2:17 Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers. 1
8:7 Your beginning 4 will seem so small,
since your future will flourish. 5
17:9 But the righteous man holds to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger. 6
84:7 They are sustained as they travel along; 7
each one appears 8 before God in Zion.
4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, 9
growing brighter and brighter 10 until full day. 11
4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; 12
they do not know what causes them to stumble. 13
1 tn Heb “servants.” So also elsewhere.
2 tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”
3 tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.
4 tn The reference to “your beginning” is a reference to Job’s former estate of wealth and peace. The reference to “latter end” is a reference to conditions still in the future. What Job had before will seem so small in comparison to what lies ahead.
5 tn The verb has the idea of “to grow”; here it must mean “to flourish; to grow considerably” or the like. The statement is not so much a prophecy; rather Bildad is saying that “if Job had recourse to God, then….” This will be fulfilled, of course, at the end of the book.
6 tn The last two words are the imperfect verb יֹסִיף (yosif) which means “he adds,” and the abstract noun “energy, strength.” This noun is not found elsewhere; its Piel verb occurs in Job 4:4 and 16:5. “he increases strength.”
7 tn Heb “they go from strength to strength.” The phrase “from strength to strength” occurs only here in the OT. With a verb of motion, the expression “from [common noun] to [same common noun]” normally suggests movement from one point to another or through successive points (see Num 36:7; 1 Chr 16:20; 17:5; Ps 105:13; Jer 25:32). Ps 84:7 may be emphasizing that the pilgrims move successively from one “place of strength” to another as they travel toward Jerusalem. All along the way they find adequate provisions and renewed energy for the trip.
8 tn The psalmist returns to the singular (see v. 5a), which he uses in either a representative or distributive (“each one” ) sense.
9 tn Heb “like light of brightness.” This construction is an attributive genitive: “bright light.” The word “light” (אוֹר, ’or) refers to the early morning light or the dawn (BDB 21 s.v.). The point of the simile is that the course of life that the righteous follow is like the clear, bright morning light. It is illumined, clear, easy to follow, and healthy and safe – the opposite of what darkness represents.
10 tn The construction uses the Qal active participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) in a metaphorical sense to add the idea of continuance or continually to the participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh). Here the path was growing light, but the added participle signifies continually.
11 tn Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.
12 sn The simile describes ignorance or spiritual blindness, sinfulness, calamity, despair.
13 tn Heb “in what they stumble.”
14 tn Aram “until.”
15 tc The LXX, Theodotion, and the Vulgate have “from a mountain,” though this is probably a harmonization with v. 45.
16 tn Aram “as one.” For the meaning “without distinction” see the following: F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 36, §64, and p. 93; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 60.
17 tn Aram “after this.”
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of hearing the voice summon the first rider.
19 tc The reading “and I looked” (καὶ εἶδον, kai eidon) or some slight variation (e.g., ἶδον, idon) has excellent ms support ({א A C P 1611}) and its omission seems to come through the
20 tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
21 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
22 tn Grk “the one sitting on it.”
23 sn See the note on the word crown in Rev 3:11.
24 tn The participle νικῶν (nikwn) has been translated as substantival, the subject of the verb ἐξῆλθεν (exhlqen). Otherwise, as an adverbial participle of manner, it is somewhat redundant: “he rode out conquering and to conquer.”