Psalms 10:4

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

Psalms 17:10

17:10 They are calloused; ² 

they speak arrogantly. ³ 

Psalms 17:13

17:13 Rise up, Lord!

Confront him! ⁴  Knock him down! ⁵ 

Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! ⁶ 

Psalms 101:5

101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.

I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. ⁷ 

Proverbs 6:16-17

6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

even ⁸  seven ⁹  things that are an abomination to him: ¹⁰ 

6:17 haughty eyes, ¹¹  a lying tongue, ¹² 

and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹³ 

Proverbs 30:12

30:12 There is a generation who are pure in their own eyes

and yet are not washed ¹⁴  from their filthiness. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 3:9

3:9 The look on their faces ¹⁶  testifies to their guilt; ¹⁷ 

like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ¹⁸ 

Too bad for them! ¹⁹ 

For they bring disaster on themselves.

Isaiah 10:12

10:12 But when ²⁰  the sovereign master ²¹  finishes judging ²²  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ²³  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ²⁴ 

Luke 18:14

18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified ²⁵  rather than the Pharisee. ²⁶  For everyone who exalts ²⁷  himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).

[17:10]  ² tn Heb “their fat they close.” The Hebrew term חֵלֶב (khelev, “fat”) appears to stand by metonymy for their calloused hearts. They attack the psalmist without feeling any pity or remorse. Some propose emending the text to חֵלֶב לִבָּמוֹ (khelev libbamo, “fat of their heart[s]; cf. Ps 119:70, “their heart is insensitive like fat”). This assumes haplography of the לב (lamed-bet) consonantal sequence.

[17:10]  ³ tn Heb “[with] their mouth they speak with arrogance.”

[17:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”

[17:13]  ⁵ tn Or “bring him to his knees.”

[17:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”

[101:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”

[6:16]  ⁸ tn The conjunction has the explicative use here (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §434).

[6:16]  ⁹ sn This saying involves a numerical ladder, paralleling six things with seven things (e.g., also 30:15, 18, 21, 24, 29). The point of such a numerical arrangement is that the number does not exhaust the list (W. M. Roth, “The Numerical Sequence x / x +1 in the Old Testament,” VT 12 [1962]: 300-311; and his “Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament,” VT 13 [1965]: 86).

[6:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his soul.”

[6:17]  ¹¹ sn The expression “high/ lofty [רָמוֹת, ramot] eyes” refers to a proud look suggesting arrogant ambition (cf. NCV “a proud look”). The use of “eyes” is a metonymy of adjunct, the look in the eyes accompanying the attitude. This term “high” is used in Num 15:30 for the sin of the “high hand,” i.e., willful rebellion or defiant sin. The usage of “haughty eyes” may be illustrated by its use with the pompous Assyrian invader (Isa 10:12-14) and the proud king of the book of Daniel (11:12). God does not tolerate anyone who thinks so highly of himself and who has such ambition.

[6:17]  ¹² tn Heb “a tongue of deception.” The genitive noun functions attributively. The term “tongue” functions as a metonymy. The term is used of false prophets who deceive (Jer 14:14), and of a deceiver who betrays (Ps 109:2). The Lord hates deceptive speech because it is destructive (26:28).

[6:17]  ¹³ sn The hands are the instruments of murder (metonymy of cause), and God hates bloodshed. Gen 9:6 prohibited shedding blood because people are the image of God. Even David being a man of blood (in war mostly) was not permitted to build the Temple (1 Chr 22:8). But shedding innocent blood was a greater crime – it usually went with positions of power, such as King Manasseh filling the streets with blood (2 Kgs 21:16), or princes doing it for gain (Ezek 22:27).

[30:12]  ¹⁴ tn The verb רָחַץ (rakhats) means “to wash; to wash off; to wash away; to bathe.” It is used of physical washing, ceremonial washings, and hence figuratively of removing sin and guilt through confession (e.g., Isa 1:16). Here the form is the Pual perfect (unless it is a rare old Qal passive, since there is no Piel and no apparent change of meaning from the Qal).

[30:12]  ¹⁵ sn Filthiness often refers to physical uncleanness, but here it refers to moral defilement. Zech 3:3-4 uses it metaphorically as well for the sin of the nation (e.g., Isa 36:12).

[3:9]  ¹⁶ sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.

[3:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”

[3:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”

[3:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “woe to their soul.”

[10:12]  ²⁰ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[10:12]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 23, 24, 33 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[10:12]  ²² tn Heb “his work on/against.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “on”; NIV “against.”

[10:12]  ²³ tn The Lord is speaking here, as in vv. 5-6a.

[10:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I will visit [judgment] on the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of the height of his eyes.” The proud Assyrian king is likened to a large, beautiful fruit tree.

[18:14]  ²⁵ sn The prayer that was heard and honored was the one given with humility; in a surprising reversal it was the tax collector who went down to his home justified.

[18:14]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the other”; the referent (the Pharisee, v. 10) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:14]  ²⁷ sn Everyone who exalts himself. See Luke 14:11. Jesus often called for humility and condemned those who sought honor.