Psalms 64:3-6

64:3 They ¹  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ² 

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent ³  in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. ⁴ 

64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. ⁵ 

They plan how to hide ⁶  snares,

and boast, ⁷  “Who will see them?” ⁸ 

64:6 They devise ⁹  unjust schemes;

they disguise ¹⁰  a well-conceived plot. ¹¹ 

Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ¹² 

Psalms 140:1-5

Psalm 140 ¹³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

140:1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! ¹⁴ 

Protect me from violent men, ¹⁵ 

140:2 who plan ways to harm me. ¹⁶ 

All day long they stir up conflict. ¹⁷ 

140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; ¹⁸ 

a viper’s ¹⁹  venom is behind ²⁰  their lips. (Selah)

140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power ²¹  of the wicked!

Protect me from violent men,

who plan to knock me over. ²² 

140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;

evil men ²³  spread a net by the path;

they set traps for me. (Selah)

Isaiah 29:15

29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ²⁴ 

who do their work in secret and boast, ²⁵ 

“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 11:18-19

A Plot Against Jeremiah is Revealed and He Complains of Injustice

11:18 The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding. ²⁷ 

Then he showed me what the people were doing. ²⁸ 

11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.

I did not know they were making plans to kill me. ²⁹ 

I did not know they were saying, ³⁰ 

“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! ³¹ 

Let’s remove Jeremiah ³²  from the world of the living

so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” ³³ 

Jeremiah 18:18

Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him

18:18 Then some people ³⁴  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ³⁵  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ³⁶  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ³⁷  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

Luke 22:2-5

22:2 The ³⁸  chief priests and the experts in the law ³⁹  were trying to find some way ⁴⁰  to execute ⁴¹  Jesus, ⁴²  for they were afraid of the people. ⁴³ 

22:3 Then ⁴⁴  Satan ⁴⁵  entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve. ⁴⁶  22:4 He went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers of the temple guard ⁴⁷  how he might ⁴⁸  betray Jesus, ⁴⁹  handing him over to them. ⁵⁰  22:5 They ⁵¹  were delighted ⁵²  and arranged to give him money. ⁵³ 

Acts 23:12-15

The Plot to Kill Paul

23:12 When morning came, ⁵⁴  the Jews formed ⁵⁵  a conspiracy ⁵⁶  and bound themselves with an oath ⁵⁷  not to eat or drink anything ⁵⁸  until they had killed Paul. 23:13 There were more than forty of them who formed this conspiracy. ⁵⁹  23:14 They ⁶⁰  went ⁶¹  to the chief priests ⁶²  and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath ⁶³  not to partake ⁶⁴  of anything until we have killed Paul. 23:15 So now you and the council ⁶⁵  request the commanding officer ⁶⁶  to bring him down to you, as if you were going to determine ⁶⁷  his case ⁶⁸  by conducting a more thorough inquiry. ⁶⁹  We are ready to kill him ⁷⁰  before he comes near this place.” ⁷¹ 

[64:3]  ¹ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3]  ² tn Heb “a bitter word.”

[64:4]  ³ tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

[64:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[64:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”

[64:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “they report about hiding.”

[64:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “they say.”

[64:5]  ⁸ tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).

[64:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”

[64:6]  ¹⁰ tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).

[64:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.

[64:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.

[140:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.

[140:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

[140:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

[140:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”

[140:2]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (yÿgaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.

[140:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”

[140:3]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.

[140:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “under.”

[140:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “hands.”

[140:4]  ²² tn Heb “to push down my steps.”

[140:5]  ²³ tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).

[29:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.

[29:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”

[29:15]  ²⁶ tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.

[11:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “caused me to know that I might know.” Many English versions supply an unstated object “their plots” which is referred to later in the context (cf. v. 19). The presupposition of this kind of absolute ellipsis is difficult to justify and would create the need for understanding an ellipsis of “it” also after “I knew.” It is better to see a bipolar use of the verb “know” here. For the second use of the verb “know” meaning “have understanding” see BDB 394 s.v. ָידַע Qal.5.

[11:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Then you showed me their deeds.” This is another example of the rapid shift in person which is common in Jeremiah. As elsewhere, it has been resolved for the sake of avoiding confusion for the English reader by leveling the referent to the same person throughout. The text again involves an apostrophe, talking about the Lord to addressing him.

[11:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “against me.” The words “to kill me” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ³⁰ tn The words “I did not know that they were saying” are not in the text. The quote is without formal introduction in the original. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ³¹ tn This word and its pronoun (לַחְמוֹ, lakhmo, “its bread”) is often emended to read “in/with its sap” = “in its prime” (either לֵחוֹ [lekho] or לֵחְמוֹ [lekhÿmo]); the latter would be more likely and the מוֹ (mo) could be explained as a rare use of the old poetic third plural suffix for the third singular; cf. GKC 258 §91.l for general use and Ps 11:7 and Job 27:23 for third singular use. Though this fits the context nicely the emendation is probably unnecessary since the word “bread” is sometimes used of other foodstuff than grain or its products (cf. BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 2.a).

[11:19]  ³² tn Heb “cut it [or him] off.” The metaphor of the tree may be continued, though the verb “cut off” is used also of killing people. The rendering clarifies the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:19]  ³³ tn Heb “so that his name will not be remembered any more.”

[18:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.

[18:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.

[18:18]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

[18:18]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.

[22:2]  ³⁸ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:2]  ³⁹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[22:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “were seeking how.”

[22:2]  ⁴¹ tn The Greek verb here means “to get rid of by execution” (BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2; cf. also L&N 20.71, which states, “to get rid of someone by execution, often with legal or quasi-legal procedures”).

[22:2]  ⁴² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ⁴³ sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him. The verb were trying is imperfect. It suggests, in this context, that they were always considering the opportunities.

[22:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:3]  ⁴⁵ sn The cross is portrayed as part of the cosmic battle between Satan and God; see Luke 4:1-13; 11:14-23.

[22:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.”

[22:4]  ⁴⁷ tn The full title στρατηγὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ (strathgo" tou Jierou; “officer of the temple” or “captain of the temple guard”) is sometimes shortened to στρατηγός as here (L&N 37.91).

[22:4]  ⁴⁸ tn Luke uses this frequent indirect question to make his point (BDF §267.2).

[22:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:4]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “how he might hand him over to them,” in the sense of “betray him.”

[22:5]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:5]  ⁵² sn The leaders were delighted when Judas contacted them about betraying Jesus, because it gave them the opportunity they had been looking for, and they could later claim that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples.

[22:5]  ⁵³ sn Matt 26:15 states the amount of money they gave Judas was thirty pieces of silver (see also Matt 27:3-4; Zech 11:12-13).

[23:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “when it was day.”

[23:12]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “forming a conspiracy, bound.” The participle ποιήσαντες (poihsantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:12]  ⁵⁶ tn L&N 30.72 has ‘some Jews formed a conspiracy’ Ac 23:12”; BDAG 979 s.v. συστροφή 1 has “Judeans came together in a mob 23:12. But in the last pass. the word may also mean – 2. the product of a clandestine gathering, plot, conspiracy” (see also Amos 7:10; Ps 63:3).

[23:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” On such oaths see m. Shevi’it 3:1-5. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[23:12]  ⁵⁸ tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[23:13]  ⁵⁹ tn L&N 30.73 defines συνωμοσία (sunwmosia) as “a plan for taking secret action someone or some institution, with the implication of an oath binding the conspirators – ‘conspiracy, plot.’ …‘there were more than forty of them who formed this conspiracy’ Ac 23:13.”

[23:14]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[23:14]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “going.” The participle προσελθόντες (proselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:14]  ⁶² sn They went to the chief priests. The fact that the high priest knew of this plot and did nothing shows the Jewish leadership would even become accomplices to murder to stop Paul. They would not allow Roman justice to take its course. Paul’s charge in v. 3 of superficially following the law is thus shown to be true.

[23:14]  ⁶³ tn Or “bound ourselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” The pleonastic use ἀναθέματι ἀνεθεματίσαμεν (literally “we have cursed ourselves with a curse”) probably serves as an intensifier following Semitic usage, and is represented in the translation by the word “solemn.” On such oaths see m. Nedarim 3:1, 3.

[23:14]  ⁶⁴ tn This included both food and drink (γεύομαι [geuomai] is used of water turned to wine in John 2:9).

[23:15]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:15]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:15]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “decide.” BDAG 227 s.v. διαγινώσκω has “ἀκριβέστερον τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ to make a more thorough examination of his case Ac 23:15.”

[23:15]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “determine the things about him.”

[23:15]  ⁶⁹ tn The expression “more thorough inquiry” reflects the comparative form of ἀκριβέστερον (akribesteron).

[23:15]  ⁷⁰ sn “We are ready to kill him.” Now those Jews involved in the conspiracy, along with the leaders as accomplices, are going to break one of the ten commandments.

[23:15]  ⁷¹ tn The words “this place” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.