12:1 Lord, you have always been fair
whenever I have complained to you. 1
However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. 2
Why are wicked people successful? 3
Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
12:6 But 4 the tents of robbers are peaceful,
and those who provoke God are confident 5 –
who carry their god in their hands. 6
73:12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, 7
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. 8
1 tn Or “
2 tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).
3 tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”
4 tn The verse gives the other side of the coin now, the fact that the wicked prosper.
5 tn The plural is used to suggest the supreme degree of arrogant confidence (E. Dhorme, Job, 171).
6 sn The line is perhaps best understood as describing one who thinks he is invested with the power of God.
7 tn Heb “Look, these [are] the wicked.”
8 tn Heb “the ones who are always at ease [who] increase wealth.”