Proverbs 1:11

1:11 If they say, “Come with us!

We will ¹  lie in wait ²  to shed blood; ³ 

we will ambush ⁴  an innocent person ⁵  capriciously. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 27:25

27:25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:2

27:2 When you cross the Jordan River ⁷  to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover ⁸  them with plaster.

Deuteronomy 24:4

24:4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry ⁹  her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. ¹⁰  You must not bring guilt on the land ¹¹  which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Isaiah 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ¹² 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ¹³ 

Isaiah 59:3-6

59:3 For your hands are stained with blood

and your fingers with sin;

your lips speak lies,

your tongue utters malicious words.

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ¹⁴ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ¹⁵  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ¹⁶ 

and give birth to sin.

59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake

and spin a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die,

a poisonous snake is hatched. ¹⁷ 

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes. ¹⁸ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn This cohortative נֶאֶרְבָה (ne’ervah) could denote resolve (“We will lie in wait!”) or exhortation (“Let us lie in wait!”). These sinners are either expressing their determination to carry out a violent plan or they are trying to entice the lad to participate with them.

[1:11]  ² tn The verb אָרַב (’arav, “to lie in wait”) it is used for planning murder (Deut 19:11), kidnapping (Judg 21:20), or seduction (Prov 23:28).

[1:11]  ³ tn Heb “for blood.” The term דָּם (dam, “blood”) functions as a metonymy of effect for “blood shed violently” through murder (HALOT 224 s.v. 4).

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “lie in hiding.”

[1:11]  ⁵ tn The term “innocent” (נָקִי, naqi) intimates that the person to be attacked is harmless.

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “without cause” (so KJV, NASB); NCV “just for fun.” The term חִנָּם (khinnam, “without cause”) emphasizes that the planned attack is completely unwarranted.

[27:2]  ⁷ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “plaster” (so KJV, ASV; likewise in v. 4). In the translation “cover” has been used for stylistic reasons.

[24:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”

[24:4]  ¹⁰ sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.

[24:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:15]  ¹² tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ¹³ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[59:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[59:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”

[59:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”