Job 17:5

17:5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, ¹ 

the eyes of his children will fail.

Job 32:21-22

32:21 I will not show partiality to anyone, ² 

nor will I confer a title ³  on any man.

32:22 for I do not know how to give honorary titles, ⁴ 

if I did, ⁵  my Creator would quickly do away with me. ⁶ 

Psalms 12:2-3

12:2 People lie to one another; ⁷ 

they flatter and deceive. ⁸ 

12:3 May the Lord cut off ⁹  all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts! ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 20:19

20:19 The one who goes about gossiping ¹¹  reveals secrets;

therefore do not associate ¹²  with someone who is always opening his mouth. ¹³ 

Proverbs 26:28

26:28 A lying tongue ¹⁴  hates those crushed by it,

and a flattering mouth works ruin. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 28:23

28:23 The one who reproves ¹⁶  another ¹⁷  will in the end ¹⁸  find more favor

than the one who flatters ¹⁹  with the tongue.

Isaiah 30:10

30:10 They ²⁰  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ²¹ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ²² 

Matthew 22:16

22:16 They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, ²³  saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²⁴  You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality. ²⁵ 

Matthew 22:2

22:2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

Matthew 2:18

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ²⁶ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ²⁷  gone.” ²⁸ 

[17:5]  ¹ tn Heb “for a portion.” This verse is rather obscure. The words are not that difficult, but the sense of them in this context is. Some take the idea to mean “he denounces his friends for a portion,” and others have a totally different idea of “he invites his friends to share with him.” The former fits the context better, indicating that Job’s friends speak out against him for some personal gain. The second half of the verse then promises that his children will suffer loss for this attempt at gain. The line is surely proverbial. A number of other interpretations can be found in the commentaries.

[32:21]  ² tn The idiom is “I will not lift up the face of a man.” Elihu is going to show no favoritism, but speak his mind.

[32:21]  ³ tn The verb means “to confer an honorary title; to give a mark of distinction,” but it is often translated with the verb “flatter.” Elihu will not take sides, he will not use pompous titles.

[32:22]  ⁴ tn The construction uses a perfect verb followed by the imperfect. This is a form of subordination equivalent to a complementary infinitive (see GKC 385-86 §120.c).

[32:22]  ⁵ tn The words “if I did” are supplied in the translation to make sense out of the two clauses.

[32:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “quickly carry me away.”

[12:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “falsehood they speak, a man with his neighbor.” The imperfect verb forms in v. 2 describe what is typical in the psalmist’s experience.

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with] a lip of smoothness, with a heart and a heart they speak.” Speaking a “smooth” word refers to deceptive flattery (cf. Ps 5:9; 55:21; Prov 2:16; 5:3; 7:5, 21; 26:28; 28:23; Isa 30:10). “Heart” here refers to their mind, from which their motives and intentions originate. The repetition of the noun indicates diversity (see GKC 396 §123.f, IBHS 116 §7.2.3c, and Deut 25:13, where the phrase “weight and a weight” refers to two different measuring weights). These people have two different types of “hearts.” Their flattering words seem to express kind motives and intentions, but this outward display does not really reflect their true motives. Their real “heart” is filled with evil thoughts and destructive intentions. The “heart” that is seemingly displayed through their words is far different from the real “heart” they keep disguised. (For the idea see Ps 28:3.) In 1 Chr 12:33 the phrase “without a heart and a heart” means “undivided loyalty.”

[12:3]  ⁹ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

[12:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”

[20:19]  ¹¹ sn The word describes a slanderer (NASB), a tale-bearer (KJV, ASV), or an informer. BDB 940 s.v. רָכִיל says the Hebrew expression “goers of slander” means slanderous persons. However, W. McKane observes that these people are not necessarily malicious – they just talk too much (Proverbs [OTL], 537).

[20:19]  ¹² tn The form is the Hitpael imperfect (of prohibition or instruction) from עָרַב (’arav). BDB 786-88 lists six roots with these radicals. The first means “to mix,” but only occurs in derivatives. BDB 786 lists this form under the second root, which means “to take on a pledge; to exchange.” The Hitpael is then defined as “to exchange pledges; to have fellowship with [or, share].” The proverb is warning people to have nothing to do with gossips.

[20:19]  ¹³ tn The verb פֹּתֶה (poteh) is a homonym, related to I פָּתָה (patah, “to be naive; to be foolish”; HALOT 984-85 s.v. I פתה) or II פָּתָה (“to open [the lips]; to chatter”; HALOT 985 s.v. II פתה). So the phrase וּלְפֹתֶה שְׂפָתָיו may be understood either (1) as HALOT 985 s.v. II פתה suggests, “one opens his lips” = he is always talking/gossiping, or (2) as BDB suggests, “one who is foolish as to his lips” (he lacks wisdom in what he says; see BDB 834 s.v. פָּתָה 1, noted in HALOT 984 s.v. I פתה 1). The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said: gossip. If such a person is willing to talk about others, he will be willing to talk about you, so it is best to avoid him altogether.

[26:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the tongue of deception.” The subject matter of this proverb is deceptive speech. The “tongue of deception” (using a metonymy of cause with an attributive genitive) means that what is said is false. Likewise the “smooth mouth” means that what is said is smooth, flattering.

[26:28]  ¹⁵ sn The verse makes it clear that only pain and ruin can come from deception. The statement that the lying tongue “hates those crushed by it” suggests that the sentiments of hatred help the deceiver justify what he says about people. The ruin that he brings is probably on other people, but it could also be taken to include his own ruin.

[28:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “rebukes” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[28:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a man,” but the context does not indicate this should be limited only to males.

[28:23]  ¹⁸ tn There is a problem with אַחֲרַי (’akharay), which in the MT reads “after me.” This could be taken to mean “after my instructions,” but that is forced. C. H. Toy suggests simply changing it to “after” or “afterward,” i.e., “in the end” (Proverbs [ICC], 504), a solution most English versions adopt. G. R. Driver suggested an Akkadian cognate ahurru, “common man,” reading “as a rebuker an ordinary man” (“Hebrew Notes,” ZAW 52 [1934]: 147).

[28:23]  ¹⁹ tn The construction uses the Hiphil participle מַחֲלִיק (makhaliq, “makes smooth”) followed by the adverbial accusative of means, the metonymy “tongue” – he makes what he says smooth. This will be pleasing for the moment, but it will offer no constructive help like the rebuke would.

[30:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

[30:10]  ²² tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

[22:16]  ²³ sn The Herodians are mentioned in the NT only once in Matt (22:16 = Mark 12:13) and twice in Mark (3:6; 12:13; some mss also read “Herodians” instead of “Herod” in Mark 8:15). It is generally assumed that as a group the Herodians were Jewish supporters of the Herodian dynasty (or of Herod Antipas in particular). In every instance they are linked with the Pharisees. This probably reflects agreement regarding political objectives (nationalism as opposed to submission to the yoke of Roman oppression) rather than philosophy or religious beliefs.

[22:16]  ²⁴ sn Teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Very few comments are as deceitful as this one; they did not really believe this at all. The question of the Pharisees and Herodians was specifically designed to trap Jesus.

[22:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And it is not a concern to you about anyone because you do not see the face of men.”

[2:18]  ²⁶ tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later mss (C D L W 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï) have a quotation in Matthew which conforms to that of the LXX (θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμός καὶ ὀδυρμός; qrhno" kai klauqmo" kai odurmo"). But such assimilations were routine among the scribes; as such, they typically should be discounted because they are both predictable and motivated. The shorter reading, without “lamentation and,” is thus to be preferred, especially since it cannot easily be accounted for unless it is the original wording here. Further, it is found in the better mss along with a good cross-section of other witnesses (א B Z 0250 ˹ pc lat co).

[2:18]  ²⁷ tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

[2:18]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.