5:8 Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, 1
those who also accumulate landed property 2
until there is no land left, 3
and you are the only landowners remaining within the land. 4
5:20 Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, 5
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. 6
19:3 The Egyptians will panic, 7
and I will confuse their strategy. 8
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. 9
29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, 10
who do their work in secret and boast, 11
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” 12
30:1 “The rebellious 13 children are as good as dead,” 14 says the Lord,
“those who make plans without consulting me, 15
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, 16
and thereby compound their sin. 17
59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,
we grope like those who cannot see; 18
we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.
Though others are strong, we are like dead men. 19
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who make a house touch a house.” The exclamation הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5) and carries the connotation of death.
2 tn Heb “[who] bring a field near a field.”
sn This verse does not condemn real estate endeavors per se, but refers to the way in which the rich bureaucrats of Judah accumulated property by exploiting the poor, in violation of the covenantal principle that the land belonged to God and that every family was to have its own portion of land. See the note at 1:23.
3 tn Heb “until the end of the place”; NASB “until there is no more room.”
4 tn Heb “and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.”
5 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who call.” See the note at v. 8.
6 sn In this verse the prophet denounces the perversion of moral standards. Darkness and bitterness are metaphors for evil; light and sweetness symbolize uprightness.
7 tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”
8 tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.
9 tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.
10 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.
11 tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”
12 tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.
13 tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”
14 tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”
15 tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”
16 tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.
17 tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”
18 tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”
19 tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”