11:6 and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom –
for true wisdom has two sides 1 –
so that you would know 2
that God has forgiven some of your sins. 3
28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from? 4
Where is the place of understanding?
28:21 For 5 it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
28:22 Destruction 6 and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’ 7
28:23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
28:2 Iron is taken from the ground, 8
and rock is poured out 9 as copper.
6:12 Is my strength like that of stones? 10
or is my flesh made of bronze?
44:21 would not God discover it,
for he knows 11 one’s thoughts? 12
139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, 13
and the night is as bright as 14 day;
darkness and light are the same to you. 15
2:22 he reveals deep and hidden things.
He knows what is in the darkness,
and light resides with him.
10:26 “Do 16 not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden 17 that will not be revealed, 18 and nothing is secret that will not be made known.
10:1 Jesus 19 called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits 20 so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness. 21
1 tn The text seems to be saying “that it [wisdom] is double in understanding.” The point is that it is different than Job conceived it – it far exceeded all perception. But some commentators have thought this still too difficult, and so have replaced the word כִפְלַיִם (khiflayim, “two sides”) with כִפְלָאִים (khifla’im, “like wonders,” or, more simply, “wonders” without the preposition). But it is still a little strange to talk about God’s wisdom being like wonders. Others have had more radical changes in the text; J. J. Slotki has “for sound wisdom is his. And know that double [punishment] shall God exact of you” (“Job 11:6,” VT 35 [1985]: 229-30).
2 tn The verb is the imperative with a ו (vav). Following the jussive, this clause would be subordinated to the preceding (see GKC 325 §110.i).
3 tn Heb “God causes to be forgotten for you part of your iniquity.” The meaning is that God was exacting less punishment from Job than Job deserved, for Job could not remember all his sins. This statement is fitting for Zophar, who is the cruelest of Job’s friends (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 88). Others in an attempt to improve the text make too many unwarranted changes. Some would read יִשְׁאָלְךָ (yish’alkha, “he asks of you”) instead of יַשֶּׂה לְךָ (yasseh lÿka, “he causes to be forgotten for you”). This would mean that God demands an account of Job’s sin. But, as D. J. A. Clines says, this change is weak and needless (Job [WBC], 254-55).
4 tn The refrain is repeated, except now the verb is תָּבוֹא (tavo’, “come”).
5 tn The vav on the verb is unexpressed in the LXX. It should not be overlooked, for it introduces a subordinate clause of condition (R. Gordis, Job, 310).
6 tn Heb “Abaddon.”
7 tn Heb “heard a report of it,” which means a report of its location, thus “where it can be found.”
8 tn Heb “from dust.”
9 tn The verb יָצוּק (yatsuq) is usually translated as a passive participle “is smelted” (from יָצַק [yatsaq, “to melt”]): “copper is smelted from the ore” (ESV) or “from the stone, copper is poured out” (as an imperfect from צוּק [tsuq]). But the rock becomes the metal in the process. So according to R. Gordis (Job, 304) the translation should be: “the rock is poured out as copper.” E. Dhorme (Job, 400), however, defines the form in the text as “hard,” and simply has it “hard stone becomes copper.”
10 sn The questions imply negative answers. Job is saying that it would take great strength to hold up under these afflictions, but he is only flesh and bone. The sufferings have almost completely overwhelmed him. To endure all of this to the end he would need a strength he does not have.
11 tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.
12 tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.
13 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
14 tn Heb “shines like.”
15 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
16 tn Grk “Therefore do not.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.
17 tn Or “concealed.”
18 sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice here and in the next verb see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known.
19 tn Grk “And he.”
20 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
21 tn Grk “and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
22 tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).