Proverbs 11:6

Earlier this month, I read Proverbs 11, and I noticed a contrast in verse 6:  "The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust" [ESV].  Obviously, there's a difference between "the upright" and "the treacherous," but to some degree, this contrast is also shown by the voices of the verbs:  "delivers" is in the active voice while "are taken captive" is in the passive voice.

I don't know enough about Hebrew to comment on the original forms, but this distinction is also present in my German translation:

Die Gerechtigkeit der Frommen wird sie erretten*; aber die Verächter werden gefangen durch ihre Gier.

And in the Latin Vulgate:

iustitia rectorum liberabit* eos et in insidiis suis capientur iniqui

I also noticed how appropriate the passive voice is for being "taken captive."  In the same way that the subject in a passive voice construction is acted upon, those who are captive lack agency.

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*The German and Latin verbs are both in the future tense:  righteousness "will save" or "will free" the upright.

Psalm 135:16-17

Last month, I read Psalm 135.  I think I'd been dimly aware of something in verses 16-17, but while wondering about the original Hebrew text, I realized what it was and then confirmed this by looking at the text via the Step Bible:

פֶּֽה־לָ֭הֶם וְלֹ֣א יְדַבֵּ֑רוּ עֵינַ֥יִם לָ֝הֶ֗ם וְלֹ֣א יִרְאֽוּ׃

אָזְנַ֣יִם לָ֭הֶם וְלֹ֣א יַאֲזִ֑ינוּ אַ֝֗ף אֵין־יֶשׁ־ר֥וּחַ בְּפִיהֶֽם׃

In the ESV, these verses are translated as:

16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see;

17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths.

What's translated as "they have..." in the ESV doesn't actually contain a verb in the Hebrew.  The phrases are "mouth to them," "eyes to them," and "ears to them."  The only verbs in these clauses are negated, so just like the lifeless idols, there's only inactivity in these verses.

Jeremiah 10:14

A couple months ago, I went over Jeremiah 10:14 in the weekend edition of the Daily Dose of Hebrew:

In the ESV, this is "Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them."

I think it may be significant that the word אָדָם is used rather than אִישׁ.  Both mean man, but אָדָם is related to אֲדָמָה, which means ground or soil, so there may be a slightly disparaging tone here, as if to say that the man who makes idols is like dirt.