Proverbs 6:18

6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, ¹ 

feet that are swift to run ²  to evil,

Proverbs 12:2

12:2 A good person obtains favor from the Lord,

but the Lord ³  condemns a person with wicked schemes. ⁴ 

Esther 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against ⁵  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ⁶  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ⁷  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ⁸  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Esther 7:5-6

7:5 Then King Ahasuerus responded ⁹  to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough ¹⁰  to act in this way?”

7:6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”

Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen.

Isaiah 32:7

32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; ¹¹ 

he dreams up evil plans ¹² 

to ruin the poor with lies,

even when the needy are in the right. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 5:26-29

5:26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.

They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. ¹⁴ 

They set deadly traps ¹⁵  to catch people.

5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, ¹⁶ 

their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. ¹⁷ 

That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. ¹⁸ 

5:28 That is how ¹⁹  they have grown fat and sleek. ²⁰ 

There is no limit to the evil things they do. ²¹ 

They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.

They do not defend the rights of the poor.

5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! ²² 

[6:18]  ¹ tn Heb “heart that devises plans of wickedness.” The latter term is an attributive genitive. The heart (metonymy of subject) represents the will; here it plots evil schemes. The heart is capable of evil schemes (Gen 6:5); the heart that does this is deceitful (Prov 12:20; 14:22).

[6:18]  ² tc The MT reads “make haste to run,” that is, be eager to seize the opportunity. The LXX omits “run,” that is, feet hastening to do evil. It must have appeared to the LXX translator that the verb was unnecessary; only one verb occurs in the other cola.

[12:2]  ³ tn Heb “but he condemns”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man of wicked plans.” The noun מְזִמּוֹת (mÿzimmot, “evil plans”) functions as an attributive genitive: “an evil-scheming man.” Cf. NASB “a man who devises evil”; NAB “the schemer.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

[3:6]  ⁷ tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

[3:6]  ⁸ tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

[7:5]  ⁹ tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT.

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.”

[32:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”

[32:7]  ¹² tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”

[32:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”

[5:26]  ¹⁴ tn The meaning of the last three words is uncertain. The pointing and meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “hiding in ambush” is debated. BDB relates the form (כְּשַׁךְ, kÿshakh) to a root שָׁכַךְ (shakhakh), which elsewhere means “decrease, abate” (cf. BDB 1013 s.v. שָׁכַךְ), and notes that this is usually understood as “like the crouching of fowlers,” but they say this meaning is dubious. HALOT 1345 s.v. I שׁוֹר questions the validity of the text and offers three proposals; the second appears to create the least textual modification, i.e., reading כְּשַׂךְ (kesakh, “as in the hiding place of (bird catchers)”; for the word שַׂךְ (sakh) see HALOT 1236 s.v. שׂךְ 4 and compare Lam 2:6 for usage. The versions do not help. The Greek does not translate the first two words of the line. The proposal given in HALOT is accepted with some hesitancy.

[5:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a destroying thing.”

[5:27]  ¹⁶ tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.

[5:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.

[5:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”

[5:28]  ¹⁹ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.

[5:28]  ²⁰ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.

[5:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”

[5:29]  ²² tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.