Proverbs 6:16-17

6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

even ¹  seven ²  things that are an abomination to him: ³ 

6:17 haughty eyes, ⁴  a lying tongue, ⁵ 

and hands that shed innocent blood, ⁶ 

Psalms 5:6

5:6 You destroy ⁷  liars; ⁸ 

the Lord despises ⁹  violent and deceitful people. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 9:15

9:15 The leaders and the highly respected people ¹¹  are the head,

the prophets who teach lies are the tail.

Ezekiel 13:19

13:19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. You have put to death people ¹²  who should not die and kept alive those who should not live by your lies to my people, who listen to lies!

Ezekiel 13:22

13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

Revelation 21:8

21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, ¹³  idol worshipers, ¹⁴  and all those who lie, their place ¹⁵  will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. ¹⁶  That ¹⁷  is the second death.”

Revelation 22:15

22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers ¹⁸  and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! ¹⁹ 

[6:16]  ¹ tn The conjunction has the explicative use here (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §434).

[6:16]  ² sn This saying involves a numerical ladder, paralleling six things with seven things (e.g., also 30:15, 18, 21, 24, 29). The point of such a numerical arrangement is that the number does not exhaust the list (W. M. Roth, “The Numerical Sequence x / x +1 in the Old Testament,” VT 12 [1962]: 300-311; and his “Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament,” VT 13 [1965]: 86).

[6:16]  ³ tn Heb “his soul.”

[6:17]  ⁴ sn The expression “high/ lofty [רָמוֹת, ramot] eyes” refers to a proud look suggesting arrogant ambition (cf. NCV “a proud look”). The use of “eyes” is a metonymy of adjunct, the look in the eyes accompanying the attitude. This term “high” is used in Num 15:30 for the sin of the “high hand,” i.e., willful rebellion or defiant sin. The usage of “haughty eyes” may be illustrated by its use with the pompous Assyrian invader (Isa 10:12-14) and the proud king of the book of Daniel (11:12). God does not tolerate anyone who thinks so highly of himself and who has such ambition.

[6:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “a tongue of deception.” The genitive noun functions attributively. The term “tongue” functions as a metonymy. The term is used of false prophets who deceive (Jer 14:14), and of a deceiver who betrays (Ps 109:2). The Lord hates deceptive speech because it is destructive (26:28).

[6:17]  ⁶ sn The hands are the instruments of murder (metonymy of cause), and God hates bloodshed. Gen 9:6 prohibited shedding blood because people are the image of God. Even David being a man of blood (in war mostly) was not permitted to build the Temple (1 Chr 22:8). But shedding innocent blood was a greater crime – it usually went with positions of power, such as King Manasseh filling the streets with blood (2 Kgs 21:16), or princes doing it for gain (Ezek 22:27).

[5:6]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.

[5:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.

[5:6]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the Lord’s characteristic attitude toward such individuals.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.

[9:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the elder and the one lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.

[13:19]  ¹² tn Heb “human lives” or “souls.”

[21:8]  ¹³ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

[21:8]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “idolaters.”

[21:8]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “their share.”

[21:8]  ¹⁶ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[21:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “sulfur, which is.” The relative pronoun has been translated as “that” to indicate its connection to the previous clause. The nearest logical antecedent is “the lake [that burns with fire and sulfur],” although “lake” (λίμνη, limnh) is feminine gender, while the pronoun “which” (ὅ, Jo) is neuter gender. This means that (1) the proper antecedent could be “their place” (Grk “their share,”) agreeing with the relative pronoun in number and gender, or (2) the neuter pronoun still has as its antecedent the feminine noun “lake,” since agreement in gender between pronoun and antecedent was not always maintained, with an explanatory phrase occurring with a neuter pronoun regardless of the case of the antecedent. In favor of the latter explanation is Rev 20:14, where the phrase “the lake of fire” is in apposition to the phrase “the second death.”

[22:15]  ¹⁸ tn On the term φάρμακοι (farmakoi) see L&N 53.101.

[22:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “lying,” “deceit.”