36:5 Indeed, God is mighty; and he does not despise people, 1
he 2 is mighty, and firm 3 in his intent. 4
36:13 The godless at heart 5 nourish anger, 6
they do not cry out even when he binds them.
37:24 Therefore people fear him,
for he does not regard all the wise in heart.” 7
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth 8
of their understanding; 9
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste. 10
1 tn The object “people” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
2 tn The text simply repeats “mighty.”
3 tn The last two words are simply כֹּחַ לֵב (koakh lev, “strong in heart”), meaning something like “strong; firm in his decisions.”
4 tc There are several problems in this verse: the repetition of “mighty,” the lack of an object for “despise,” and the meaning of “strength of heart.” Many commentators reduce the verse to a single line, reading something like “Lo, God does not reject the pure in heart” (Kissane). Dhorme and Pope follow Nichols with: “Lo, God is mighty in strength, and rejects not the pure in heart.” This reading moved “mighty” to the first line and took the second to be בַּר (bar, “pure”).
5 tn The expression “godless [or hypocrite] in heart” is an intensification of the description. It conveys that they are intentionally godless. See Matt 23:28.
6 tn Heb “they put anger.” This is usually interpreted to mean they lay up anger, or put anger in their hearts.
9 sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.
13 tn Heb “the heads of the people of the earth.”
14 tn Heb “heart.”
15 tn The text has בְּתֹהוּ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (bÿtohu lo’ darekh): “in waste – no way,” or “in a wasteland [where there is] no way,” thus, “trackless” (see the discussion of negative attributes using לֹא [lo’] in GKC 482 §152.u).