5:24 And 1 you will know 2 that your home 3
will be secure, 4
and when you inspect 5 your domains,
you will not be missing 6 anything.
37:23 The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable. 7
37:24 Even if 8 he trips, he will not fall headlong, 9
for the Lord holds 10 his hand.
91:11 For he will order his angels 11
to protect you in all you do. 12
91:12 They will lift you up in their hands,
so you will not slip and fall on a stone. 13
94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
121:3 May he not allow your foot to slip!
May your protector 14 not sleep! 15
121:5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is the shade at your right hand.
121:8 The Lord will protect you in all you do, 16
now and forevermore.
16:9 A person 17 plans his course, 18
but the Lord directs 19 his steps. 20
16:1 The intentions of the heart 21 belong to a man, 22
but the answer of the tongue 23 comes from 24 the Lord. 25
1:5 (Let the wise also 26 hear 27 and gain 28 instruction,
and let the discerning 29 acquire 30 guidance! 31 )
1 sn Verses 19-23 described the immunity from evil and trouble that Job would enjoy – if he were restored to peace with God. Now, v. 24 describes the safety and peace of the homestead and his possessions if he were right with God.
2 tn The verb is again the perfect, but in sequence to the previous structure so that it is rendered as a future. This would be the case if Job were right with God.
3 tn Heb “tent.”
4 tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) means “peace; safety; security; wholeness.” The same use appears in 1 Sam 25:6; 2 Sam 20:9.
5 tn The verb is פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”). The idea here is “to gather together; to look over; to investigate,” or possibly even “to number” as it is used in the book of Numbers. The verb is the perfect with the vav consecutive; it may be subordinated to the imperfect verb that follows to form a temporal clause.
6 tn The verb is usually rendered “to sin”; but in this context the more specific primary meaning of “to miss the mark” or “to fail to find something.” Neither Job’s tent nor his possessions will be lost.
7 tn Heb “from the
8 tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).
9 tn Heb “be hurled down.”
10 tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.
11 tn Heb “for his angels he will command concerning you.”
12 tn Heb “in all your ways.”
13 tn Heb “so your foot will not strike a stone.”
14 tn Heb “the one who guards you.”
15 tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle אל appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 §109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one should probably translate, “he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,” and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.
16 tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.”
17 tn Heb “the heart of a man.” This stresses that it is within the heart that plans are made. Only those plans that are approved by God will succeed.
18 tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).
19 tn The verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish; to confirm”) with צַעַד (tsa’ad, “step”) means “to direct” (e.g., Ps 119:133; Jer 10:23). This contrasts what people plan and what actually happens – God determines the latter.
20 sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.
21 tn Heb “plans of the heart” (so ASV, NASB, NIV). The phrase מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב (ma’arkhe-lev) means “the arrangements of the mind.”
22 tn Heb “[are] to a man.”
23 tn Here “the tongue” is a metonymy of cause in which the instrument of speech is put for what is said: the answer expressed.
24 sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas – the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the
25 sn There are two ways this statement can be taken: (1) what one intends to say and what one actually says are the same, or (2) what one actually says differs from what the person intended to say. The second view fits the contrast better. The proverb then is giving a glimpse of how God even confounds the wise. When someone is trying to speak [“answer” in the book seems to refer to a verbal answer] before others, the
26 tn The term “also” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
27 tn The verb יִשְׁמַע (yishma’) functions as a jussive of advice or counsel (“Let him hear!”) rather than a customary imperfect (“he will hear”). The jussive is supported by the parallelism with the following Hiphil jussive וְיוֹסֶף (vÿyosef, “Let him add!”).
28 tn Heb “add.”
29 tn The Niphal substantival participle נָבוֹן (navon, “discerning”), rather than the noun, is used to describe a person who is habitually characterized by discernment. 1:5 forms a striking contrast to 1:4 – there was the simpleton and the youth, here the wise and discerning. Both need this book.
30 tn The Hiphil verb וְיוֹסֶף (vÿyosef) is a jussive rather than an imperfect as the final short vowel (segol) and accent on the first syllable shows (BDB 415 s.v. יָסַף Hiph).
31 tn The noun תַּחְבֻּלָה (takhbulah, “direction; counsel”) refers to moral guidance (BDB 287 s.v.). It is related to חֹבֵל (khovel, “sailor”), חִבֵּל (khibel, “mast”) and חֶבֶל (khevel, “rope; cord”), so BDB suggests it originally meant directing a ship by pulling ropes on the mast. It is used in a concrete sense of God directing the path of clouds (Job 37:12) and in a figurative sense of moral guidance (Prov 11:14; 20:18; 24:6). Here it refers to the ability to steer a right course through life (A. Cohen, Proverbs, 2).