5:8 Keep yourself 1 far 2 from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, 3
and like a bird from the trap 4 of the fowler.
11:14 if 9 iniquity is in your hand – put it far away, 10
and do not let evil reside in your tents.
22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; 11
if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,
33:15 The one who lives 12 uprightly 13
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe; 14
the one who does not plot violent crimes 15
and does not seek to harm others 16 –
5:1 Therefore, be 19 imitators of God as dearly loved children
5:22 20 Wives, submit 21 to your husbands as to the Lord,
1 tn Heb “your way.”
2 sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).
3 tn Heb “from the hand.” Most translations supply “of the hunter.” The word “hand” can signify power, control; so the meaning is that of a gazelle freeing itself from a snare or a trap that a hunter set.
4 tc Heb “hand” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV). Some
5 tn Or “stay away from,” or “have nothing to do with.”
6 tn Heb “a false matter,” this expression in this context would have to be a case in law that was false or that could only be won by falsehood.
7 tn The two clauses probably should be related: the getting involved in the false charge could lead to the death of an innocent person (so, e.g., Naboth in 1 Kgs 21:10-13).
8 sn God will not declare right the one who is in the wrong. Society should also be consistent, but it cannot see the intents and motives, as God can.
9 tn Verse 14 should be taken as a parenthesis and not a continuation of the protasis, because it does not fit with v. 13 in that way (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 256).
10 tn Many commentators follow the Vulgate and read the line “if you put away the sin that is in your hand.” They do this because the imperative comes between the protasis (v. 13) and the apodosis (v. 15) and does not appear to be clearly part of the protasis. The idea is close to the MT, but the MT is much more forceful – if you find sin in your hand, get rid of it.
11 tc The MT has “you will be built up” (תִּבָּנֶה, tibbaneh). But the LXX has “humble yourself” (reading תְּעַנֶּה [tÿ’anneh] apparently). Many commentators read this; Dahood has “you will be healed.”
12 tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).
13 tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”
14 tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”
15 tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”
16 tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”
17 tn The Greek conjunction καὶ (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”
18 tn Grk “rather even expose.”
19 tn Or “become.”
20 tn Many scholars regard Eph 5:21 as the verse which introduces this section, rather than 5:22. This is due in part to the lack of a main verb in this verse (see tc note which follows). This connection is not likely, however, because it requires the participle ὑποτασσόμενοι (Jupotassomenoi, “submitting”) in 5:21 to act as the main verb of the section, and this participle more likely is linked to the command “be filled by the Spirit” in 5:18 as a participle of result (see sn above). In any case, 5:21 does form a strong link between 5:18-21 and what follows, so the paragraph division which has been placed between 5:21 and 22 should not be viewed as a complete break in the author’s thought.
21 tc The witnesses for the shorter reading (in which the verb “submit” is only implied) are minimal (Ì46 B Cl Hiermss), but significant and early. The rest of the witnesses add one of two verb forms as required by the sense of the passage (picking up the verb from v. 21). Several of these witnesses have ὑποτασσέσθωσαν (Jupotassesqwsan), the third person imperative (so א A I P Ψ 0278 33 81 1175 1739 1881 al lat co), while other witnesses, especially the later Byzantine cursives, read ὑποτάσσεσθε (Jupotassesqe), the second person imperative (D F G Ï sy). The text virtually begs for one of these two verb forms, but the often cryptic style of Paul’s letters argues for the shorter reading. The chronology of development seems to have been no verb – third person imperative – second person imperative. It is not insignificant that early lectionaries began a new day’s reading with v. 22; these most likely caused copyists to add the verb at this juncture.