19:14 My kinsmen have failed me;
my friends 1 have forgotten me. 2
31:12 I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about; 3
I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar. 4
105:19 until the time when his prediction 5 came true.
The Lord’s word 6 proved him right. 7
9:15 However, a poor but wise man lived in the city, 8
and he could have delivered 9 the city by his wisdom,
but no one listened 10 to that poor man.
9:16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, 11
but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens 12 to his advice. 13
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, 14
and pour the very best oils on themselves. 15
Yet they are not concerned over 16 the ruin 17 of Joseph.
1 tn The Pual participle is used for those “known” to him, or with whom he is “familiar,” whereas קָרוֹב (qarov, “near”) is used for a relative.
2 tn Many commentators add the first part of v. 15 to this verse, because it is too loaded and this is too short. That gives the reading “My kinsmen and my familiar friends have disappeared, they have forgotten me (15) the guests I entertained.” There is not much support for this, nor is there much reason for it.
3 tn Heb “I am forgotten, like a dead man, from [the] heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the center of one’s thoughts.
4 tn Heb “I am like a broken jar.” One throws away a broken jar without a second thought because it is considered worthless and useless.
5 tn Heb “word,” probably referring to Joseph’s prediction about the fate of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (see Gen 41:9-14).
6 tn This line may refer to Joseph’s prediction of the famine in response to Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph emphasized to Pharaoh that the interpretation of the dream came from God (see Gen 41:16, 25, 28, 32, 39).
7 tn Heb “refined him.”
8 tn Heb “was found in it”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Or “he delivered.” The verb וּמִלַּט (umillat, from מָלַט, malat, “to deliver”) is functioning either in an indicative sense (past definite action: “he delivered”) or in a modal sense (past potential: “he could have delivered”). The literal meaning of זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) in the following line harmonizes with the indicative: “but no one remembered that poor man [afterward].” However, the modal is supported by v. 16: “A poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens to his advice.” This approach must nuance זָכַר (“to remember”) as “[no one] listened to [that poor man].” Most translations favor the indicative approach: “he delivered” or “he saved” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NAB, ASV, NASB, MLB, NIV); however, some adopt the modal nuance: “he might have saved” (NEB, NJPS, NASB margin).
10 tn Heb “remembered.”
11 tn Or “power.”
12 tn The participle form נִשְׁמָעִים (nishma’im, Niphal participle mpl from שָׁמַע, “to listen”) is used verbally to emphasize a continual, durative, gnomic action.
13 tn Heb “his words are never listened to.”
14 sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).
15 tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”
16 tn Or “not sickened by.”
17 sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.