Job 20:19

20:19 For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; ¹ 

he has seized a house which he did not build. ² 

Job 20:29

20:29 Such is the lot God allots the wicked,

and the heritage of his appointment ³  from God.”

Isaiah 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ⁴  we have made an agreement. ⁵ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ⁶ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ⁷ 

Isaiah 30:12

30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“You have rejected this message; ⁸ 

you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, ⁹ 

and rely on that kind of behavior. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 47:10

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; ¹¹ 

you thought, ¹²  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed ¹³  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 59:4

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ¹⁵ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ¹⁶  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ¹⁷ 

and give birth to sin.

Jeremiah 13:25

13:25 This is your fate,

the destiny to which I have appointed you,

because you have forgotten me

and have trusted in false gods.

Jeremiah 17:11

17:11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means

is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. ¹⁸ 

Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. ¹⁹ 

At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.” ²⁰ 

[20:19]  ¹ tc The verb indicates that after he oppressed the poor he abandoned them to their fate. But there have been several attempts to improve on the text. Several have repointed the text to get a word parallel to “house.” Ehrlich came up with עֹזֵב (’ozev, “mud hut”), Kissane had “hovel” (similar to Neh 3:8). M. Dahood did the same (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 306-7). J. Reider came up with עֶזֶב (’ezev, the “leavings”), what the rich were to leave for the poor (“Contributions to the Scriptural text,” HUCA 24 [1952/53]: 103-6). But an additional root עָזַב (’azav) is questionable. And while the text as it stands is general and not very striking, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Dhorme reverses the letters to gain בְּעֹז (bÿ’oz, “with force [or violence]”).

[20:19]  ² tn The last clause says, “and he did not build it.” This can be understood in an adverbial sense, supplying the relative pronoun to the translation.

[20:29]  ³ tn For the word אִמְרוֹ (’imro) some propose reading “his appointment,” and the others, “his word.” Driver shows that “the heritage of his appointment” means “his appointed heritage” (see GKC 440 §135.n).

[28:15]  ⁴ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ⁵ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ⁷ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[30:12]  ⁸ tn The sentence actually begins with the word “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[30:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you trust in oppression and cunning.”

[30:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and you lean on it”; NAB “and depend on it.”

[47:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

[47:10]  ¹² tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

[47:10]  ¹³ tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[47:10]  ¹⁴ tn See the note at v. 8.

[59:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[17:11]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The word translated “broods over” occurs only here and Isa 34:15. It is often defined on the basis of an Aramaic cognate which means “to gather” with an extended meaning of “to gather together under her to hatch.” Many commentators go back to a Rabbinic explanation that the partridge steals the eggs of other birds and hatches them out only to see the birds depart when they recognize that she is not the mother. Modern studies question the validity of this zoologically. Moreover, W. L. Holladay contests the validity on the basis of the wording “and she does hatch them” (Heb “bring them to birth”). See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:498, and see also P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 229. The point of the comparison is that the rich gather their wealth but they do not get to see the fruits of it.

[17:11]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text merely says “it.” But the antecedent might be ambiguous in English so the reference to wealth gained by unjust means is here reiterated for clarity.

[17:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he will be [= prove to be] a fool.”