22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness? 1
94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 2
94:8 Take notice of this, 3 you ignorant people! 4
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? 5
29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, 6
who do their work in secret and boast, 7
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” 8
23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 9
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 10
the Lord asks. 11
11:12 (12:1) 12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies;
the house of Israel has surrounded me 13 with deceit.
But Judah still roams about with 14 God;
he remains faithful to the Holy One.
1 sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).
2 tn Heb “does not understand.”
3 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.
4 tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”
5 tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”
6 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.
7 tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”
8 tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.
9 tn Heb “Oracle of the
10 tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “Oracle of the
12 sn Beginning with 11:12, the verse numbers through 12:14 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 11:12 ET = 12:1 HT, 12:1 ET = 12:2 HT, etc., through 12:14 ET = 12:15 HT. From 13:1 to 13:16 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
13 tn The phrase “has surrounded me” is not repeated in the Hebrew text here, but is implied by the parallelism in the preceding line. It is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons, smoothness, and readability.
14 tn The verb רוּד (rud, “to roam about freely”) is used in a concrete sense to refer to someone wandering restlessly and roaming back and forth (BDB 923 s.v. רוּד; Judg 11:37). Here, it is used figuratively, possibly with positive connotations, as indicated by the preposition עִם (’im, “with”), to indicate accompaniment: “but Judah still goes about with God” (HALOT 1194 s.v. רוד). Some English versions render it positively: “Judah still walks with God” (RSV, NRSV); “Judah is restive under God” (REB); “but Judah stands firm with God” (NJPS); “but Judah yet ruleth with God” (KJV, ASV). Other English versions adopt the negative connotation “to wander restlessly” and nuance עִם in an adversative sense (“against”): “Judah is still rebellious against God” (NAB), “Judah is unruly against God” (NIV), and “the people of Judah are still rebelling against me” (TEV).