Imamat 19:11

Dealing Honestly

19:11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen. ¹ 

Yeremia 9:3

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

9:3 The Lord says, ² 

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

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ³ 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ⁴ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁵ 

and do not pay attention to me. ⁶ 

Yeremia 9:5

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ⁷  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

[19:11]  ¹ tn Heb “you shall not deal falsely a man with his fellow citizen.”

[9:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ⁶ 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).

[9:5]  ⁷ 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.