Discovery BoxProverbs 29:24
Context29:24 Whoever shares with a thief 1 is his own enemy; 2
he hears the oath to testify, 3 but does not talk.
Exodus 20:7
Context20:7 “You shall not take 4 the name of the Lord your God in vain, 5 for the Lord will not hold guiltless 6 anyone who takes his name in vain.
Leviticus 5:1
Context5:1 “‘When a person sins 7 in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify 8 and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened 9 ) and he does not make it known, 10 then he will bear his punishment for iniquity. 11
Matthew 26:72
Context26:72 He denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!”
Matthew 26:74
Context26:74 At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed. 12
[29:24] 1 sn The expression shares with a thief describes someone who is an “accomplice” (cf. NAB, NIV) because he is willing to share in the loot without taking part in the crime.
[29:24] 2 tn Heb “hates his soul.” The accomplice is working against himself, for he will be punished along with the thief if he is caught.
[29:24] 3 tn Heb “oath” or “imprecation”; ASV “adjuration.” This amounted to an “oath” or “curse” (cf. NAB “he hears himself put under a curse”; NRSV “one hears the victim’s curse”) either by or on behalf of the victim, that any witness to the crime must testify (cf. Lev 5:1). However, in this legal setting referring to “a victim’s curse” could be misleading (cf. also KJV “he heareth cursing”), since it could be understood to refer to profanity directed against those guilty of the crime rather than an imprecation called down on a witness who refused to testify (as in the present proverb). The present translation specifies this as an “oath to testify.”
[20:7] 4 tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”
[20:7] 5 tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.
[20:7] 6 tn Or “leave unpunished.”
[5:1] 7 tn Heb “And a person when he sins.” Most English versions translate this as the protasis of a conditional clause: “if a person sins” (NASB, NIV).
[5:1] 8 tn The words “against one who fails to testify” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to make sense of the remark about the “curse” (“imprecation” or “oath”; cf. ASV “adjuration”; NIV “public charge”) for the modern reader. For the interpretation of this verse reflected in the present translation see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:292-97.
[5:1] 9 tn The words “what had happened” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[5:1] 10 tn Heb “and hears a voice of curse, and he is a witness or he saw or he knew, if he does not declare.”
[5:1] 11 tn Heb “and he shall bear his iniquity.” The rendering “bear the punishment (for the iniquity)” reflects the use of the word “iniquity” to refer to the punishment for iniquity (cf. NRSV, NLT “subject to punishment”). It is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).
[26:74] 12 tn It seems most likely that this refers to a real rooster crowing, although a number of scholars have suggested that “cockcrow” is a technical term referring to the trumpet call which ended the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 a.m.). This would then be a reference to the Roman gallicinium (ἀλεκτοροφωνία, alektorofwnia; the term is used in Mark 13:35 and is found in some
