Proverbs 1:11-15

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 

1:12 We will swallow them alive ⁷  like Sheol, ⁸ 

those full of vigor ⁹  like those going down to the Pit.

1:13 We will seize ¹⁰  all kinds ¹¹  of precious wealth;

we will fill our houses with plunder. ¹² 

1:14 Join with us! ¹³ 

We will all share ¹⁴  equally in what we steal.” ¹⁵ 

1:15 My child, do not go down ¹⁶  their way, ¹⁷ 

withhold yourself ¹⁸  from their path; ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 13:20

13:20 The one who associates ²⁰  with the wise grows wise,

but a companion of fools suffers harm. ²¹ 

Genesis 13:10-13

13:10 Lot looked up and saw ²²  the whole region ²³  of the Jordan. He noticed ²⁴  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ²⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah) ²⁶  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ²⁷  all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled ²⁸  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. ²⁹  13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain ³⁰  and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now ³¹  the people ³²  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) ³³ 

Genesis 19:1-11

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ³⁴  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ³⁵  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ³⁶  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ³⁷  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ³⁸ 

19:3 But he urged ³⁹  them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, ⁴⁰  all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. ⁴¹  19:5 They shouted to Lot, ⁴²  “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex ⁴³  with them!”

19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! ⁴⁴  19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ⁴⁵  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ⁴⁶  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ⁴⁷  of my roof.” ⁴⁸ 

19:9 “Out of our way!” ⁴⁹  they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, ⁵⁰  and now he dares to judge us! ⁵¹  We’ll do more harm ⁵²  to you than to them!” They kept ⁵³  pressing in on Lot until they were close enough ⁵⁴  to break down the door.

19:10 So the men inside ⁵⁵  reached out ⁵⁶  and pulled Lot back into the house ⁵⁷  as they shut the door. 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, ⁵⁸  with blindness. The men outside ⁵⁹  wore themselves out trying to find the door.

Psalms 26:9

26:9 Do not sweep me away ⁶⁰  with sinners,

or execute me along with violent people, ⁶¹ 

[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.

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “lives.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “lives”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “alive.” The form is a plural of state, used to describe a condition of life which encompasses a long period of time – in this case a person’s entire life. Murder cuts short a person’s life.

[1:12]  ⁸ tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol) can mean (1) “death,” cf. NCV; (2) “the grave,” cf. KJV, NIV, NLT (3) “Sheol” as the realm of departed spirits, cf. NAB “the nether world,” and (4) “extreme danger.” Here it is parallel to the noun בוֹר (vor, “the Pit”) so it is the grave or more likely “Sheol” (cf. ASV, NRSV). Elsewhere Sheol is personified as having an insatiable appetite and swallowing people alive as they descend to their death (e.g., Num 16:30, 33; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5). In ancient Near Eastern literature, the grave is often personified in similar manner, e.g., in Ugaritic mythological texts Mot (= “death”) is referred to as “the great swallower.”

[1:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and whole.” The vav (ו) is asseverative or appositional (“even”); it is omitted in the translation for the sake of style and smoothness. The substantival adjective תָּמִים (tamim, “whole; perfect; blameless”) is an adverbial accusative describing the condition and state of the object. Used in parallel to חַיִּים (khayyim, “alive”), it must mean “full of health” (BDB 1071 s.v. תָּמִים 2). These cutthroats want to murder a person who is full of vigor.

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “find.” The use of the verb מָצָא (matsa’, “to find”) is deliberate understatement to rhetorically down-play the heinous act of thievery.

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all wealth of preciousness.”

[1:13]  ¹² tn The noun שָׁלָל (shalal, “plunder”) functions as an adverbial accusative of material: “with plunder.” This term is normally used for the spoils of war (e.g., Deut 20:14; Josh 7:21; Judg 8:24, 25; 1 Sam 30:20) but here refers to “stolen goods” (so NCV, CEV; e.g., Isa 10:2; Prov 16:19; BDB 1022 s.v. 3). The enticement was to join a criminal gang and adopt a life of crime to enjoy ill-gotten gain (A. Cohen, Proverbs, 4). Cf. NAB, NRSV “booty”; TEV “loot.”

[1:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “Throw in your lot with us.” This is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) urging the naive to join their life of crime and divide their loot equally. The noun גּוֹרָל (goral, “lot”) can refer to (1) lot thrown for decision-making processes, e.g., choosing the scapegoat (Lev 16:8), discovering a guilty party (Jonah 1:7) or allocating property (Josh 18:6); (2) allotted portion (Josh 15:1) and (3) allotted fate or future destiny (Prov 1:14; Dan 12:13; see BDB 174 s.v.). Here the criminals urged the lad to share their life. The verb תַּפִּיל (tappil) is an imperfect of injunction: “Throw in…!” but might also be an imperfect of permission: “you may throw.” It functions metonymically as an invitation to join their life of crime: “share with us” (BDB 658 s.v. 3).

[1:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there will be to all of us.”

[1:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “one purse” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV). The term כִּיס (kis, “purse; bag”) is a synecdoche of container (= purse) for contents (= stolen goods). The adjective אֶחָד (’ekhad, “one”) indicates that the thieves promised to share equally in what they had stolen.

[1:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “do not walk.”

[1:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the way with them.”

[1:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your foot.” The term “foot” (רֶגֶל, regel) is a synecdoche of part (= your foot) for the whole person (= yourself).

[1:15]  ¹⁹ sn The word “path” (נְתִיבָה, nÿtivah) like the word “way” (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) is used as an idiom (developed from a hypocatastasis), meaning “conduct, course of life.”

[13:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “walks.” When used with the preposition אֶת (’et, “with”), the verb הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) means “to associate with” someone (BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.b; e.g., Mic 6:8; Job 34:8). The active participle of הָלַךְ (“to walk”) stresses continual, durative action. One should stay in close association with the wise, and move in the same direction they do.

[13:20]  ²¹ tn The verb form יֵרוֹעַ (yeroa’) is the Niphal imperfect of רָעַע (ra’a’), meaning “to suffer hurt.” Several have attempted to parallel the repetition in the wordplay of the first colon. A. Guillaume has “he who associates with fools will be left a fool” (“A Note on the Roots רִיע, יָרַע, and רָעַע in Hebrew,” JTS 15 [1964]: 294). Knox translated the Vulgate thus: “Fool he ends that fool befriends” (cited by D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 104).

[13:10]  ²² tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.

[13:10]  ²³ tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

[13:10]  ²⁴ tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ²⁵ sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).

[13:10]  ²⁶ tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ²⁷ sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

[13:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

[13:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”

[13:12]  ³⁰ tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[13:13]  ³¹ tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.

[13:13]  ³² tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

[13:13]  ³³ tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” The description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form a hendiadys: “wicked and sinners” means “wicked sinners,” the first word becoming adjectival. The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause pain for others. Then to this phrase is added “against the Lord,” stressing their violation of the laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “exceedingly,” translated here as “extremely”).

[19:1]  ³⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ³⁶ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ³⁷ tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ³⁸ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:3]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew verb פָּצַר (patsar, “to press, to insist”) ironically foreshadows the hostile actions of the men of the city (see v. 9, where the verb also appears). The repetition of the word serves to contrast Lot to his world.

[19:4]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) means “to lie down, to recline,” that is, “to go to bed.” Here what appears to be an imperfect is a preterite after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem). The nuance of potential (perfect) fits well.

[19:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young to the old, all the people from the end [of the city].” The repetition of the phrase “men of” stresses all kinds of men.

[19:5]  ⁴² tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:5]  ⁴³ tn The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) is used here in the sense of “to lie with” or “to have sex with” (as in Gen 4:1). That this is indeed the meaning is clear from Lot’s warning that they not do so wickedly, and his willingness to give them his daughters instead.

[19:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”

[19:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ⁴⁸ sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[19:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”

[19:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”

[19:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”

[19:9]  ⁵² tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.

[19:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”

[19:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and they drew near.”

[19:10]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “inside” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:10]  ⁵⁶ tn The Hebrew text adds “their hand.” These words have not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “to them into the house.”

[19:11]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”

[19:11]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”

[26:9]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).