44:21 would not God discover it,
for he knows 4 one’s thoughts? 5
94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 6
94:8 Take notice of this, 7 you ignorant people! 8
You fools, when will you ever understand?
94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see? 9
94:10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?
He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!
147:5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power; 10
there is no limit to his wisdom. 11
17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.
I examine people’s hearts. 12
I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.
I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
1 tn The words “their sin” are added for clarification.
2 tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 37-39a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”
4 tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.
5 tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.
6 tn Heb “does not understand.”
7 tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.
8 tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”
9 tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”
10 tn Heb “and great of strength.”
11 tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”
12 tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will and the “kidneys” the center of emotions.
13 tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.
14 tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).
15 tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”
16 sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.
17 tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”