15:22 Then Samuel said,
“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as he does in obedience? 1
Certainly, 2 obedience 3 is better than sacrifice;
paying attention is better than 4 the fat of rams.
5:19 He will deliver you 5 from six calamities;
yes, in seven 6 no evil will touch you.
6:6 With what should I 9 enter the Lord’s presence?
With what 10 should I bow before the sovereign God? 11
Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,
or ten thousand streams of olive oil?
Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,
my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? 12
6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you: 13
He wants you to 14 promote 15 justice, to be faithful, 16
and to live obediently before 17 your God.
6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Get up! Defend yourself 18 before the mountains! 19
Present your case before the hills!” 20
1 tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the
2 tn Heb “look.”
3 tn Heb “listening.”
4 tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).
5 tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect of נָצַל (natsal, “deliver”). These verbs might have been treated as habitual imperfects if it were not for the use of the numerical images – “six calamities…in seven.” So the nuance is specific future instead.
6 tn The use of a numerical ladder as we have here – “six // seven” is frequent in wisdom literature to show completeness. See Prov 6:16; Amos 1:3, Mic 5:5. A number that seems to be sufficient for the point is increased by one, as if to say there is always one more. By using this Eliphaz simply means “in all troubles” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 56).
7 tn The word “here” is not in the text. However, it is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn The words “such sacrifices” are not in the text. The text merely says “to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal which I did not command.” The command obviously refers not to the qualification “to Baal” but to burning the children in the fire as burnt offerings. The words are supplied in the translation to avoid a possible confusion that the reference is to sacrifices to Baal. Likewise the words should not be translated so literally that they leave the impression that God never said anything about sacrificing their children to other gods. The fact is he did. See Lev 18:21; Deut 12:30; 18:10.
9 sn With what should I enter the
10 tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.
11 tn Or “the exalted God.”
12 tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”
13 sn What the
14 tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”
15 tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”
16 tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”
17 tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”
18 tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”
19 sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.
20 tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”
21 tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).
22 tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.
23 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
24 tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”
25 tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these
26 tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.
27 tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”
28 tn Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.
29 tn Grk “in/by a symbol.”