Amsal 24:23-24

Further Sayings of the Wise

24:23 These sayings also are from the wise:

To show partiality ¹  in judgment is terrible: ² 

24:24 The one who says to the guilty, ³  “You are innocent,” ⁴ 

peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce ⁵  him.

Keluaran 23:7

23:7 Keep your distance ⁶  from a false charge ⁷  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ⁸  for I will not justify the wicked. ⁹ 

Keluaran 23:1

Justice

23:1 ¹⁰ “You must not give ¹¹  a false report. ¹²  Do not make common cause ¹³  with the wicked ¹⁴  to be a malicious ¹⁵  witness.

Kisah Para Rasul 21:13

21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking ¹⁶  my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, ¹⁷  but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Yesaya 5:23

5:23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,

they ignore the just cause of the innocent. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 55:8-9

55:8 “Indeed, ¹⁹  my plans ²⁰  are not like ²¹  your plans,

and my deeds ²²  are not like ²³  your deeds,

55:9 for just as the sky ²⁴  is higher than the earth,

so my deeds ²⁵  are superior to ²⁶  your deeds

and my plans ²⁷  superior to your plans.

Yehezkiel 22:27-29

22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ²⁸  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. ²⁹ 

Amos 5:7

5:7 The Israelites ³⁰  turn justice into bitterness; ³¹ 

they throw what is fair and right ³²  to the ground. ³³ 

Amos 5:12

5:12 Certainly ³⁴  I am aware of ³⁵  your many rebellious acts ³⁶ 

and your numerous sins.

You ³⁷  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ³⁸  the needy at the city gate. ³⁹ 

Amos 6:12

6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?

Can one plow the sea with oxen? ⁴⁰ 

Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,

and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. ⁴¹ 

Lukas 23:18-25

23:18 But they all shouted out together, ⁴²  “Take this man ⁴³  away! Release Barabbas for us!” 23:19 (This ⁴⁴  was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection ⁴⁵  started in the city, and for murder.) ⁴⁶  23:20 Pilate addressed them once again because he wanted ⁴⁷  to release Jesus. 23:21 But they kept on shouting, ⁴⁸  “Crucify, crucify ⁴⁹  him!” 23:22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I have found him guilty ⁵⁰  of no crime deserving death. ⁵¹  I will therefore flog ⁵²  him and release him.” 23:23 But they were insistent, ⁵³  demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed. 23:24 So ⁵⁴  Pilate ⁵⁵  decided ⁵⁶  that their demand should be granted. 23:25 He released the man they asked for, who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder. But he handed Jesus over ⁵⁷  to their will. ⁵⁸ 

Roma 4:5

4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, ⁵⁹  his faith is credited as righteousness.

Yakobus 5:6

5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ⁶⁰ 

[24:23]  ¹ tn Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”

[24:23]  ² tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”

[24:24]  ³ tn The word means “wicked; guilty” or “criminal”; the contrast could be “wicked – righteous” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB) or “innocent – guilty” (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV). Since this line follows the statement about showing partiality in judgment, it involves a forensic setting. Thus the statement describes one who calls a guilty person innocent or acquitted.

[24:24]  ⁴ tn Or “righteous”; the same Hebrew word may be translated either “innocent” or “righteous” depending on the context.

[24:24]  ⁵ tn The verb means “to be indignant.” It can be used within the range of “have indignation,” meaning “loathe” or “abhor,” or express indignation, meaning “denounce” or “curse.” In this passage, in collocation with the previous term “curse,” the latter is intended (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT).

[23:7]  ⁶ tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”

[23:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false or that could only be won by falsehood.

[23:7]  ⁸ tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).

[23:7]  ⁹ sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.

[23:1]  ¹⁰ sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).

[23:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.

[23:1]  ¹² tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ¹⁴ tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rasha’) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.

[23:1]  ¹⁵ tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.

[21:13]  ¹⁶ tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).

[21:13]  ¹⁷ tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.

[5:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the just cause of the innocent ones they turn aside from him.”

[5:23]  sn In vv. 22-23 the prophet returns to themes with which he opened his speech. The accusatory elements of vv. 8, 11-12, 18-23 are arranged in a chiastic manner: (A) social injustice (8), (B) carousing (11-12a), (C) spiritual insensitivity (12b) // (C') spiritual insensitivity (18-21), (B') carousing (22), (A') social injustice (23).

[55:8]  ¹⁹ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

[55:8]  ²⁰ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:8]  ²² tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ²³ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[55:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “are higher than.”

[55:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[22:28]  ²⁸ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

[22:29]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice.”

[5:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Those who”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. In light of vv. 11-13, it is also possible that the words are directed at a more limited group within the nation – those with social and economic power.

[5:7]  ³¹ tn There is an interesting wordplay here with the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn, turn”). Israel “turns” justice into wormwood (cf. 6:12), while the Lord “turns” darkness into morning (v. 8; cf. 4:11; 8:10). Israel’s turning is for evil, whereas the Lord’s is to demonstrate his absolute power and sovereignty.

[5:7]  ³² tn Heb “they throw righteousness.”

[5:7]  ³³ sn In v. 7 the prophet begins to describe the guilty Israelites, but then interrupts his word picture with a parenthetical, but powerful, description of the judge they must face (vv. 8-9). He resumes his description of the sinners in v. 10.

[5:12]  ³⁴ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ³⁵ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ³⁶ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

[5:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[5:12]  ³⁹ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[6:12]  ⁴⁰ tc Heb “Does one plow with oxen?” This obviously does not fit the parallelism, for the preceding rhetorical question requires the answer, “Of course not!” An error of fusion has occurred in the Hebrew, with the word יָם (yam, “sea”) being accidentally added as a plural ending to the collective noun בָּקָר (baqar, “oxen”). A proper division of the consonants produces the above translation, which fits the parallelism and also anticipates the answer, “Of course not!”

[6:12]  ⁴¹ sn The botanical imagery, when juxtaposed with the preceding rhetorical questions, vividly depicts and emphasizes how the Israelites have perverted justice and violated the created order by their morally irrational behavior.

[23:18]  ⁴² tn Grk “together, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.

[23:18]  ⁴³ tn Grk “this one.” The reference to Jesus as “this man” is pejorative in this context.

[23:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “who” (a continuation of the previous sentence).

[23:19]  ⁴⁵ sn Ironically, what Jesus was alleged to have done, started an insurrection, this man really did.

[23:19]  ⁴⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[23:20]  ⁴⁷ sn The account pictures a battle of wills – the people versus Pilate. Pilate is consistently portrayed in Luke’s account as wanting to release Jesus because he believed him to be innocent.

[23:21]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.

[23:21]  ⁴⁹ tn This double present imperative is emphatic.

[23:21]  sn Crucifixion was the cruelest form of punishment practiced by the Romans. Roman citizens could not normally undergo it. It was reserved for the worst crimes, like treason and evasion of due process in a capital case. The Roman historian Cicero called it “a cruel and disgusting penalty” (Against Verres 2.5.63-66 §§163-70); Josephus (J. W. 7.6.4 [7.203]) called it the worst of deaths.

[23:22]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “no cause of death I found in him.”

[23:22]  ⁵¹ sn The refrain of innocence comes once again. Pilate tried to bring some sense of justice, believing Jesus had committed no crime deserving death.

[23:22]  ⁵² tn Or “scourge” (BDAG 749 s.v. παιδεύω 2.b.γ). See the note on “flogged” in v. 16.

[23:23]  ⁵³ tn Though a different Greek term is used here (BDAG 373 s.v. ἐπίκειμαι), this remark is like 23:5.

[23:24]  ⁵⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the crowd’s cries prevailing.

[23:24]  ⁵⁵ sn Finally Pilate gave in. He decided crucifying one Galilean teacher was better than facing a riot. Justice lost out in the process, because he did not follow his own verdict.

[23:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Although some translations render ἐπέκρινεν (epekrinen) here as “passed sentence” or “gave his verdict,” the point in context is not that Pilate sentenced Jesus to death here, but that finally, although convinced of Jesus’ innocence, he gave in to the crowd’s incessant demand to crucify an innocent man.

[23:25]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “delivered up.”

[23:25]  ⁵⁸ sn He handed Jesus over to their will. Here is where Luke places the major blame for Jesus’ death. It lies with the Jewish nation, especially the leadership, though in Acts 4:24-27 he will bring in the opposition of Herod, Pilate, and all people.

[4:5]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “who justifies the ungodly.”

[5:6]  ⁶⁰ tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”