Nehemiah 6:12

6:12 I recognized the fact that God had not sent him, for he had spoken the prophecy against me as a hired agent of Tobiah and Sanballat. ¹ 

Ezra 8:16

8:16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, ²  Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers.

Ezra 10:31

10:31 From ³  the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

Proverbs 11:9

11:9 With his speech ⁴  the godless person ⁵  destroys ⁶  his neighbor,

but by knowledge ⁷  the righteous will be delivered.

Matthew 7:15

A Tree and Its Fruit

7:15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. ⁸ 

[6:12]  ¹ tn Heb “and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”

[8:16]  ² tc The name “Elnathan” occurs twice in this list. Some, assuming an accidental repetition, would include it only once (cf. NAB).

[10:31]  ³ tc The translation reads with many medieval Hebrew MSS and ancient versions וּמִבְּנֵי (umibbÿne, “and from the sons of”) rather than the reading ubene (“and the sons of”) found in the MT.

[11:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “with his mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.

[11:9]  ⁵ sn The Hebrew word originally meant “impious, godless, polluted, profane.” It later developed the idea of a “hypocrite” (Dan 11:32), one who conceals his evil under the appearance of godliness or kindness. This one is a false flatterer.

[11:9]  ⁶ sn The verb שָׁחַת (shakhat) means “to destroy; to ruin” (e.g., the destruction of Sodom in Gen 13:10). The imperfect tense is probably not an habitual imperfect (because the second colon shows exceptions), but probably a progressive imperfect (“this goes on”) or potential imperfect (“they can do this”).

[11:9]  ⁷ sn The antithetical proverb states that a righteous person can escape devastating slander through knowledge. The righteous will have sufficient knowledge and perception to see through the hypocrisy and avoid its effect.

[7:15]  ⁸ sn Sheep’s clothing…voracious wolves. Jesus uses a metaphor here to point out that these false prophets appear to be one thing, but in reality they are something quite different and dangerous.