Proverbs 15:27

15:27 The one who is greedy for gain ¹  troubles ²  his household, ³ 

but whoever hates bribes ⁴  will live.

Proverbs 23:3-4

23:3 Do not crave that ruler’s ⁵  delicacies,

for ⁶  that food is deceptive. ⁷ 

23:4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself. ⁸ 

Proverbs 23:2

23:2 and put a knife to your throat ⁹ 

if you possess a large appetite. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 18:11-13

18:11 The wealth ¹¹  of a rich person is like ¹²  a strong city, ¹³ 

and it is like a high wall in his imagination. ¹⁴ 

18:12 Before destruction the heart ¹⁵  of a person is proud,

but humility comes ¹⁶  before honor. ¹⁷ 

18:13 The one who gives an answer ¹⁸  before he listens ¹⁹  –

that is his folly and his shame. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 18:2

18:2 A fool takes no pleasure ²¹  in understanding

but only in disclosing ²²  what is on his mind. ²³ 

Proverbs 5:20

5:20 But why should you be captivated, ²⁴  my son, by an adulteress,

and embrace the bosom of a different woman? ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 22:17-19

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ²⁶ 

22:18 So ²⁷  the Lord has this to say about Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:

People will not mourn for him, saying,

“This makes me sad, my brother!

This makes me sad, my sister!”

They will not mourn for him, saying,

“Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!” ²⁸ 

22:19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey.

His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’” ²⁹ 

Micah 2:1-3

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ³⁰ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ³¹ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³² 

because they have the power to do so.

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ³³ 

They defraud people of their homes, ³⁴ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ³⁵ 

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ³⁶ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ³⁷ 

You will no longer ³⁸  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Micah 3:10-12

3:10 You ³⁹  build Zion through bloody crimes, ⁴⁰ 

Jerusalem ⁴¹  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ⁴²  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ⁴³ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ⁴⁴  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁴⁵ 

Disaster will not overtake ⁴⁶  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁴⁷  Zion will be plowed up like ⁴⁸  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ⁴⁹  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁵⁰ 

Habakkuk 2:9

2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ⁵¹ 

He does this so he can build his nest way up high

and escape the clutches of disaster. ⁵² 

Acts 8:19-20

8:19 saying, “Give me this power ⁵³  too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, ⁵⁴  because you thought you could acquire ⁵⁵  God’s gift with money!

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ⁵⁶  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ⁵⁷  persecution began ⁵⁸  against the church in Jerusalem, ⁵⁹  and all ⁶⁰  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ⁶¹  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 3:3

3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, ⁶²  he asked them for money. ⁶³ 

Acts 6:9-10

6:9 But some men from the Synagogue ⁶⁴  of the Freedmen (as it was called), ⁶⁵  both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia, ⁶⁶  stood up and argued with Stephen. 6:10 Yet ⁶⁷  they were not able to resist ⁶⁸  the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

James 5:1-4

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ⁶⁹  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! ⁷⁰  5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

James 5:2

5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten.

James 2:3

2:3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, ⁷¹  “You sit here in a good place,” ⁷²  and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? ⁷³ 

James 2:14-16

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ⁷⁴  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ⁷⁵  save him? ⁷⁶  2:15 If a brother or sister ⁷⁷  is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, ⁷⁸  what good is it?

[15:27]  ¹ tn Heb “the one who gains.” The phrase בּוֹצֵעַ בָּצַע (botseakh batsa’) is a participle followed by its cognate accusative. This refers to a person who is always making the big deal, getting the larger cut, or in a hurry to get rich. The verb, though, makes it clear that the gaining of a profit is by violence and usually unjust, since the root has the idea of “cut off; break off; gain by violence.” The line is contrasted with hating bribes, and so the gain in this line may be through bribery.

[15:27]  ² sn The participle “troubles” (עֹכֵר, ’okher) can have the connotation of making things difficult for the family, or completely ruining the family (cf. NAB). In Josh 7:1 Achan took some of the “banned things” and was put to death: Because he “troubled Israel,” the Lord would “trouble” him (take his life, Josh 7:25).

[15:27]  ³ tn Heb “his house.”

[15:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “gifts” (so KJV). Gifts can be harmless enough, but in a setting like this the idea is that the “gift” is in exchange for some “profit [or, gain].” Therefore they are bribes (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), and to be hated or rejected. Abram, for example, would not take anything that the king of Sodom had to offer, “lest [he] say, “I have made Abram rich” (Gen 14:22-24).

[23:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the ruler mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:3]  ⁶ sn The final line gives the causal clause: The impressive feast is not what it appears to be; the king is not doing you a favor, but rather wants something from you or is observing you (K&D 17:104); cf. TEV “he may be trying to trick you.”

[23:3]  ⁷ sn Verses 1-3 form the sixth saying about being cautious before rulers (cf. Instruction of Amememope, chap. 23, 23:13-18). One should not get too familiar with rulers, for they always have ulterior motives. The Mishnah cites Gamaliel as warning that a ruler only draws someone into his court for his purpose, but in their day of trouble he will not be there to help them (m. Abot 2:3).

[23:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “from your understanding cease.” In the context this means that the person should have enough understanding to stop wearing himself out trying to be rich (cf. NRSV “be wise enough to desist”).

[23:2]  ⁹ sn The expression “put a knife to your throat” is an idiom that means “curb your appetite” or “control yourself” (cf. TEV). The instruction was from a time when people dealt with all-powerful tyrants. To enter the presence of such a person and indulge one’s appetites would be to take a very high risk.

[23:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lord of appetite.” The idiom בַּעַל נֶפֶשׁ (ba’al nefesh) refers to someone who possesses a large appetite (cf. NAB “a ravenous appetite”). A person with a big appetite is in danger of taking liberties when invited to court.

[18:11]  ¹¹ sn This proverb forms a contrast with the previous one. The rich, unlike the righteous, trust in wealth and not in God.

[18:11]  ¹² tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “city of his strength”; NIV “fortified city.” This term refers to their place of refuge, what they look to for security and protection in time of trouble.

[18:11]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads בְּמַשְׂכִּיתוֹ (bÿmaskito, “in his imaginations”). The LXX, Tg. Prov 18:11, and the Latin reflect בִּמְשֻׂכָּתוֹ (bimsukato, “like a fence [or, high wall]”) that is, wealth provides protection. The MT reading, on the other hand, suggests that this security is only in the mind.

[18:12]  ¹⁵ sn The term “heart” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the seat of the spiritual and intellectual capacities – the mind, the will, the motivations and intentions. Proud ambitions and intentions will lead to a fall.

[18:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[is] before honor”; cf. CEV “humility leads to honor.”

[18:12]  ¹⁷ sn The way to honor is through humility (e.g., Prov 11:2; 15:33; 16:18). The humility and exaltation of Jesus provides the classic example (Phil 2:1-10).

[18:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “returns a word”; KJV “He that answereth a matter.”

[18:13]  ¹⁹ sn Poor listening and premature answering indicate that the person has a low regard for what the other is saying, or that he is too absorbed in his own ideas. The Mishnah lists this as the second characteristic of the uncultured person (m. Avot 5:7).

[18:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “it is folly to him and shame.” The verse uses formal parallelism, with the second colon simply completing the thought of the first.

[18:2]  ²¹ sn This expression forms an understatement (tapeinosis); the opposite is the point – he detests understanding or discernment.

[18:2]  ²² tn The Hitpael infinitive construct בְּהִתְגַּלּוֹת (bÿhitgalot) functions nominally as the object of the preposition. The term means “reveal, uncover, betray.” So the fool takes pleasure “in uncovering” his heart.

[18:2]  ²³ tn Heb “his heart.” This is a metonymy meaning “what is on his mind” (cf. NAB “displaying what he thinks”; NRSV “expressing personal opinion”). This kind of person is in love with his own ideas and enjoys spewing them out (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 515). It is the kind of person who would ask a question, not to learn, but to show everyone how clever he is (cf. TEV).

[5:20]  ²⁴ tn In the interrogative clause the imperfect has a deliberative nuance.

[5:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “foreigner” (so ASV, NASB), but this does not mean that the woman is non-Israelite. This term describes a woman who is outside the moral boundaries of the covenant community – she is another man’s wife, but since she acts with moral abandonment she is called “foreign.”

[22:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[22:18]  ²⁷ sn This is the regular way of introducing the announcement of judgment after an indictment of crimes. See, e.g., Isa 5:13, 14; Jer 23:2.

[22:18]  ²⁸ tn The translation follows the majority of scholars who think that the address of brother and sister are the address of the mourners to one another, lamenting their loss. Some scholars feel that all four terms are parallel and represent the relation that the king had metaphorically to his subjects; i.e., he was not only Lord and Majesty to them but like a sister or a brother. In that case something like: “How sad it is for the one who was like a brother to us! How sad it is for the one who was like a sister to us.” This makes for poor poetry and is not very likely. The lover can call his bride sister in Song of Solomon (Song 4:9, 10) but there are no documented examples of a subject ever speaking of a king in this way in Israel or the ancient Near East.

[22:19]  ²⁹ sn A similar judgment against this ungodly king is pronounced by Jeremiah in 36:30. According to 2 Chr 36:6 he was bound over to be taken captive to Babylon but apparently died before he got there. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar ordered his body thrown outside the wall in fulfillment of this judgment. The Bible itself, however, does not tell us that.

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ³² tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:2]  ³³ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ³⁸ tn Or “you will not.”

[3:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ⁴¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:11]  ⁴² sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ⁴³ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:12]  ⁴⁷ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[2:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:9]  ⁵² tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”

[8:19]  ⁵³ tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”

[8:20]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “May your silver together with you be sent into destruction.” This is a strong curse. The gifts of God are sovereignly bestowed and cannot be purchased.

[8:20]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “obtain.”

[8:1]  ⁵⁶ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ⁵⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ⁶⁰ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ⁶¹ tn Or “countryside.”

[3:3]  ⁶² tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[3:3]  ⁶³ tn Grk “alms.” See the note on the word “money” in the previous verse.

[6:9]  ⁶⁴ sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).

[6:9]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “the so-called Synagogue of the Freedmen.” The translation of the participle λεγομένης (legomenh") by the phrase “as it was called” is given by L&N 87.86. “Freedmen” would be slaves who had gained their freedom, or the descendants of such people (BDAG 594-95 s.v. Λιβερτῖνος).

[6:9]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[6:10]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “and.” The context, however, indicates that the conjunction carries an adversative force.

[6:10]  ⁶⁸ sn They were not able to resist. This represents another fulfillment of Luke 12:11-12; 21:15.

[5:1]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”

[2:3]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.

[2:3]  ⁷² tn Or “sit here, please.”

[2:3]  ⁷³ tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:14]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:14]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pisti") in the verse. See ExSyn 219.

[2:14]  ⁷⁶ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.

[2:15]  ⁷⁷ tn It is important to note that the words ἀδελφός (adelfos) and ἀδελφή (adelfh) both occur in the Greek text at this point, confirming that the author intended to refer to both men and women. See the note on “someone” in 2:2.

[2:16]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”