8:34 Blessed is the one 1 who listens to me,
watching 2 at my doors day by day,
waiting 3 beside my doorway. 4
3:26 It is good to wait patiently 5
for deliverance from the Lord. 6
5:7 So be patient, brothers and sisters, 8 until the Lord’s return. 9 Think of how the farmer waits 10 for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient 11 for it until it receives the early and late rains.
1 tn Heb “the man.”
2 tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.
3 tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”
4 tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).
5 tn Heb “waiting and silently.” The two adjectives וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם (vÿyakhil vÿdumam, “waiting and silently”) form a hendiadys: The first functions verbally and the second functions adverbially: “to wait silently.” The adjective דוּמָם (dumam, “silently”) also functions as a metonymy of association, standing for patience or rest (HALOT 217 s.v.). This metonymical nuance is captured well in less literal English versions: “wait in patience” (TEV) and “wait patiently” (CEV, NJPS). The more literal English versions do not express the metonymy as well: “quietly wait” (KJV, NKJV, ASV), “waits silently” (NASB), “wait quietly” (RSV, NRSV, NIV).
6 tn Heb “deliverance of the
7 tn Or “perseverance.”
8 tn Grk “brothers”; this phrase occurs again three times in the paragraph. See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
9 tn Or “advent”; or “coming” (also in v. 8).
10 tn Grk “Behold! The farmer waits.”
11 tn Grk “being patient.”