9:24 If a land 1 has been given
into the hand of a wicked man, 2
he covers 3 the faces of its judges; 4
if it is not he, then who is it? 5
21:7 “Why do the wicked go on living, 6
grow old, 7 even increase in power?
21:8 Their children 8 are firmly established
in their presence, 9
their offspring before their eyes.
21:9 Their houses are safe 10 and without fear; 11
and no rod of punishment 12 from God is upon them. 13
21:10 Their bulls 14 breed 15 without fail; 16
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
21:11 They allow their children to run 17 like a flock;
their little ones dance about.
21:12 They sing 18 to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
21:13 They live out 19 their years in prosperity
and go down 20 to the grave 21 in peace.
21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to 22 know your ways. 23
21:15 Who is the Almighty, that 24 we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray 25 to him?’ 26
17:14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, 27
from the murderers of this world! 28
They enjoy prosperity; 29
you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. 30
They have many children,
and leave their wealth to their offspring. 31
By David.
37:1 Do not fret 33 when wicked men seem to succeed! 34
Do not envy evildoers!
37:35 I have seen ruthless evil men 35
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil. 36
73:11 They say, “How does God know what we do?
Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” 37
73:12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, 38
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. 39
5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, 40
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. 41
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. 42
1 tn Some would render this “earth,” meaning the whole earth, and having the verse be a general principle for all mankind. But Job may have in mind the more specific issue of individual land.
2 sn The details of the verse are not easy to explain, but the meaning of the whole verse seems to be about the miscarriage of justice in the courts and the failure of God to do anything about it.
3 tn The subject of the verb is God. The reasoning goes this way: it is the duty of judges to make sure that justice prevails, that restitution and restoration are carried through; but when the wicked gain control of the land of other people, and the judges are ineffective to stop it, then God must be veiling their eyes.
4 sn That these words are strong, if not wild, is undeniable. But Job is only taking the implications of his friends’ speeches to their logical conclusion – if God dispenses justice in the world, and there is no justice, then God is behind it all. The LXX omitted these words, perhaps out of reverence for God.
5 tn This seems to be a broken-off sentence (anacoluthon), and so is rather striking. The scribes transposed the words אֵפוֹא (’efo’) and הוּא (hu’) to make the smoother reading: “If it is not he, who then is it?”
6 sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 154) clarifies that Job’s question is of a universal scope. In the government of God, why do the wicked exist at all? The verb could be translated “continue to live.”
7 tn The verb עָתַק (’ataq) means “to move; to proceed; to advance.” Here it is “to advance in years” or “to grow old.” This clause could serve as an independent clause, a separate sentence; but it more likely continues the question of the first colon and is parallel to the verb “live.”
8 tn Heb “their seed.”
9 tn The text uses לִפְנֵיהֶם עִמָּם (lifnehem ’immam, “before them, with them”). Many editors think that these were alternative readings, and so omit one or the other. Dhorme moved עִמָּם (’immam) to the second half of the verse and emended it to read עֹמְדִים (’omÿdim, “abide”). Kissane and Gordis changed only the vowels and came up with עַמָּם (’ammam, “their kinfolk”). But Gordis thinks the presence of both of them in the line is evidence of a conflated reading (p. 229).
10 tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace, safety”) is here a substantive after a plural subject (see GKC 452 §141.c, n. 3).
11 tn The form מִפָּחַד (mippakhad) is translated “without fear,” literally “from fear”; the preposition is similar to the alpha privative in Greek. The word “fear, dread” means nothing that causes fear or dread – they are peaceful, secure. See GKC 382 §119.w.
12 tn Heb “no rod of God.” The words “punishment from” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor understandable for the modern reader by stating the purpose of the rod.
13 sn In 9:34 Job was complaining that there was no umpire to remove God’s rod from him, but here he observes no such rod is on the wicked.
14 tn Heb “his bull,” but it is meant to signify the bulls of the wicked.
15 tn The verb used here means “to impregnate,” and not to be confused with the verb עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”).
16 tn The use of the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) in this place is interesting. It means “to rebuke; to abhor; to loathe.” In the causative stem it means “to occasion impurity” or “to reject as loathsome.” The rabbinic interpretation is that it does not emit semen in vain, and so the meaning is it does not fail to breed (see E. Dhorme, Job, 311; R. Gordis, Job, 229).
17 tn The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to send forth,” but in the Piel “to release; to allow to run free.” The picture of children frolicking in the fields and singing and dancing is symbolic of peaceful, prosperous times.
18 tn The verb is simply “they take up [or lift up],” but the understood object is “their voices,” and so it means “they sing.”
19 tc The Kethib has “they wear out” but the Qere and the versions have יְכַלּוּ (yÿkhallu, “bring to an end”). The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to finish; to complete,” and here with the object “their days,” it means that they bring their life to a (successful) conclusion. Both readings are acceptable in the context, with very little difference in the overall meaning (which according to Gordis is proof the Qere does not always correct the Kethib).
20 tc The MT has יֵחָתּוּ (yekhattu, “they are frightened [or broken]”), taking the verb from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). But most would slightly repoint it to יֵחָתוּ (yekhatu), an Aramaism, “they go down,” from נָחַת (nakhat, “go down”). See Job 17:16.
21 tn The word רֶגַע (rega’) has been interpreted as “in a moment” or “in peace” (on the basis of Arabic raja`a, “return to rest”). Gordis thinks this is a case of talhin – both meanings present in the mind of the writer.
22 tn The absence of the preposition before the complement adds greater vividness to the statement: “and knowing your ways – we do not desire.”
23 sn Contrast Ps 25:4, which affirms that walking in God’s ways means to obey God’s will – the Torah.
24 tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”
25 tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.
26 tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.
27 tc Heb “from men [by] your hand,
28 tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”
29 tn Heb “their portion, in life.”
30 tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”
31 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”
32 sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
33 tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.
34 tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.
35 tn The Hebrew uses the representative singular again here.
36 tn Heb “being exposed [?] like a native, luxuriant.” The Hebrew form מִתְעָרֶה (mit’areh) appears to be a Hitpael participle from עָרָה (’arah, “be exposed”), but this makes no sense in this context. Perhaps the form is a dialectal variant of מִתְעָלָה (“giving oneself an air of importance”; see Jer 51:3), from עָלָה (’alah, “go up”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 296). The noun אֶזְרָח (’ezrakh, “native, full citizen”) refers elsewhere to people, but here, where it is collocated with “luxuriant, green,” it probably refers to a tree growing in native soil.
37 tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).
38 tn Heb “Look, these [are] the wicked.”
39 tn Heb “the ones who are always at ease [who] increase wealth.”
40 tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.
41 tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.
42 tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”