9:4 He is wise in heart 5 and mighty 6 in strength 7 –
who has resisted 8 him and remained safe? 9
54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;
you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. 10
This is what the Lord will do for his servants –
I will vindicate them,” 11
says the Lord.
2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt
with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame 12
because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful
and you will not gain any help from them. 13
17:9 “‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘Will it prosper?
Will he not rip out its roots
and cause its fruit to rot 14 and wither?
All its foliage 15 will wither.
No strong arm or large army
will be needed to pull it out by its roots. 16
1 tn Heb “clothed.”
2 tn The line literally has, “Why is this [that] you are transgressing….” The demonstrative pronoun is enclitic; it brings the force of “why in the world are you doing this now?”
3 tn Heb “mouth.”
4 tn Heb “you will not cause your ways to prosper.”
5 tn The genitive phrase translated “in heart” would be a genitive of specification, specifying that the wisdom of God is in his intelligent decisions.
6 sn The words אַמִּיץ (’ammits) and כֹּחַ (koakh) are synonyms, the first meaning “sturdy; mighty; robust,” and the second “strength.” It too can be interpreted as a genitive of specification – God is mighty with respect to his power. But that comes close to expressing a superlative idea (like “song of songs” or “anger of his wrath”).
7 tn The first half of the verse simply has “wise of heart and mighty of strength.” The entire line is a casus pendens that will refer to the suffix on אֵלָיו (’elayv) in the second colon. So the question is “Who has resisted the one who is wise of heart and mighty of strength?” Again, the rhetorical question is affirming that no one has done this.
8 tn The verb is the Hiphil of the verb קָשָׁה (qashah, “to be hard”). It frequently is found with the word for “neck,” describing people as “stiff-necked,” i.e., stubborn, unbending. So the idea of resisting God fits well. The fact that this word occurs in Exodus with the idea of hardening the heart against God may indicate that there is an allusion to Pharaoh here.
9 tn The use of שָׁלֵם (shalem) in the Qal is rare. It has been translated “remain safe” by E. Dhorme, “survived” by the NEB, “remained unscathed” by the NAB and NIV, or “succeeded” by KJV, G. R. Driver.
10 tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”
11 tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”
12 tn Heb “with your hands on your head.” For the picture here see 2 Sam 13:19.
13 tn Heb “The
14 tn The Hebrew root occurs only here in the OT and appears to have the meaning of “strip off.” In application to fruit the meaning may be “cause to rot.”
15 tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.
16 tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”