Discovery BoxMicah 3:11
Context3:11 Her 1 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, 2
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust 3 the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us. 4
Disaster will not overtake 5 us!”
Isaiah 1:23
Context1:23 Your officials are rebels, 6
they associate with 7 thieves.
All of them love bribery,
They do not take up the cause of the orphan, 10
or defend the rights of the widow. 11
Jeremiah 8:10
Context8:10 12 So I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
For from the least important to the most important of them,
all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.
Prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
Ezekiel 22:27
Context22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.
Hosea 4:18
Context4:18 They consume their alcohol,
then engage in cult prostitution;
they dearly love their shameful behavior.
Amos 5:12
Context5:12 Certainly 13 I am aware of 14 your many rebellious acts 15
and your numerous sins.
You 16 torment the innocent, you take bribes,
and you deny justice to 17 the needy at the city gate. 18
Matthew 26:15
Context26:15 and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?” 19 So they set out thirty silver coins for him.
[3:11] 1 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
[3:11] 2 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
[3:11] 3 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
[3:11] 4 tn Heb “Is not the
[3:11] 5 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
[1:23] 6 tn Or “stubborn”; CEV “have rejected me.”
[1:23] 7 tn Heb “and companions of” (so KJV, NASB); CEV “friends of crooks.”
[1:23] 8 tn Heb “pursue”; NIV “chase after gifts.”
[1:23] 9 sn Isaiah may have chosen the word for gifts (שַׁלְמוֹנִים, shalmonim; a hapax legomena here), as a sarcastic pun on what these rulers should have been doing. Instead of attending to peace and wholeness (שָׁלוֹם, shalom), they sought after payoffs (שַׁלְמוֹנִים).
[1:23] 10 sn See the note at v. 17.
[1:23] 11 sn The rich oppressors referred to in Isaiah and the other eighth century prophets were not rich capitalists in the modern sense of the word. They were members of the royal military and judicial bureaucracies in Israel and Judah. As these bureaucracies grew, they acquired more and more land and gradually commandeered the economy and legal system. At various administrative levels bribery and graft become commonplace. The common people outside the urban administrative centers were vulnerable to exploitation in such a system, especially those, like widows and orphans, who had lost their family provider through death. Through confiscatory taxation, conscription, excessive interest rates, and other oppressive governmental measures and policies, they were gradually disenfranchised and lost their landed property, and with it, their rights as citizens. The socio-economic equilibrium envisioned in the law of Moses was radically disturbed.
[8:10] 12 sn See Jer 6:12-15 for parallels to 8:10-12. The words of Jeremiah to the people may have been repeated on more than one occasion or have been found appropriate to more than one of his collection of messages in written and edited form. See Jer 36:4 and Jer 36:28 for reference to at least two of these collections.
[5:12] 14 tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).
[5:12] 15 tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.
[5:12] 17 tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).
[5:12] 18 sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.
[26:15] 19 tn Grk “What will you give to me, and I will betray him to you?”
