Proverbs 11:4

11:4 Wealth does not profit in the day of wrath, ¹ 

but righteousness delivers from mortal danger. ² 

Psalms 49:6-10

49:6 They trust ³  in their wealth

and boast ⁴  in their great riches.

49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; ⁵ 

he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price ⁶ 

49:8 (the ransom price for a human life ⁷  is too high,

and people go to their final destiny), ⁸ 

49:9 so that he might continue to live ⁹  forever

and not experience death. ¹⁰ 

49:10 Surely ¹¹  one sees ¹²  that even wise people die; ¹³ 

fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away ¹⁴ 

and leave their wealth to others. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 10:2-3

10:2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,

and to deprive ¹⁶  the oppressed among my people of justice,

so they can steal what widows own,

and loot what belongs to orphans. ¹⁷ 

10:3 What will you do on judgment day, ¹⁸ 

when destruction arrives from a distant place?

To whom will you run for help?

Where will you leave your wealth?

Zephaniah 1:18

1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth ¹⁹  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ²⁰ 

Indeed, ²¹  he will bring terrifying destruction ²²  on all who live on the earth.” ²³ 

Luke 12:15-21

12:15 Then ²⁴  he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from ²⁵  all types of greed, ²⁶  because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 12:16 He then ²⁷  told them a parable: ²⁸  “The land of a certain rich man produced ²⁹  an abundant crop, 12:17 so ³⁰  he thought to himself, ³¹  ‘What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ³²  12:18 Then ³³  he said, ‘I ³⁴  will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 12:19 And I will say to myself, ³⁵  “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’ 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ³⁶  will be demanded back from ³⁷  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ³⁸  12:21 So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, ³⁹  but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 16:22-23

16:22 “Now ⁴⁰  the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. ⁴¹  The ⁴²  rich man also died and was buried. ⁴³  16:23 And in hell, ⁴⁴  as he was in torment, ⁴⁵  he looked up ⁴⁶  and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. ⁴⁷ 

Romans 2:5

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ⁴⁸  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ⁴⁹ 

James 5:1-3

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ⁵⁰  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ⁵¹ 

[11:4]  ¹ sn The “day of wrath” refers to divine punishment in this life (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 67; e.g., also Job 21:30; Ezek 7:19; Zeph 1:18). Righteousness and not wealth is more valuable in anticipating judgment.

[11:4]  ² tn Heb “from death.”

[49:6]  ³ tn Heb “the ones who trust.” The substantival participle stands in apposition to “those who deceive me” (v. 5).

[49:6]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form emphasizes their characteristic behavior.

[49:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “a brother, he surely does not ransom, a man.” The sequence אִישׁ...אָח (’akh...’ish, “a brother…a man”) is problematic, for the usual combination is אָח...אָח (“a brother…a brother”) or אִישׁ...אִישׁ (“a man…a man”). When אִישׁ and אָח are combined, the usual order is אָח...אִישׁ (“a man…a brother”), with “brother” having a third masculine singular suffix, “his brother.” This suggests that “brother” is the object of the verb and “man” the subject. (1) Perhaps the altered word order and absence of the suffix can be explained by the text’s poetic character, for ellipsis is a feature of Hebrew poetic style. (2) Another option, supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss, is to emend “brother” to the similar sounding אַךְ (’akh, “surely; but”) which occurs in v. 15 before the verb פָּדָה (padah, “ransom”). If this reading is accepted the Qal imperfect יִפְדֶּה (yifddeh, “he can [not] ransom”) would need to be emended to a Niphal (passive) form, יִפָּדֶה (yifadeh, “he can[not] be ransomed”) unless one understands the subject of the Qal verb to be indefinite (“one cannot redeem a man”). (A Niphal imperfect can be collocated with a Qal infinitive absolute. See GKC 344-45 §113.w.) No matter how one decides the textual issues, the imperfect in this case is modal, indicating potential, and the infinitive absolute emphasizes the statement.

[49:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “he cannot pay to God his ransom price.” Num 35:31 may supply the legal background for the metaphorical language used here. The psalmist pictures God as having a claim on the soul of the individual. When God comes to claim the life that ultimately belongs to him, he demands a ransom price that is beyond the capability of anyone to pay. The psalmist’s point is that God has ultimate authority over life and death; all the money in the world cannot buy anyone a single day of life beyond what God has decreed.

[49:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “their life.” Some emend the text to “his life,” understanding the antecedent of the pronoun as “brother” in v. 7. However, the man and brother of v. 7 are representative of the human race in general, perhaps explaining why a plural pronoun appears in v. 8. Of course, the plural pronoun could refer back to “the rich” mentioned in v. 6. Another option (the one assumed in the translation) is that the suffixed mem is enclitic. In this case the “ransom price for human life” is referred to an abstract, general way.

[49:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “and one ceases forever.” The translation assumes an indefinite subject which in turn is representative of the entire human race (“one,” that refers to human beings without exception). The verb חָדַל (khadal, “cease”) is understood in the sense of “come to an end; fail” (i.e., die). Another option is to translate, “and one ceases/refrains forever.” In this case the idea is that the living, convinced of the reality of human mortality, give up all hope of “buying off” God and refrain from trying to do so.

[49:9]  ⁹ tn The jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is taken as indicating purpose/result in relation to the statement made in v. 8. (On this use of the jussive after an imperfect, see GKC 322 §109.f.) In this case v. 8 is understood as a parenthetical comment.

[49:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “see the Pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 55:24; 103:4).

[49:10]  ¹¹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).

[49:10]  ¹² tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).

[49:10]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.

[49:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).

[49:10]  ¹⁵ sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.

[10:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “rob” (ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV); KJV “take away the right from the poor.”

[10:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “so that widows are their plunder, and they can loot orphans.”

[10:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the day of visitation” (so KJV, ASV), that is, the day when God arrives to execute justice on the oppressors.

[1:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ²¹ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ²² tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ²³ tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).

[12:15]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:15]  ²⁵ tn See L&N 13.154 for this use of the middle voice of φυλάσσω (fulassw) in this verse.

[12:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire to acquire more and more possessions and experiences.

[12:16]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And he.” Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the connection to the preceding statement.

[12:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “a parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:16]  ²⁹ tn Or “yielded a plentiful harvest.”

[12:17]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this is a result of the preceding statement.

[12:17]  ³¹ tn Grk “to himself, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:17]  ³² sn I have nowhere to store my crops. The thinking here is prudent in terms of recognizing the problem. The issue in the parable will be the rich man’s solution, particularly the arrogance reflected in v. 19.

[12:18]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:18]  ³⁴ sn Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.

[12:19]  ³⁵ tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[12:20]  ³⁶ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ³⁷ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ³⁸ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:21]  ³⁹ sn It is selfishness that is rebuked here, in the accumulation of riches for himself. Recall the emphasis on the first person pronouns throughout the parable.

[16:22]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Now it happened that the.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “to Abraham’s bosom.” The phrase “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” describes being gathered to the fathers and is a way to refer to heaven (Gen 15:15; 47:30; Deut 31:16).

[16:22]  ⁴² tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:22]  ⁴³ sn The shorter description suggests a different fate, which is confirmed in the following verses.

[16:23]  ⁴⁴ sn The Greek term Hades stands for the Hebrew concept of Sheol. It is what is called hell today. This is where the dead were gathered (Ps 16:10; 86:13). In the NT Hades has an additional negative force of awaiting judgment (Rev 20:13).

[16:23]  ⁴⁵ sn Hades is a place of torment, especially as one knows that he is separated from God.

[16:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).

[16:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “in his bosom,” the same phrase used in 16:22. This idiom refers to heaven and/or participation in the eschatological banquet. An appropriate modern equivalent is “at Abraham’s side.”

[2:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[5:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ⁵¹ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”