g., Isa 10:20).

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your understanding.” The term בִּינָה (binah, “understanding”) is used elsewhere in this book of insight given by God from the instructions in Proverbs (Prov 2:3; 7:4; 8:14; 9:6, 10; 23:23). Here it refers to inherent human understanding that functions in relative ignorance unless supplemented by divine wisdom (Job 28:12-28; 39:26). The reflexive pronoun “own” is supplied in the translation to clarify this point. It is dangerous for a person to rely upon mere human wisdom (Prov 14:12; 16:25).

[14:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “which is straight before a man.”

[14:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ways of death” (so KJV, ASV). This construct phrase features a genitive of destiny: “ways that lead to [or, end in] death.” Here death means ruin (e.g., Prov 7:27; 16:25). The LXX adds “Hades,” but the verse seems to be concerned with events of this life.

[11:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in your youth”; or “in your childhood.”

[11:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “walk in the ways of your heart.”

[11:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the sight.”

[11:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and know that concerning all these God will bring you into judgment.” The point is not that following one’s impulses and desires is inherently bad and will bring condemnation from God. Rather the point seems to be: As you follow your impulses and desires, realize that all you think and do will eventually be evaluated by God. So one must seek joy within the boundaries of God’s moral standards.

[2:1]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ²³ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ²⁶ 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.