Psalms 62:4

62:4 They ¹  spend all their time planning how to bring him ²  down. ³ 

They love to use deceit; ⁴ 

they pronounce blessings with their mouths,

but inwardly they utter curses. ⁵  (Selah)

Jeremiah 9:3-5

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ⁶ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ⁷ 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ⁸ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁹ 

and do not pay attention to me. ¹⁰ 

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹¹ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ¹² 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ¹³  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

Jeremiah 9:8

9:8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows. ¹⁴ 

They are always telling lies. ¹⁵ 

Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths.

But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. ¹⁶ 

John 8:44

8:44 You people ¹⁷  are from ¹⁸  your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. ¹⁹  He ²⁰  was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, ²¹  because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, ²²  he speaks according to his own nature, ²³  because he is a liar and the father of lies. ²⁴ 

Revelation 22:15

22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers ²⁵  and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! ²⁶ 

[62:4]  ¹ tn That is, the psalmist’s enemies addressed in the previous verse.

[62:4]  ² tn That is, the generic “man” referred to in the previous verse.

[62:4]  ³ tn Heb “only from his lofty place [or perhaps, “dignity”] they plan to drive [him] away.”

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

[62:4]  ⁵ 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.

[9:3]  ⁶ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

[9:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

[9:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ¹² tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[9:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.

[9:8]  ¹⁴ tc This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See HALOT 1354 s.v. II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.

[9:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “They speak deceit.”

[9:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”

[8:44]  ¹⁷ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.

[8:44]  ¹⁸ tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).

[8:44]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”

[8:44]  ²⁰ tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).

[8:44]  ²¹ tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).

[8:44]  ²² tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”

[8:44]  ²³ tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”

[8:44]  ²⁴ tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”

[22:15]  ²⁵ tn On the term φάρμακοι (farmakoi) see L&N 53.101.

[22:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “lying,” “deceit.”