Proverbs 4:16

4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; ¹ 

they are robbed of sleep ²  until they make someone stumble. ³ 

Proverbs 6:18

6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, ⁴ 

feet that are swift to run ⁵  to evil,

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ⁶ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ⁷ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ⁸ 

Romans 3:15

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

[4:16]  ¹ sn The verb is רָעַע (ra’a’), which means “to do evil; to harm.” The verse is using the figure of hyperbole to stress the preoccupation of some people with causing trouble. R. L. Alden says, “How sick to find peace only at the price of another man’s misfortune” (Proverbs, 47).

[4:16]  ² sn Heb “their sleep is robbed/seized”; these expressions are metonymical for their restlessness in plotting evil.

[4:16]  ³ sn The Hiphil imperfect (Kethib) means “cause to stumble.” This idiom (from hypocatastasis) means “bring injury/ruin to someone” (BDB 505-6 s.v. כָּשַׁל Hiph.1).

[6:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “heart that devises plans of wickedness.” The latter term is an attributive genitive. The heart (metonymy of subject) represents the will; here it plots evil schemes. The heart is capable of evil schemes (Gen 6:5); the heart that does this is deceitful (Prov 12:20; 14:22).

[6:18]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “make haste to run,” that is, be eager to seize the opportunity. The LXX omits “run,” that is, feet hastening to do evil. It must have appeared to the LXX translator that the verb was unnecessary; only one verb occurs in the other cola.

[7:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ⁸ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.