Psalms 37:32-33

37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly

and try to kill them. ¹ 

37:33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,

or allow them to be condemned in a court of law. ² 

Psalms 56:5-6

56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; ³ 

they make a habit of plotting my demise. ⁴ 

56:6 They stalk ⁵  and lurk; ⁶ 

they watch my every step, ⁷ 

as ⁸  they prepare to take my life. ⁹ 

Matthew 22:15

Paying Taxes to Caesar

22:15 Then the Pharisees ¹⁰  went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words. ¹¹ 

Matthew 22:18

22:18 But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me?

Matthew 22:35

22:35 And one of them, an expert in religious law, ¹²  asked him a question to test ¹³  him:

Mark 12:13

Paying Taxes to Caesar

12:13 Then ¹⁴  they sent some of the Pharisees ¹⁵  and Herodians ¹⁶  to trap him with his own words. ¹⁷ 

[37:32]  ¹ tn Heb “an evil [one] watches the godly [one] and seeks to kill him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

[37:33]  ² tn Heb “the Lord does not abandon him into his hand or condemn him when he is judged.” The imperfects draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic behavior in this regard.

[56:5]  ³ tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”

[56:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”

[56:6]  ⁵ tn The verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 59:3.

[56:6]  ⁶ tn Or “hide.”

[56:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “my heels.”

[56:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to,” in the sense of “inasmuch as; since,” or “when; while.”

[56:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “they wait [for] my life.”

[22:15]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[22:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “trap him in word.”

[22:35]  ¹² tn Traditionally, “a lawyer.” This was an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law.

[22:35]  ¹³ tn Grk “testing.” The participle, however, is telic in force.

[12:13]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:13]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[12:13]  ¹⁶ sn Pharisees and Herodians made a very interesting alliance. W. W. Wessel (“Mark,” EBC 8:733) comments: “The Herodians were as obnoxious to the Pharisees on political grounds as the Sadducees were on theological grounds. Yet the two groups united in their opposition to Jesus. Collaboration in wickedness, as well as goodness, has great power. Their purpose was to trip Jesus up in his words so that he would lose the support of the people, leaving the way open for them to destroy him.” See also the note on “Herodians” in Mark 3:6.

[12:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “trap him in word.”