Amsal 12:22

12:22 The Lord ¹  abhors a person who lies, ² 

but those who deal truthfully ³  are his delight. ⁴ 

Amsal 14:5

14:5 A truthful witness ⁵  does not lie,

but a false witness ⁶  breathes out lies. ⁷ 

Amsal 26:28

26:28 A lying tongue ⁸  hates those crushed by it,

and a flattering mouth works ruin. ⁹ 

Mazmur 5:6

5:6 You destroy ¹⁰  liars; ¹¹ 

the Lord despises ¹²  violent and deceitful people. ¹³ 

Mazmur 120:2-3

120:2 I said, ¹⁴  “O Lord, rescue me ¹⁵ 

from those who lie with their lips ¹⁶ 

and those who deceive with their tongue. ¹⁷ 

120:3 How will he severely punish you,

you deceptive talker? ¹⁸ 

Hosea 4:1-2

The Lord’s Covenant Lawsuit against the Nation Israel

4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites! ¹⁹ 

For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit ²⁰  against the people of Israel. ²¹ 

For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land,

nor do they acknowledge God. ²² 

4:2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.

They resort to violence and bloodshed. ²³ 

Yohanes 8:44

8:44 You people ²⁴  are from ²⁵  your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. ²⁶  He ²⁷  was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, ²⁸  because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, ²⁹  he speaks according to his own nature, ³⁰  because he is a liar and the father of lies. ³¹ 

Wahyu 22:15

22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers ³²  and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! ³³ 

[12:22]  ¹ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive.

[12:22]  ² tn Heb “lips of lying.” The genitive שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “lying”) functions as an attributive genitive: “lying lips.” The term “lips” functions as a synecdoche of part (= lips) for the whole (= person): “a liar.”

[12:22]  ³ tn Heb “but doers of truthfulness.” The term “truthfulness” is an objective genitive, meaning: “those who practice truth” or “those who act in good faith.” Their words and works are reliable.

[12:22]  ⁴ sn The contrast between “delight/pleasure” and “abomination” is emphatic. What pleases the Lord is acting truthfully or faithfully.

[14:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “a witness of faithfulness.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “faithful witness” (so KJV, NRSV); TEV “reliable witness.”

[14:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “a witness of falsehood.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “false witness.”

[14:5]  ⁷ sn This saying addresses the problem of legal testimony: A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness does lie – naturally. The first colon uses the verb כָּזַב (kazav, “to lie”) and the second colon uses the noun כָּזָב (kazav, “lie; falsehood”).

[26:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “the tongue of deception.” The subject matter of this proverb is deceptive speech. The “tongue of deception” (using a metonymy of cause with an attributive genitive) means that what is said is false. Likewise the “smooth mouth” means that what is said is smooth, flattering.

[26:28]  ⁹ sn The verse makes it clear that only pain and ruin can come from deception. The statement that the lying tongue “hates those crushed by it” suggests that the sentiments of hatred help the deceiver justify what he says about people. The ruin that he brings is probably on other people, but it could also be taken to include his own ruin.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.

[5:6]  ¹² tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the Lord’s characteristic attitude toward such individuals.

[5:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.

[120:2]  ¹⁴ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.

[120:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “my life.”

[120:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”

[120:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”

[120:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “What will he give to you, and what will he add to you, O tongue of deception?” The psalmist addresses his deceptive enemies. The Lord is the understood subject of the verbs “give” and “add.” The second part of the question echoes a standard curse formula, “thus the Lord/God will do … and thus he will add” (see Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2 Sam 3:9, 35; 19:13; 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Kgs 6:31).

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB, NRSV “people of Israel.”

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn The noun רִיב (riv, “dispute, lawsuit”) is used in two contexts: (1) nonlegal contexts: (a) “dispute” between individuals (e.g., Gen 13:7; Isa 58:1; Jer 15:10) or (b) “brawl; quarrel” between people (e.g., Exod 17:7; Deut 25:1); and (2) legal contexts: (a) “lawsuit; legal process” (e.g., Exod 23:3-6; Deut 19:17; 21:5; Ezek 44:24; Ps 35:23), (b) “lawsuit; legal case” (e.g., Deut 1:12; 17:8; Prov 18:17; 25:9), and (c) God’s “lawsuit” on behalf of a person or against his own people (Hos 4:1; 12:3; Mic 6:2; HALOT 1225-26 s.v. רִיב). The term in Hosea refers to a covenant lawsuit in which Yahweh the suzerain lodges a legal case against his disobedient vassal, accusing Israel and Judah of breach of covenant which will elicit the covenant curses.

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “with the inhabitants of the land” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “against the inhabitants of the land.”

[4:1]  ²² tn Heb “there is no truthfulness nor loyalty nor knowledge of God in the land.” Here “knowledge of God” refers to recognition of his authority and obedience to his will.

[4:2]  ²³ tn Heb “they break out and bloodshed touches bloodshed.” The Hebrew term פָּרַץ (parats, “to break out”) refers to violent and wicked actions (BDB 829 s.v. פָּרַץ 7; HALOT 972 s.v. פרץ 6.c). It is used elsewhere in a concrete sense to describe breaking through physical barriers. Here it is used figuratively to describe breaking moral barriers and restraints (cf. TEV “Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another”).

[8:44]  ²⁴ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.

[8:44]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”

[8:44]  ²⁷ tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).

[8:44]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).

[8:44]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”

[8:44]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”

[8:44]  ³¹ tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”

[22:15]  ³² tn On the term φάρμακοι (farmakoi) see L&N 53.101.

[22:15]  ³³ tn Or “lying,” “deceit.”