³ tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

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

² tn Heb “they [the sinful deeds] are before my face” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); cf. NCV “they are right in front of me.”

¹ sn Beth Aven means “house of wickedness” in Hebrew; it is a polemic reference to “Bethel,” which means “house of God” (cf. CEV “at sinful Bethel”).

¹ tc The LXX reads “Syene,” which is Aswan in the south. The MT reads Sin, which has already been mentioned in v. 15.

¹ sn Engaged in prostitution refers to alliances with pagan nations in this context. In Ezek 16 harlotry described the sin of idolatry.

³ sn God sometimes punishes sin by inciting the sinner to sin even more, as the biblical examples of divine hardening and deceit make clear. See Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34; idem, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28. For other instances where the Lord causes individuals to act unwisely or even sinfully as punishment for sin, see 1 Sam 2:25; 2 Sam 17:14; 1 Kgs 12:15; 2 Chr 25:20.

¹ tn The noun עֲוֹן (ʿavon) has a basic, twofold range of meaning: (1) basic meaning: “iniquity, sin,” and (2) metonymical cause-for-effect meaning: “punishment for iniquity.”

¹ tn Heb “For my eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from before me. And their sin is not hidden away from before my eyes.”

¹ sn See 5:9, 29. This is somewhat of a refrain at the end of a catalog of Judah’s sins.

¹ sn These words are repeated from 5:9 to give a kind of refrain justifying again the necessity of punishment in the light of such sins.

¹ sn Illness and pain stand by metonymy (or perhaps as metaphors) for sin and its effects, as vv. 11-12 make clear.

¹ tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khataʾ) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”

² sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.

¹ sn The verse is a rhetorical question; it is affirming that no one can say this because no one is pure and free of sin.

¹ tn Heb “man of violence.” He influences his friends toward violence. The term חָמָס (khamas, “violence”) often refers to sins against society, social injustices, and crimes.

¹ sn Righteousness refers to that which conforms to law and order. One who behaves with integrity will be safe from consequences of sin.

¹ tn Heb “does not cease.” It is impossible to avoid sinning in an abundance of words—sooner or later one is bound to say something wrong.

² sn Love acts like forgiveness. Hatred looks for and exaggerates faults, but love seeks ways to make sins disappear (e.g., 1 Pet 4:8).

⁵ tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically: “his own iniquities will capture the wicked, by the cords of his own sin will he be held.”