Psalms 73:5-9

73:5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;

they do not suffer as other men do. ¹ 

73:6 Arrogance is their necklace, ² 

and violence their clothing. ³ 

73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; ⁴ 

their thoughts are sinful. ⁵ 

73:8 They mock ⁶  and say evil things; ⁷ 

they proudly threaten violence. ⁸ 

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ⁹ 

Psalms 119:51

119:51 Arrogant people do nothing but scoff at me. ¹⁰ 

Yet I do not turn aside from your law.

Job 12:5

12:5 For calamity, ¹¹  there is derision

(according to the ideas of the fortunate ¹² ) –

a fate ¹³  for those whose feet slip!

Job 16:4

16:4 I also could speak ¹⁴  like you,

if ¹⁵  you were in my place;

I could pile up ¹⁶  words against you

and I could shake my head at you. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 48:11

48:11 “From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed.

It has never been taken into exile.

Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs,

never poured out from one jar to another.

They are like wine which tastes like it always did,

whose aroma has remained unchanged. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 48:27

48:27 For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel?

Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, ¹⁹ 

that you shook your head in contempt ²⁰ 

every time you talked about them? ²¹ 

Jeremiah 48:29

48:29 I have heard how proud the people of Moab are,

I know how haughty they are.

I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are,

what a high opinion they have of themselves. ²² 

Acts 17:21

17:21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time ²³  in nothing else than telling ²⁴  or listening to something new.) ²⁵ 

Acts 17:32

17:32 Now when they heard about ²⁶  the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, ²⁷  but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

Acts 26:24

26:24 As Paul ²⁸  was saying these things in his defense, Festus ²⁹  exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind, ³⁰  Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!”

Acts 26:1

Paul Offers His Defense

26:1 So Agrippa ³¹  said to Paul, “You have permission ³²  to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand ³³  and began his defense: ³⁴ 

Colossians 4:13

4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ³⁵  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

[73:5]  ¹ tn Heb “in the trouble of man they are not, and with mankind they are not afflicted.”

[73:6]  ² sn Arrogance is their necklace. The metaphor suggests that their arrogance is something the wicked “wear” proudly. It draws attention to them, just as a beautiful necklace does to its owner.

[73:6]  ³ tn Heb “a garment of violence covers them.” The metaphor suggests that violence is habitual for the wicked. They “wear” it like clothing; when one looks at them, violence is what one sees.

[73:7]  ⁴ tc The MT reads “it goes out from fatness their eye,” which might be paraphrased, “their eye protrudes [or “bulges”] because of fatness.” This in turn might refer to their greed; their eyes “bug out” when they see rich food or produce (the noun חֵלֶב [khelev, “fatness”] sometimes refers to such food or produce). However, when used with the verb יָצָא (yatsa’, “go out”) the preposition מִן (“from”) more naturally indicates source. For this reason it is preferable to emend עֵינֵמוֹ (’enemo, “their eye”) to עֲוֹנָמוֹ, (’avonamo, “their sin”) and read, “and their sin proceeds forth from fatness,” that is, their prosperity gives rise to their sinful attitudes. If one follows this textual reading, another interpretive option is to take חֵלֶב (“fatness”) in the sense of “unreceptive, insensitive” (see its use in Ps 17:10). In this case, the sin of the wicked proceeds forth from their spiritual insensitivity.

[73:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).

[73:8]  ⁶ tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.

[73:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and speak with evil.”

[73:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.

[73:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.

[119:51]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “scoff at me to excess.”

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn The first word, לַפִּיד (lapid), could be rendered “a torch of scorn,” but this gives no satisfying meaning. The ל (lamed) is often taken as an otiose letter, and the noun פִּיד (pid) is “misfortune, calamity” (cf. Job 30:24; 31:29).

[12:5]  ¹² tn The noun עַשְׁתּוּת (’ashtut, preferably עַשְׁתּוֹת, ’ashtot) is an abstract noun from עָשַׁת (’ashat, “to think”). The word שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan) means “easy in mind, carefree,” and “happy.”

[12:5]  ¹³ tn The form has traditionally been taken to mean “is ready” from the verb כּוּן (kun, “is fixed, sure”). But many commentators look for a word parallel to “calamity.” So the suggestion has been put forward that נָכוֹן (nakhon) be taken as a noun from נָכָה (nakhah, “strike, smite”): “a blow” (Schultens, Dhorme, Gordis), “thrust” or “kick” (HALOT 698 s.v. I נָכוֹן).

[16:4]  ¹⁴ tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.

[16:4]  ¹⁵ tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).

[16:4]  ¹⁶ tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).

[16:4]  ¹⁷ sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).

[48:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Therefore his taste remains in him and his aroma is not changed.” The metaphor is changed into a simile in an attempt to help the reader understand the figure in the context.

[48:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “were they caught among thieves?”

[48:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “that you shook yourself.” But see the same verb in 18:16 in the active voice with the object “head” in a very similar context of contempt or derision.

[48:27]  ²¹ tc The reading here presupposes the emendation of דְבָרֶיךָ (dÿvarekha, “your words”) to דַבֶּרְךָ (dabberkha, “your speaking”), suggested by BHS (cf. fn c) on the basis of one of the Greek versions (Symmachus). For the idiom cf. BDB 191 s.v. דַּי 2.c.α.

[48:29]  ²² tn Heb “We have heard of the pride of Moab – [he is] exceedingly proud – of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his haughtiness, and the loftiness of his heart.” These words are essentially all synonyms, three of them coming from the same Hebrew root (גָּאָה, ga’ah) and one of the words being used twice (גָּאוֹן). Since the first person singular is used in the next verse, the present translation considers the “we” of this verse to refer to the plural of majesty or the plural referring to the divine council in such passages as Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:8 and has translated in the singular to avoid possible confusion of who the “we” are. Most understand the reference to be to Jeremiah and his fellow Judeans.

[17:21]  ²³ tn The imperfect verb ηὐκαίρουν (hukairoun) has been translated as a customary or habitual imperfect.

[17:21]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 406-7 s.v. εὐκαιρέω has “used to spend their time in nothing else than telling Ac 17:21.”

[17:21]  ²⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The reference to newness may be pejorative.

[17:32]  ²⁶ tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[17:32]  ²⁷ tn L&N 33.408 has “some scoffed (at him) Ac 17:32” for ἐχλεύαζον (ecleuazon) here; the imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to scoff”).

[26:24]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:24]  ²⁹ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:24]  ³⁰ tn On the term translated “lost your mind” see BDAG 610 s.v. μαίνομαι, which has “you’re out of your mind, you’re raving, said to one whose enthusiasm seems to have outrun better judgment 26:24.”

[26:1]  ³¹ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:1]  ³² tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”

[26:1]  ³³ tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).

[26:1]  ³⁴ tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”

[4:13]  ³⁵ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.