40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy 3 – how could I reply to you?
I put 4 my hand over my mouth to silence myself. 5
42:6 Therefore I despise myself, 6
and I repent in dust and ashes!
64:6 We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight. 7
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
7:1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters 15 (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person 16 as long as he lives?
1:8 First of all, 17 I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel 18 of his Son, is my witness that 19 I continually remember you 1:10 and I always ask 20 in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. 21
1 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
2 tn Heb “which they know, each the pain of his heart.”
3 tn The word קַלֹּתִי (qalloti) means “to be light; to be of small account; to be unimportant.” From this comes the meaning “contemptible,” which in the causative stem would mean “to treat with contempt; to curse.” Dhorme tries to make the sentence a conditional clause and suggests this meaning: “If I have been thoughtless.” There is really no “if” in Job’s mind.
4 tn The perfect verb here should be classified as an instantaneous perfect; the action is simultaneous with the words.
5 tn The words “to silence myself” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).
7 tn Heb “and like a garment of menstruation [are] all our righteous acts”; KJV, NIV “filthy rags”; ASV “a polluted garment.”
8 tn Grk “when that one.”
9 tn Or “will convict the world,” or “will expose the world.” The conjunction περί (peri) is used in 16:8-11 in the sense of “concerning” or “with respect to.” But what about the verb ἐλέγχω (elencw)? The basic meanings possible for this word are (1) “to convict or convince someone of something”; (2) “to bring to light or expose something; and (3) “to correct or punish someone.” The third possibility may be ruled out in these verses on contextual grounds since punishment is not implied. The meaning is often understood to be that the Paraclete will “convince” the world of its error, so that some at least will repent. But S. Mowinckel (“Die Vorstellungen des Spätjudentums vom heiligen Geist als Fürsprecher und der johanneische Paraklet,” ZNW 32 [1933]: 97-130) demonstrated that the verb ἐλέγχω did not necessarily imply the conversion or reform of the guilty party. This means it is far more likely that conviction in something of a legal sense is intended here (as in a trial). The only certainty is that the accused party is indeed proven guilty (not that they will acknowledge their guilt). Further confirmation of this interpretation is seen in John 14:17 where the world cannot receive the Paraclete and in John 3:20, where the evildoer deliberately refuses to come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed for what they really are (significantly, the verb in John 3:20 is also ἐλέγχω). However, if one wishes to adopt the meaning “prove guilty” for the use of ἐλέγχω in John 16:8 a difficulty still remains: While this meaning fits the first statement in 16:9 – the world is ‘proven guilty’ concerning its sin of refusing to believe in Jesus – it does not fit so well the second and third assertions in vv. 10-11. Thus R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:705) suggests the more general meaning “prove wrong” which would fit in all three cases. This may be so, but there may also be a developmental aspect to the meaning, which would then shift from v. 9 to v. 10 to v. 11.
10 tn Grk “and concerning.”
11 tn Grk “and concerning.”
12 tn Or “that.” It is very difficult to determine whether ὅτι (Joti; 3 times in 16:9, 10, 11) should be understood as causal or appositional/explanatory: Brown and Bultmann favor appositional or explanatory, while Barrett and Morris prefer a causal sense. A causal idea is preferable here, since it also fits the parallel statements in vv. 10-11 better than an appositional or explanatory use would. In this case Jesus is stating in each instance the reason why the world is proven guilty or wrong by the Spirit-Paraclete.
13 sn Here (v. 9) the world is proven guilty concerning sin, and the reason given is their refusal to believe in Jesus. In 3:19 the effect of Jesus coming into the world as the Light of the world was to provoke judgment, by forcing people to choose up sides for or against him, and they chose darkness rather than light. In 12:37, at the very end of Jesus’ public ministry in John’s Gospel, people were still refusing to believe in him.
14 tn Grk “under sin.”
15 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
16 sn Here person refers to a human being.
17 tn Grk “First.” Paul never mentions a second point, so J. B. Phillips translated “I must begin by telling you….”
18 tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”
19 tn Grk “as.”
20 tn Grk “remember you, always asking.”
21 tn Grk “succeed in coming to you in the will of God.”