Job 10:3

10:3 Is it good for you ¹  to oppress, ² 

to ³  despise the work of your hands,

while ⁴  you smile ⁵ 

on the schemes of the wicked?

Job 12:6

12:6 But ⁶  the tents of robbers are peaceful,

and those who provoke God are confident ⁷  –

who carry their god in their hands. ⁸ 

Psalms 34:13

34:13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words ⁹ 

or use deceptive speech! ¹⁰ 

Malachi 3:13

Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency

3:13 “You have criticized me sharply,” ¹¹  says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’

James 1:26

1:26 If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile.

James 3:2-6

3:2 For we all stumble ¹²  in many ways. If someone does not stumble ¹³  in what he says, ¹⁴  he is a perfect individual, ¹⁵  able to control the entire body as well. 3:3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies. ¹⁶  3:4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs. 3:5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, ¹⁷  yet it has great pretensions. ¹⁸  Think ¹⁹  how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 3:6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents ²⁰  the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It ²¹  pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell. ²² 

[10:3]  ¹ tn Or “Does it give you pleasure?” The expression could also mean, “Is it profitable for you?” or “Is it fitting for you?”

[10:3]  ² tn The construction uses כִּי (ki) with the imperfect verb – “that you oppress.” Technically, this clause serves as the subject, and “good” is the predicate adjective. In such cases one often uses an English infinitive to capture the point: “Is it good for you to oppress?” The LXX changes the meaning considerably: “Is it good for you if I am unrighteous, for you have disowned the work of your hands.”

[10:3]  ³ tn Heb “that you despise.”

[10:3]  ⁴ tn Now, in the second half of the verse, there is a change in the structure. The conjunction on the preposition followed by the perfect verb represents a circumstantial clause.

[10:3]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil of the verb יָפַע (yafa’) means “shine.” In this context the expression “you shine upon” would mean “have a glowing expression,” be radiant, or smile.

[12:6]  ⁶ tn The verse gives the other side of the coin now, the fact that the wicked prosper.

[12:6]  ⁷ tn The plural is used to suggest the supreme degree of arrogant confidence (E. Dhorme, Job, 171).

[12:6]  ⁸ sn The line is perhaps best understood as describing one who thinks he is invested with the power of God.

[34:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “guard your tongue from evil.”

[34:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and your lips from speaking deception.”

[3:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your words are hard [or “strong”] against me”; cf. NIV “said harsh things against me”; TEV, NLT “said terrible things about me.”

[3:2]  ¹² tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ¹³ tn Or “fail.”

[3:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “in speech.”

[3:2]  ¹⁵ tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But it sometimes is used generically to mean “anyone,” “a person,” as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 2).

[3:3]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “their entire body.”

[3:5]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a small member.”

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “boasts of great things.”

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Behold.”

[3:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “makes itself,” “is made.”

[3:6]  ²¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:6]  ²² sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).