Psalms 49:10

49:10 Surely ¹  one sees ²  that even wise people die; ³ 

fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away ⁴ 

and leave their wealth to others. ⁵ 

Psalms 92:6

92:6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this;

the fool does not understand this. ⁶ 

Psalms 94:8

94:8 Take notice of this, ⁷  you ignorant people! ⁸ 

You fools, when will you ever understand?

Jeremiah 4:22

4:22 The Lord answered, ⁹ 

“This will happen ¹⁰  because my people are foolish.

They do not know me.

They are like children who have no sense. ¹¹ 

They have no understanding.

They are skilled at doing evil.

They do not know how to do good.”

Jeremiah 5:4

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹² 

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ¹³ 

They do not know what their God requires of them. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 10:8

10:8 The people of those nations ¹⁵  are both stupid and foolish.

Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 10:21

10:21 For our leaders ¹⁷  are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ¹⁸ 

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for ¹⁹  have all been scattered.

Jeremiah 12:3

12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.

You watch me and test my devotion to you. ²⁰ 

Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!

Appoint a time when they will be killed! ²¹ 

Ezekiel 21:31

21:31 I will pour out my anger on you;

the fire of my fury I will blow on you.

I will hand you over to brutal men,

who are skilled in destruction.

Jude 1:10

1:10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. ²² 

[49:10]  ¹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).

[49:10]  ² tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).

[49:10]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.

[49:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).

[49:10]  ⁵ sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.

[92:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “the brutish man does not know, and the fool does not understand this.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 49:10; 73:22; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).

[94:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.

[94:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”

[4:22]  ⁹ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the Lord answers, giving the reason for the devastation Jeremiah foresees.

[4:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.

[4:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They are senseless children.”

[5:4]  ¹² tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.

[5:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[10:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Those wise people and kings are…” It is unclear whether the subject is the “they” of the nations in the preceding verse, or the wise people and kings referred to. The text merely has “they.”

[10:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “The instruction of vanities [worthless idols] is wood.” The meaning of this line is a little uncertain. Various proposals have been made to make sense, most of which involve radical emendation of the text. For some examples see J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (NICOT), 323-24, fn 6. However, this is probably a case of the bold predication that discussed in GKC 452 §141.d, some examples of which may be seen in Ps 109:4 “I am prayer,” and Ps 120:7 “I am peace.”

[10:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the shepherds.”

[10:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “They have not sought the Lord.”

[10:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”

[12:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “You, Lord, know me. You watch me and you test my heart toward you.”

[12:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “set aside for them a day of killing.”

[1:10]  ²² tn Or “they should naturally comprehend.” The present tense in this context may have a conative force.