Psalms 38:12-14

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ¹ 

those who want to harm me speak destructive words;

all day long they say deceitful things.

38:13 But I am like a deaf man – I hear nothing;

I am like a mute who cannot speak. ² 

38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear

and is incapable of arguing his defense. ³ 

Psalms 39:1

Psalm 39 ⁴ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ⁵  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ⁶ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ⁷ 

Proverbs 26:17

26:17 Like one who grabs a wild dog by the ears, ⁸ 

so is the person passing by who becomes furious ⁹  over a quarrel not his own.

Ecclesiastes 3:7

3:7 A time to rip, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.

Amos 5:10

5:10 The Israelites ¹⁰  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ¹¹ 

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

Amos 5:13

5:13 For this reason whoever is smart ¹²  keeps quiet ¹³  in such a time,

for it is an evil ¹⁴  time.

Matthew 10:16

Persecution of Disciples

10:16 “I ¹⁵  am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, ¹⁶  so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Matthew 15:23

15:23 But he did not answer her a word. Then ¹⁷  his disciples came and begged him, ¹⁸  “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.”

Matthew 26:63

26:63 But Jesus was silent. The ¹⁹  high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, ²⁰  the Son of God.”

[38:12]  ¹ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[38:13]  ² sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).

[38:14]  ³ tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

[39:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ⁷ sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[26:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “grabs the ears of a dog. The word “wild” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that these were not domesticated pets. CEV, to accomplish the same point, has “a mad dog,” but there is no indication of that in context.

[26:17]  ⁹ tn The word מִתְעַבֵּר (mit’abber) means “to put oneself in a fury” or “become furious” (BDB 720 s.v.). The Latin version apparently assumed the verb was עָרַב (’arav), for it has the sense of “meddle” (so also NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, the MT reading could easily fit the verse, referring to anyone passing by who gets furious over a fight that is not his.

[5:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:10]  ¹¹ sn In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[5:13]  ¹² tn Or “the wise”; or “the prudent.” Another option is to translate “the successful, prosperous” and understand this as a reference to the rich oppressors. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 169-70. In this case the following verb will also have a different nuance, that is, the wealthy remain silent before the abuses they perpetuate. See the note on the verb translated “keeps quiet” later in this verse.

[5:13]  ¹³ tn Or “moans, laments,” from a homonymic verbal root. If the rich oppressors are in view, then the verb (whether translated “will be silenced” or “will lament”) describes the result of God’s judgment upon them. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.

[5:13]  ¹⁴ tn If this is a judgment announcement against the rich, then the Hebrew phrase עֵת רָעָה (’et ra’ah) must be translated, “[a] disastrous time.” See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.

[10:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[10:16]  ¹⁶ sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.

[15:23]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[15:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:63]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:63]  ²⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”