Kejadian 6:11

6:11 The earth was ruined ¹  in the sight of ²  God; the earth was filled with violence. ³ 

Kejadian 34:25

34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ⁴  and went to the unsuspecting city ⁵  and slaughtered every male.

Amsal 4:17

4:17 For they eat bread ⁶  gained from wickedness ⁷ 

and drink wine obtained from violence. ⁸ 

Yesaya 58:4

58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by ⁹  arguments, brawls,

and fistfights. ¹⁰ 

Do not fast as you do today,

trying to make your voice heard in heaven.

[6:11]  ¹ tn Apart from Gen 6:11-12, the Niphal form of this verb occurs in Exod 8:20 HT (8:24 ET), where it describes the effect of the swarms of flies on the land of Egypt; Jer 13:7 and 18:4, where it is used of a “ruined” belt and “marred” clay pot, respectively; and Ezek 20:44, where it describes Judah’s morally “corrupt” actions. The sense “morally corrupt” fits well in Gen 6:11 because of the parallelism (note “the earth was filled with violence”). In this case “earth” would stand by metonymy for its sinful inhabitants. However, the translation “ruined” works just as well, if not better. In this case humankind’s sin is viewed has having an adverse effect upon the earth. Note that vv. 12b-13 make a distinction between the earth and the living creatures who live on it.

[6:11]  ² tn Heb “before.”

[6:11]  ³ tn The Hebrew word translated “violence” refers elsewhere to a broad range of crimes, including unjust treatment (Gen 16:5; Amos 3:10), injurious legal testimony (Deut 19:16), deadly assault (Gen 49:5), murder (Judg 9:24), and rape (Jer 13:22).

[34:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

[34:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.

[4:17]  ⁶ tn The noun is a cognate accusative stressing that they consume wickedness.

[4:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “the bread of wickedness” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). There are two ways to take the genitives: (1) genitives of apposition: wickedness and violence are their food and drink (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT), or (2) genitives of source: they derive their livelihood from the evil they do (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 93).

[4:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “the wine of violence” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). This is a genitive of source, meaning that the wine they drink was plundered from their violent crime. The Hebrew is structured in an AB:BA chiasm: “For they eat the bread of wickedness, and the wine of violence they drink.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[58:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”

[58:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”