Psalms 58:1-2

Psalm 58 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²  a prayer ³  of David.

58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? ⁴ 

Do you judge people ⁵  fairly?

58:2 No! ⁶  You plan how to do what is unjust; ⁷ 

you deal out violence in the earth. ⁸ 

Hosea 7:6-7

7:6 They approach him, all the while plotting against him.

Their hearts are like an oven;

their anger smolders all night long,

but in the morning it bursts into a flaming fire.

7:7 All of them are blazing like an oven;

they devour their rulers.

All of their kings fall –

and none of them call on me!

Micah 2:1-2

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ⁹ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ¹⁰ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ¹¹ 

because they have the power to do so.

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ¹² 

They defraud people of their homes, ¹³ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ¹⁴ 

Acts 5:3-4

5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled ¹⁵  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of ¹⁶  the land? 5:4 Before it was sold, ¹⁷  did it not ¹⁸  belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money ¹⁹  not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? ²⁰  You have not lied to people ²¹  but to God!”

Acts 8:21-22

8:21 You have no share or part ²²  in this matter ²³  because your heart is not right before God! 8:22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord ²⁴  that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart. ²⁵ 

James 1:14-15

1:14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

[58:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 58. The psalmist calls on God to punish corrupt judges because a vivid display of divine judgment will convince observers that God is the just judge of the world who vindicates the godly.

[58:1]  ² tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 57, 59, and 75.

[58:1]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam) which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 56-57, 59-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[58:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun אֵלֶם (’elem, “silence”) makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some feel that this is an indictment of the addressees’ failure to promote justice; they are silent when they should make just decisions. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֵלִם (’elim), which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of אֵילִים (’elim, “rulers,” a metaphorical use of אַיִל, ’ayil, “ram”; see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of דָּבַר (davar, “speak”) with צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “what is right”) as object means “to speak the truth” (see Ps 52:3; Isa 45:19). Here it refers specifically to declaring what is right in a legal setting, as the next line indicates.

[58:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of mankind.” The translation assumes the phrase is the object of the verb “to judge.” Some take it as a vocative, “Do you judge fairly, O sons of mankind?” (Cf. NASB; see Ezek 20:4; 22:2; 23:36.)

[58:2]  ⁶ tn The particle אַף (’af, “no”) is used here as a strong adversative emphasizing the following statement, which contrasts reality with the rulers’ claim alluded to in the rhetorical questions (see Ps 44:9).

[58:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the heart unjust deeds you do.” The phrase “in the heart” (i.e., “mind”) seems to refer to their plans and motives. The Hebrew noun עַוְלָה (’avlah, “injustice”) is collocated with פָּעַל (pa’al, “do”) here and in Job 36:23 and Ps 119:3. Some emend the plural form עוֹלֹת (’olot, “unjust deeds”; see Ps 64:6) to the singular עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”; see Job 34:32), taking the final tav (ת) as dittographic (note that the following verbal form begins with tav). Some then understand עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”) as a genitive modifying “heart” and translate, “with a heart of injustice you act.”

[58:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the earth the violence of your hands you weigh out.” The imagery is from the economic realm. The addressees measure out violence, rather than justice, and distribute it like a commodity. This may be ironic, since justice was sometimes viewed as a measuring scale (see Job 31:6).

[2:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:2]  ¹² tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[5:3]  ¹⁵ sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).

[5:3]  ¹⁶ tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.

[5:4]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Remaining to you.”

[5:4]  ¹⁸ tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).

[5:4]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ²⁰ tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.

[5:4]  ²¹ tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.

[8:21]  ²² tn The translation “share or part” is given by L&N 63.13.

[8:21]  ²³ tn Since the semantic range for λόγος (logos) is so broad, a number of different translations could be given for the prepositional phrase here. Something along the lines of “in this thing” would work well, but is too colloquial for the present translation.

[8:22]  ²⁴ tn Or “and implore the Lord.”

[8:22]  ²⁵ tn Grk “that if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in contemporary English and has thus been converted to an active construction in the translation.