1 Kings 19:10

19:10 He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal ¹  to the Lord, the sovereign God, ²  even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, ³  torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” ⁴ 

Proverbs 20:6

20:6 Many people profess their loyalty, ⁵ 

but a faithful person ⁶  – who can find? ⁷ 

Ezekiel 22:30

22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. ⁸ 

[19:10]  ¹ tn Or “very zealous.” The infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb emphasizes the degree of his zeal and allegiance.

[19:10]  ² tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”

[19:10]  ³ tn Heb “abandoned your covenant.”

[19:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they are seeking my life to take it.”

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “many a man calls/proclaims a man of his loyal love.” The Syriac and Tg. Prov 20:6 render the verb as passive: “many are called kind.” Other suggestions include: “most men meet people who will do them occasional kindnesses” (RSV); “many men profess friendship” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 384); “many men invite only the one who has shown them kindness.” The simplest interpretation in this context is “many proclaim [themselves to be] a kind person (= a loyal friend).” The contrast is between many who claim to be loyal friends and the one who actually proves to be faithful.

[20:6]  ⁶ tn The shift to the expression “a man of faithfulness[es]” in the second line indicates that of all those who claim to show faithful love, it is rare to find one who is truly reliable (as the word אֱמוּנִים [’emunim] indicates clearly); cf. NAB, NRSV “one worthy of trust.”

[20:6]  ⁷ sn The point of the rhetorical question is that a truly faithful friend is very difficult to find.

[22:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “I did not find.”