4:12 “Now a word was secretly 1 brought 2 to me,
and my ear caught 3 a whisper 4 of it.
5:27 Look, we have investigated this, so it is true.
Hear it, 5 and apply it for your own 6 good.” 7
8:8 “For inquire now of the former 8 generation,
and pay attention 9 to the findings 10
of their ancestors; 11
8:9 For we were born yesterday 12 and do not have knowledge,
since our days on earth are but a shadow. 13
8:10 Will they not 14 instruct you and 15 speak to you,
and bring forth words 16
from their understanding? 17
15:17 “I will explain to you;
listen to me,
and what 18 I have seen, I will declare, 19
15:18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of 20 their ancestors, 21
78:3 What we have heard and learned 22 –
that which our ancestors 23 have told us –
78:4 we will not hide from their 24 descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, 25
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
A well-written song 27 by Asaph.
78:1 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction!
Listen to the words I speak! 28
1:3 He is like 29 a tree planted by flowing streams; 30
it 31 yields 32 its fruit at the proper time, 33
and its leaves never fall off. 34
He succeeds in everything he attempts. 35
1 tn The LXX of this verse offers special problems. It reads, “But if there had been any truth in your words, none of these evils would have fallen upon you; shall not my ear receive excellent [information] from him?” The major error involves a dittography from the word for “secret,” yielding “truth.”
2 tn The verb גָּנַב (ganav) means “to steal.” The Pual form in this verse is probably to be taken as a preterite since it requires a past tense translation: “it was stolen for me” meaning it was brought to me stealthily (see 2 Sam 19:3).
3 tn Heb “received.”
4 tn The word שֵׁמֶץ (shemets, “whisper”) is found only here and in Job 26:14. A cognate form שִׁמְצָה (shimtsah) is found in Exod 32:25 with the sense of “a whisper.” In postbiblical Hebrew the word comes to mean “a little.” The point is that Eliphaz caught just a bit, just a whisper of it, and will recount it to Job.
5 tn To make a better parallelism, some commentators have replaced the imperative with another finite verb, “we have found it.”
6 tn The preposition with the suffix (referred to as the ethical dative) strengthens the imperative. An emphatic personal pronoun also precedes the imperative. The resulting force would be something like “and you had better apply it for your own good!”
7 sn With this the speech by Eliphaz comes to a close. His two mistakes with it are: (1) that the tone was too cold and (2) the argument did not fit Job’s case (see further, A. B. Davidson, Job, 42).
8 sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.
9 tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).
10 tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).
11 tn Heb “fathers.”
12 tn The Hebrew has “we are of yesterday,” the adverb functioning as a predicate. Bildad’s point is that they have not had time to acquire great knowledge because they are recent.
13 tn E. Dhorme (Job, 116) observes that the shadow is the symbol of ephemeral things (14:2; 17:7; Ps 144:4). The shadow passes away quickly (116).
14 tn The sentence begins emphatically: “Is it not they.”
15 tn The “and” is not present in the line. The second clause seems to be in apposition to the first, explaining it more thoroughly: “Is it not they [who] will instruct you, [who] will speak to you.”
16 tn The noun may have been left indeterminate for the sake of emphasis (GKC 401-2 §125.c), meaning “important words.”
17 tn Heb “from their heart.”
18 tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here as a nominative, to introduce an independent relative clause (see GKC 447 §138.h).
19 tn Here the vav (ו) apodosis follows with the cohortative (see GKC 458 §143.d).
20 tn The word “tradition” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.
21 tn Heb “their fathers.” Some commentators change one letter and follow the reading of the LXX: “and their fathers have not hidden.” Pope tries to get the same reading by classifying the מ (mem) as an enclitic mem. The MT on first glance would read “and did not hide from their fathers.” Some take the clause “and they did not hide” as adverbial and belonging to the first part of the verse: “what wise men declare, hiding nothing, according to the tradition of their fathers.”
22 tn Or “known.”
23 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 5, 8, 12, 57).
24 tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).
25 tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the
26 sn Psalm 78. The author of this lengthy didactic psalm rehearses Israel’s history. He praises God for his power, goodness and patience, but also reminds his audience that sin angers God and prompts his judgment. In the conclusion to the psalm the author elevates Jerusalem as God’s chosen city and David as his chosen king.
27 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 74.
28 tn Heb “Turn your ear to the words of my mouth.”
29 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same characteristic force as the imperfect in the preceding verse. According to the psalmist, the one who studies and obeys God’s commands typically prospers.
30 tn Heb “channels of water.”
31 tn Heb “which.”
32 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the typical nature of the actions/states they describe.
33 tn Heb “in its season.”
34 tn Or “fade”; “wither.”
35 tn Heb “and all which he does prospers”; or “and all which he does he causes to prosper.” (The simile of the tree does not extend to this line.) It is not certain if the Hiphil verbal form (יַצְלִיחַ, yatsliakh) is intransitive-exhibitive (“prospers”) or causative (“causes to prosper”) here. If the verb is intransitive, then כֹּל (kol, “all, everything”) is the subject. If the verb is causative, then the godly individual or the Lord himself is the subject and כֹּל is the object. The wording is reminiscent of Josh 1:8, where the Lord tells Joshua: “This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper (literally, “cause your way to prosper”) and be successful.”