Mazmur 64:7-8

64:7 But God will shoot ¹  at them;

suddenly they will be ²  wounded by an arrow. ³ 

64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. ⁴ 

All who see them will shudder, ⁵ 

Mazmur 79:12

79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! ⁶ 

May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! ⁷ 

Mazmur 120:3-4

120:3 How will he severely punish you,

you deceptive talker? ⁸ 

120:4 Here’s how! ⁹  With the sharp arrows of warriors,

with arrowheads forged over the hot coals. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 140:9-10

140:9 As for the heads of those who surround me –

may the harm done by ¹¹  their lips overwhelm them!

140:10 May he rain down ¹²  fiery coals upon them!

May he throw them into the fire!

From bottomless pits they will not escape. ¹³ 

Amsal 12:13

12:13 The evil person is ensnared ¹⁴  by the transgression of his speech, ¹⁵ 

but the righteous person escapes out of trouble. ¹⁶ 

Amsal 18:7

18:7 The mouth of a fool is his ruin,

and his lips are a snare for his life. ¹⁷ 

Matius 12:36-37

12:36 I ¹⁸  tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak. 12:37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Matius 27:25

27:25 In ¹⁹  reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Matius 27:63

27:63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

[64:7]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.

[64:7]  ² tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.

[64:7]  ³ tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[64:8]  ⁴ tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.

[64:8]  ⁵ tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.

[79:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[79:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”

[120:3]  ⁸ 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).

[120:4]  ⁹ tn The words “here’s how” are supplied in the translation as a clarification. In v. 4 the psalmist answers the question he raises in v. 3.

[120:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with coals of the wood of the broom plant.” The wood of the broom plant was used to make charcoal, which in turn was used to fuel the fire used to forge the arrowheads.

[140:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.

[140:10]  ¹² tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.

[140:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition -בְּ (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.

[12:13]  ¹⁴ tc MT reads the noun מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “bait; lure”). The LXX, Syriac and Tg. Prov 12:13 took it as a passive participle (“is ensnared”). The MT is the more difficult reading and so is preferred. The versions appear to be trying to clarify a difficult reading.

[12:13]  tn Heb “snare of a man.” The word “snare” is the figurative meaning of the noun מוֹקֵשׁ (“bait; lure” from יָקַשׁ [yaqash, “to lay a bait, or lure”]).

[12:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “transgression of the lips.” The noun “lips” is a genitive of specification and it functions as a metonymy of cause for speech: sinful talk or sinning by talking. J. H. Greenstone suggests that this refers to litigation; the wicked attempt to involve the innocent (Proverbs, 131).

[12:13]  ¹⁶ sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that when the wicked become involved in contradictions of testimony, the innocent is freed from the trouble. Another meaning would be that the wicked get themselves trapped by what they say, but the righteous avoid that (Proverbs, 131).

[18:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his soul” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

[18:7]  sn What a fool says can ruin him. Calamity and misfortune can come to a person who makes known his lack of wisdom by what he says. It may be that his words incite anger, or merely reveal stupidity; in either case, he is in trouble.

[12:36]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:25]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.