24:7 The first lot went to Jehoiarib,
the second to Jedaiah,
25:8 They cast lots to determine their responsibilities – oldest as well as youngest, teacher as well as student. 2
25:9 The first lot went to Asaph’s son Joseph and his relatives and sons – twelve in all, 3
the second to Gedaliah and his relatives and sons – twelve in all,
18:18 A toss of a coin 4 ends 5 disputes,
and settles the issue 6 between strong opponents. 7
1 tn Heb “and they divided them by lots, these with these, for the officials of the holy place and the officials of God were from the sons of Eleazar and among the sons of Ithamar.”
2 tn Heb “and they cast lots [for] service, just as like small, like great, teacher with student.”
3 tc Heb “The first lot went to Asaph, to Joseph.” Apparently the recurring formula, “and his sons and his relatives, twelve” has been accidentally omitted from the Hebrew text at this point (see vv. 10-31; the formula is slightly different in v. 9b). If the number “twelve” is not supplied here, the total comes to only 276, not the 288 required by v. 7.
4 tn Heb “casting the lot.” Because modern readers are not familiar with the ancient practice of casting lots, the image of the coin toss to decide an issue has been employed in the translation (cf. CEV “drawing straws”). Although the casting of lots is often compared to throwing dice, the translation “throwing dice ends disputes” in this context could be misunderstood to mean “participating in a game of dice ends disputes.”
5 tn The verb יַשְׁבִּית (yashbit) is the Hiphil imperfect from שָׁבַת (shavat), meaning “to cause to cease; to bring to an end; to end”; cf. NIV “settles disputes.” The assumption behind this practice and this saying is that providence played the determining role in the casting of lots. If both parties accepted this, then the issue could be resolved.
6 tn Heb “makes a separation” or “decides.” In the book of Proverbs this verb often has a negative connotation, such as separating close friends (e.g., 16:9). But here it has a positive nuance: Opponents are “separated” by settling the issue.
7 tn The word is the adjective, “mighty” (so KJV, NAB, NASB) used here substantivally as the object of the preposition.