1:2 My brothers and sisters, 1 consider it nothing but joy 2 when you fall into all sorts of trials,
1:1 From James, 3 a slave 4 of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. 5 Greetings!
32:9 Do not be 6 like an unintelligent horse or mule, 7
which will not obey you
unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. 8
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
39:1 I decided, 10 “I will watch what I say
and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. 11
I will put a muzzle over my mouth
while in the presence of an evil man.” 12
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears, 13
I will put my hook in your nose, 14
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”
1 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). Where the plural term is used in direct address, as here, “brothers and sisters” is used; where the term is singular and not direct address (as in v. 9), “believer” is preferred.
2 tn Grk “all joy,” “full joy,” or “greatest joy.”
3 tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
4 tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
5 tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.
6 tn The verb form is plural (i.e., “do not all of you be”); the psalmist addresses the whole group.
7 tn Heb “like a horse, like a mule without understanding.”
8 tn Heb “with a bridle and bit, its [?] to hold, not to come near to you.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun עֲדִי (’adiy) is uncertain. Normally the word refers to “jewelry,” so some suggest the meaning “trappings” here (cf. NASB). Some emend the form to לְחֵיהֶם (lÿkhehem, “their jawbones”) but it is difficult to see how the present Hebrew text, even if corrupt, could have derived from this proposed original reading. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 265) takes the form from an Arabic root and translates “whose gallop.” Cf. also NRSV “whose temper must be curbed.”
9 sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.
10 tn Heb “I said.”
11 tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”
12 sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the
13 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).
14 sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.