Zechariah 11:9

11:9 I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”

Zechariah 11:14

11:14 Then I cut the second staff “Binders” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Zechariah 8:10

8:10 Before that time there was no compensation for man or animal, nor was there any relief from adversity for those who came and went, because I had pitted everybody – each one – against everyone else.

Isaiah 3:5

3:5 The people will treat each other harshly;

men will oppose each other;

neighbors will fight. ¹ 

Youths will proudly defy the elderly

and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ² 

Isaiah 9:19-21

9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, ³ 

and the people became fuel for the fire. ⁴ 

People had no compassion on one another. ⁵ 

9:20 They devoured ⁶  on the right, but were still hungry,

they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.

People even ate ⁷  the flesh of their own arm! ⁸ 

9:21 Manasseh fought against ⁹  Ephraim,

and Ephraim against Manasseh;

together they fought against Judah.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 13:14

13:14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. ¹¹  I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,’ ¹²  says the Lord.”

Micah 7:2-7

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ¹³  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ¹⁴ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ¹⁵ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ¹⁶ 

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ¹⁷ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ¹⁸ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ¹⁹ 

7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. ²⁰ 

The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –

your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ²¹ 

and then you will experience confusion. ²² 

7:5 Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust a companion!

Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! ²³ 

7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,

a daughter challenges ²⁴  her mother,

and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;

a man’s enemies are his own servants. ²⁵ 

7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;

I will wait for the God who delivers me.

My God will hear my lament. ²⁶ 

Haggai 2:22

2:22 I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms. ²⁷  I will overthrow chariots and those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as people kill one another. ²⁸ 

Matthew 10:21

10:21 “Brother ²⁹  will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against ³⁰  parents and have them put to death.

Matthew 10:34-36

Not Peace, but a Sword

10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring ³¹  peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 10:36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. ³² 

Matthew 24:10

24:10 Then many will be led into sin, ³³  and they will betray one another and hate one another.

Luke 12:52-53

12:52 For from now on ³⁴  there will be five in one household divided, three against two and two against three. 12:53 They will be divided, ³⁵  father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Luke 21:16-17

21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents, ³⁶  brothers, relatives, ³⁷  and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. 21:17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. ³⁸ 

[3:5]  ¹ tn Heb “man against man, and a man against his neighbor.”

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “and those lightly esteemed those who are respected.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) does double duty in the parallelism.

[9:19]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the verb עְתַּם (’ÿtam), which occurs only here, is uncertain, though the context strongly suggests that it means “burn, scorch.”

[9:19]  ⁴ sn The uncontrollable fire of the people’s wickedness (v. 18) is intensified by the fire of the Lord’s judgment (v. 19). God allows (or causes) their wickedness to become self-destructive as civil strife and civil war break out in the land.

[9:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “men were not showing compassion to their brothers.” The idiom “men to their brothers” is idiomatic for reciprocity. The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav (ו) consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ⁶ tn Or “cut.” The verb גָּזַר (gazar) means “to cut.” If it is understood here, then one might paraphrase, “They slice off meat on the right.” However, HALOT 187 s.v. I גזר, proposes here a rare homonym meaning “to devour.”

[9:20]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ⁸ tn Some suggest that זְרֹעוֹ (zÿro’o, “his arm”) be repointed זַרְעוֹ (zar’o, “his offspring”). In either case, the metaphor is that of a desperately hungry man who resorts to an almost unthinkable act to satisfy his appetite. He eats everything he can find to his right, but still being unsatisfied, then turns to his left and eats everything he can find there. Still being desperate for food, he then resorts to eating his own flesh (or offspring, as this phrase is metaphorically understood by some English versions, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The reality behind the metaphor is the political turmoil of the period, as the next verse explains. There was civil strife within the northern kingdom; even the descendants of Joseph were at each other’s throats. Then the northern kingdom turned on their southern brother, Judah.

[9:21]  ⁹ tn The words “fought against” are supplied in the translation both here and later in this verse for stylistic reasons.

[9:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched” (KJV and ASV both similar); NIV “his hand is still upraised.”

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “children along with their parents”; Heb “fathers and children together.”

[13:14]  ¹² tn Heb “I will not show…so as not to destroy them.”

[7:2]  ¹³ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ¹⁶ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[7:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ¹⁹ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.

[7:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.

[7:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”

[7:4]  ²² tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”

[7:5]  ²³ tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”

[7:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “rises up against.”

[7:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”

[7:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.

[2:22]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the kingdoms of the nations.” Cf. KJV “the kingdoms of the heathen”; NIV, NLT “foreign kingdoms.”

[2:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and horses and their riders will go down, a man with a sword his brother”; KJV “every one by the sword of his brother.”

[10:21]  ²⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:21]  ³⁰ tn Or “will rebel against.”

[10:34]  ³¹ tn Grk “cast.” For βάλλω (ballw) in the sense of causing a state or condition, see L&N 13.14.

[10:36]  ³² tn Matt 10:35-36 are an allusion to Mic 7:6.

[24:10]  ³³ tn Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.

[12:52]  ³⁴ sn From now on is a popular phrase in Luke: 1:48; 5:10; 22:18, 69; see Mic 7:6.

[12:53]  ³⁵ tn There is dispute whether this phrase belongs to the end of v. 52 or begins v. 53. Given the shift of object, a connection to v. 53 is slightly preferred.

[21:16]  ³⁶ sn To confess Christ might well mean rejection by one’s own family, even by parents.

[21:16]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and brothers and relatives,” but καί (kai) has not been translated twice here since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[21:17]  ³⁸ sn See Luke 6:22, 27; 1 Cor 1:25-31.