Joshua 7:1-2

Achan Sins and is Punished

7:1 But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches. ¹  Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, ²  son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches. ³  The Lord was furious with the Israelites. ⁴ 

7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho ⁵  to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel ⁶ ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Joshua 5:1

5:1 When all the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites while they ⁷  crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites. ⁸ 

Joshua 5:1

5:1 When all the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites while they ⁹  crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 10:2

10:2 Treasures gained by wickedness ¹¹  do not profit,

but righteousness ¹²  delivers from mortal danger. ¹³ 

Proverbs 21:6

21:6 Making a fortune ¹⁴  by a lying tongue is like ¹⁵  a vapor driven back and forth; ¹⁶ 

they seek death. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 5:26-27

5:26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.

They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. ¹⁸ 

They set deadly traps ¹⁹  to catch people.

5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, ²⁰ 

their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. ²¹ 

That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. ²² 

Amos 3:10

3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)

“They store up ²³  the spoils of destructive violence ²⁴  in their fortresses.

Habakkuk 2:5-11

2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! ²⁵ 

His appetite ²⁶  is as big as Sheol’s; ²⁷ 

like death, he is never satisfied.

He gathers ²⁸  all the nations;

he seizes ²⁹  all peoples.

The Proud Babylonians are as Good as Dead

2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him ³⁰ 

and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ³¹ 

‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead ³² 

(How long will this go on?) ³³  –

he who gets rich by extortion!’ ³⁴ 

2:7 Your creditors will suddenly attack; ³⁵ 

those who terrify you will spring into action, ³⁶ 

and they will rob you. ³⁷ 

2:8 Because you robbed many countries, ³⁸ 

all who are left among the nations ³⁹  will rob you.

You have shed human blood

and committed violent acts against lands, cities, ⁴⁰  and those who live in them.

2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ⁴¹ 

He does this so he can build his nest way up high

and escape the clutches of disaster. ⁴² 

2:10 Your schemes will bring shame to your house.

Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. ⁴³ 

2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,

and the wooden rafters will answer back. ⁴⁴ 

Zephaniah 1:9

1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, ⁴⁵ 

who fill the house of their master ⁴⁶  with wealth taken by violence and deceit. ⁴⁷ 

Zechariah 5:3-4

5:3 The speaker went on to say, “This is a curse ⁴⁸  traveling across the whole earth. For example, according to the curse whoever steals ⁴⁹  will be removed from the community; or on the other hand (according to the curse) whoever swears falsely will suffer the same fate.” 5:4 “I will send it out,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones.”

James 5:1-4

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ⁵⁰  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ⁵¹  5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

[7:1]  ¹ tn Heb “But the sons of Israel were unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the Lord].”

[7:1]  ² tn 1 Chr 2:6 lists a “Zimri” (but no Zabdi) as one of the five sons of Zerah (cf. also 1 Chr 7:17, 18).

[7:1]  ³ tn Heb “took from what was set apart [to the Lord].”

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.”

[7:2]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[7:2]  ⁶ map For the location of Bethel see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[5:1]  ⁷ tc Another textual tradition has, “while we crossed.”

[5:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “their heart[s] melted and there was no longer in them breathe because of the sons of Israel.”

[5:1]  ⁹ tc Another textual tradition has, “while we crossed.”

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their heart[s] melted and there was no longer in them breathe because of the sons of Israel.”

[10:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “treasures of wickedness” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “Ill-gotten gains”; TEV “Wealth that you get by dishonesty.”

[10:2]  ¹² sn The term “righteousness” here means honesty (cf. TEV). Wealth has limited value even if gained honestly; but honesty delivers from mortal danger.

[10:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “death.” This could refer to literal death, but it is probably figurative here for mortal danger or ruin.

[21:6]  ¹⁴ tn The first word of the verse is the noun meaning “doing, deed, work.” The BHS editors suggest reading with the LXX an active participle – “the one who makes” (cf. NAB “He who makes”). The second word means “treasure,” from the verb “lay up, store up.” It is an objective genitive here.

[21:6]  ¹⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[21:6]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew הֶבֶל נִדָּף (hevel nidaf) is properly “a driven vapor” (“driven” = the Niphal participle). The point of the metaphor is that the ill-gotten gains will vanish into thin air. The LXX has “pursues” (as if reading רֹדֵף, rodef); cf. NAB “chasing a bubble over deadly snares.”

[21:6]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew has “seekers of death,” meaning “[they that seek them] are seekers of death,” or that the fortune is “a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.” The sense is not readily apparent. The Greek and the Latin versions have “snares of death”; the form מוֹקְשֵׁי (moqÿshe) was read instead of מְבַקְשֵׁי (mÿvaqshe). This reading does not make a more credible metaphor, and one must explain the loss of the letter ב (bet) in the textual variant. It is, however, slightly easier to interpret in the verse, and is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). But whether the easier reading is the correct one in this case would be difficult to prove.

[5:26]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of the last three words is uncertain. The pointing and meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “hiding in ambush” is debated. BDB relates the form (כְּשַׁךְ, kÿshakh) to a root שָׁכַךְ (shakhakh), which elsewhere means “decrease, abate” (cf. BDB 1013 s.v. שָׁכַךְ), and notes that this is usually understood as “like the crouching of fowlers,” but they say this meaning is dubious. HALOT 1345 s.v. I שׁוֹר questions the validity of the text and offers three proposals; the second appears to create the least textual modification, i.e., reading כְּשַׂךְ (kesakh, “as in the hiding place of (bird catchers)”; for the word שַׂךְ (sakh) see HALOT 1236 s.v. שׂךְ 4 and compare Lam 2:6 for usage. The versions do not help. The Greek does not translate the first two words of the line. The proposal given in HALOT is accepted with some hesitancy.

[5:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a destroying thing.”

[5:27]  ²⁰ tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.

[5:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.

[5:27]  ²² tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”

[3:10]  ²³ tn Heb “those who.”

[3:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.

[2:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Indeed wine betrays a proud man and he does not dwell.” The meaning of the last verb, “dwell,” is uncertain. Many take it as a denominative of the noun נָוָה (navah, “dwelling place”). In this case it would carry the idea, “he does not settle down,” and would picture the drunkard as restless (cf. NIV “never at rest”; NASB “does not stay at home”). Some relate the verb to an Arabic cognate and translate the phrase as “he will not succeed, reach his goal.”

[2:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “who opens wide like Sheol his throat.” Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in a physical sense, meaning “throat,” which in turn is figurative for the appetite. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 11-12.

[2:5]  ²⁷ sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead. In ancient Canaanite thought Death was a powerful god whose appetite was never satisfied. In the OT Sheol/Death, though not deified, is personified as greedy and as having a voracious appetite. See Prov 30:15-16; Isa 5:14; also see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 168.

[2:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he gathers for himself.”

[2:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he collects for himself.”

[2:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.

[2:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”

[2:6]  ³² tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who increases [what is] not his.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe,” “ah”) was used in funeral laments and carries the connotation of death.

[2:6]  ³³ tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.

[2:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.

[2:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Will not your creditors suddenly rise up?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.

[2:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “[Will not] the ones who make you tremble awake?”

[2:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and you will become their plunder.”

[2:8]  ³⁸ tn Or “nations.”

[2:8]  ³⁹ tn Or “peoples.”

[2:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “because of the shed blood of humankind and violence against land, city.” The singular forms אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) and קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) are collective, referring to all the lands and cities terrorized by the Babylonians.

[2:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”

[2:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “you planned shame for your house, cutting off many nations, and sinning [against] your life.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁴ sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.

[1:9]  ⁴⁵ sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).

[1:9]  ⁴⁶ tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.

[1:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.

[5:3]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew word translated “curse” (אָלָה, ’alah) alludes to the covenant sanctions that attend the violation of God’s covenant with Israel (cf. Deut 29:12, 14, 20-21).

[5:3]  ⁴⁹ sn Stealing and swearing falsely (mentioned later in this verse) are sins against mankind and God respectively and are thus violations of the two major parts of the Ten Commandments. These two stipulations (commandments 8 and 3) represent the whole law.

[5:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ⁵¹ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”