45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place. 1
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’ 2
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements. 3
7:7 “Ask 4 and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door 5 will be opened for you.
1 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
2 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
3 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
4 sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.
5 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.
6 tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.