Psalms 28:3

28:3 Do not drag me away with evil men,

with those who behave wickedly, ¹ 

who talk so friendly to their neighbors, ² 

while they plan to harm them! ³ 

Psalms 57:4

57:4 I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down ⁴  among those who want to devour me; ⁵ 

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword. ⁶ 

Psalms 62:4

62:4 They ⁷  spend all their time planning how to bring him ⁸  down. ⁹ 

They love to use deceit; ¹⁰ 

they pronounce blessings with their mouths,

but inwardly they utter curses. ¹¹  (Selah)

Psalms 64:3

64:3 They ¹²  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ¹³ 

Proverbs 5:3-4

5:3 For the lips ¹⁴  of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her seductive words ¹⁵  are smoother than olive oil,

5:4 but in the end ¹⁶  she is bitter ¹⁷  as wormwood, ¹⁸ 

sharp as a two-edged ¹⁹  sword.

Proverbs 12:18

12:18 Speaking recklessly ²⁰  is like the thrusts of a sword,

but the words ²¹  of the wise bring ²²  healing. ²³ 

Proverbs 26:24-26

26:24 The one who hates others disguises ²⁴  it with his lips,

but he stores up ²⁵  deceit within him. ²⁶ 

26:25 When ²⁷  he speaks graciously, ²⁸  do not believe him, ²⁹ 

for there are seven ³⁰  abominations ³¹  within him.

26:26 Though his ³²  hatred may be concealed ³³  by deceit,

his evil will be uncovered ³⁴  in the assembly.

Proverbs 26:28

26:28 A lying tongue ³⁵  hates those crushed by it,

and a flattering mouth works ruin. ³⁶ 

Matthew 26:25

26:25 Then ³⁷  Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus ³⁸  replied, “You have said it yourself.”

Luke 20:20-21

Paying Taxes to Caesar

20:20 Then ³⁹  they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. ⁴⁰  They wanted to take advantage of what he might say ⁴¹  so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction ⁴²  of the governor. 20:21 Thus ⁴³  they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, ⁴⁴  and show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ⁴⁵ 

[28:3]  ¹ tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[28:3]  ² tn Heb “speakers of peace with their neighbors.”

[28:3]  ³ tn Heb “and evil [is] in their heart[s].”

[57:4]  ⁴ tn The cohortative form אֶשְׁכְּבָה (’eshkÿvah, “I lie down”) is problematic, for it does not seem to carry one of the normal functions of the cohortative (resolve or request). One possibility is that the form here is a “pseudo-cohortative” used here in a gnomic sense (IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3b).

[57:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb לָהַט (lahat) is here understood as a hapax legomenon meaning “devour” (see HALOT 521 s.v. II להט), a homonym of the more common verb meaning “to burn.” A more traditional interpretation takes the verb from this latter root and translates, “those who are aflame” (see BDB 529 s.v.; cf. NASB “those who breathe forth fire”).

[57:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “my life, in the midst of lions, I lie down, devouring ones, sons of mankind, their teeth a spear and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.” The syntax of the verse is difficult. Another option is to take “my life” with the preceding verse. For this to make sense, one must add a verb, perhaps “and may he deliver” (cf. the LXX), before the phrase. One might then translate, “May God send his loyal love and faithfulness and deliver my life.” If one does take “my life” with v. 4, then the parallelism of v. 5 is altered and one might translate: “in the midst of lions I lie down, [among] men who want to devour me, whose teeth….”

[62:4]  ⁷ tn That is, the psalmist’s enemies addressed in the previous verse.

[62:4]  ⁸ tn That is, the generic “man” referred to in the previous verse.

[62:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “only from his lofty place [or perhaps, “dignity”] they plan to drive [him] away.”

[62:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they delight [in] a lie.”

[62:4]  ¹¹ sn The enemies use deceit to bring down their victim. They make him think they are his friends by pronouncing blessings upon him, but inwardly they desire his demise.

[64:3]  ¹² tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “a bitter word.”

[5:3]  ¹⁴ sn “Lips” is a metonymy of cause, referring to her words. Dripping honey is an implied comparison between the product and her words, which are flattering and smooth (cf. Song 4:11). See M. Dahood, “Honey That Drips. Notes on Proverbs 5:2-3,” Bib 54 (1973): 65-66.

[5:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “her palate.” The word חֵךְ (khekh, “palate; roof of the mouth; gums”) is a metonymy of cause (= organ of speech) for what is said (= her seductive speech). The present translation clarifies this metonymy with the phrase “her seductive words.”

[5:4]  ¹⁶ sn Heb “her end” (so KJV). D. Kidner notes that Proverbs does not allow us to forget that there is an afterward (Proverbs [TOTC], 65).

[5:4]  ¹⁷ sn The verb “to be bitter” (מָרַר, marar) describes things that are harmful and destructive for life, such as the death of the members of the family of Naomi (Ruth 1:20) or finding water that was undrinkable (Exod 15:22-27). The word indicates that the sweet talking will turn out badly.

[5:4]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “wormwood” refers to the aromatic plant that contrasts with the sweetness of honey. Some follow the LXX and translate it as “gall” (cf. NIV). The point is that there was sweetness when the tryst had alluring glamour, but afterward it had an ugly ring (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 74).

[5:4]  ¹⁹ sn The Hebrew has “like a sword of [two] mouths,” meaning a double-edged sword that devours/cuts either way. There is no movement without damage. There may be a wordplay here with this description of the “sword with two mouths,” and the subject of the passage being the words of her mouth which also have two sides to them. The irony is cut by the idiom.

[12:18]  ²⁰ tn The term בּוֹטֶה (boteh) means “to speak rashly [or, thoughtlessly]” (e.g., Lev 5:4; Num 30:7).

[12:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “the tongue” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The term לָשׁוֹן (lashon, “tongue”) functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.

[12:18]  ²² tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[12:18]  ²³ sn Healing is a metonymy of effect. Healing words are the opposite of the cutting, irresponsible words. What the wise say is faithful and true, gentle and kind, uplifting and encouraging; so their words bring healing.

[26:24]  ²⁴ tn The Niphal imperfect from נָכַר (nakhar) means “to act [or, treat] as a foreigner [or, stranger]; to misconstrue; to disguise.” The direct object (“it”) is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied. In this passage it means that the hater speaks what is “foreign” to his thought; in other words, he dissembles.

[26:24]  ²⁵ tn Or “places; puts; lays up” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).

[26:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “within him” (so KJV, ASV) or “in his midst”; NAB “in his inmost being.”

[26:25]  ²⁷ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is here interpreted with a temporal nuance. It is also possible that it could be read as concessive (so NIV, NLT “Though”).

[26:25]  ²⁸ tn The meaning of the rare Piel form of חָנַן (khanan) is “to make gracious; to make favorable.” The subject is קוֹלוֹ (qolo, “his voice”), a metonymy of cause for what he says. The idea is that what he says is very gracious in its content and its effect.

[26:25]  ²⁹ sn It may be that the placing of this proverb in this setting is designed to point out that the person speaking graciously is this wicked person who conceals an evil heart. Otherwise it may have in mind a person who has already proven untrustworthy but protests in order to conceal his plans. But even if that were not the connection, the proverb would still warn the disciple not to believe someone just because it sounded wonderful. It will take great discernment to know if there is sincerity behind the person’s words.

[26:25]  ³⁰ sn The number “seven” is used in scripture as the complete number. In this passage it is not intended to be literally seven; rather, the expression means that there is complete or total abomination in his heart. Cf. TEV “his heart is filled to the brim with hate.”

[26:25]  ³¹ sn “Abomination” means something that is loathed. This is a description applied by the writer, for the hypocritical person would not refer to his plans this way.

[26:26]  ³² tn The referent is apparently the individual of vv. 24-25.

[26:26]  ³³ tn The form תִּכַּסֶּה (tikkasseh) is the Hitpael imperfect (with assimilation); it is probably passive, meaning “is concealed,” although it could mean “conceals itself” (naturally). Since the proverb uses antithetical parallelism, an imperfect tense nuance of possibility (“may be concealed”) works well here (cf. NIV, NLT).

[26:26]  ³⁴ sn The Hebrew verb means “to uncover,” here in the sense of “to reveal; to make known; to expose.” The verse is promising that the evil the person has done will be exposed publicly. The common belief that righteousness will ultimately triumph informs this saying.

[26:28]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the tongue of deception.” The subject matter of this proverb is deceptive speech. The “tongue of deception” (using a metonymy of cause with an attributive genitive) means that what is said is false. Likewise the “smooth mouth” means that what is said is smooth, flattering.

[26:28]  ³⁶ sn The verse makes it clear that only pain and ruin can come from deception. The statement that the lying tongue “hates those crushed by it” suggests that the sentiments of hatred help the deceiver justify what he says about people. The ruin that he brings is probably on other people, but it could also be taken to include his own ruin.

[26:25]  ³⁷ tn Grk “answering, Judas.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to reflect the sequence of events in the narrative.

[26:25]  ³⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:20]  ³⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[20:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “righteous,” but in this context the point is their false sincerity.

[20:20]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “so that they might catch him in some word.”

[20:20]  ⁴² tn This word is often translated “authority” in other contexts, but here, in combination with ἀρχή (arch), it refers to the domain or sphere of the governor’s rule (L&N 37.36).

[20:21]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the plans by the spies.

[20:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “precisely”; Grk “rightly.” Jesus teaches exactly, the straight and narrow.

[20:21]  ⁴⁵ sn Teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Very few comments are as deceitful as this one; they did not really believe this at all. The question was specifically designed to trap Jesus.