Deuteronomy 29:29

29:29 Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants ¹  forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.

Job 28:28

28:28 And he said to mankind,

‘The fear of the Lord ²  – that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” ³ 

Job 33:13

33:13 Why do you contend against him,

that he does not answer all a person’s ⁴  words?

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ⁵ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ⁶  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

¹ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV “children.”

² tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“Lord”); BHS has אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 383) points out, this is the only occurrence of אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) in the book of Job, creating doubt for retaining it. Normally, YHWH is avoided in the book. “Fear of” (יִרְאַת, yir’at) is followed by שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) in 6:14 – the only other occurrence of this term for “fear” in construct with a divine title.

³ tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “Lord”) here, and (2) it is not consistent with the argument that precedes it. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 185) points out, there is inconsistency in this reasoning, for many of the critics have already said that this chapter is an interpolation. Following that line of thought, then, one would not expect it to conform to the rest of the book in this matter of the divine name. And concerning the second difficulty, the point of this chapter is that wisdom is beyond human comprehension and control. It belongs to God alone. So the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is wisdom is the necessary conclusion. Rowley concludes: “It is a pity to rob the poem of its climax and turn it into the expression of unrelieved agnosticism.”

⁴ tc The MT has “all his words.” This must refer to “man” in the previous verse. But many wish to change it to “my words,” since it would be summarizing Job’s complaint to God.

⁵ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

⁶ tn Aram “strikes against.”