44:20 If we had rejected our God, 1
and spread out our hands in prayer to another god, 2
44:21 would not God discover it,
for he knows 3 one’s thoughts? 4
90:8 You are aware of our sins; 5
you even know about our hidden sins. 6
For the music director, a psalm of David.
139:1 O Lord, you examine me 8 and know.
139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; 9
you are aware of everything I do. 10
139:4 Certainly 11 my tongue does not frame a word
without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. 12
17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.
I examine people’s hearts. 13
I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.
I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 14
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 15
the Lord asks. 16
1 tn Heb “If we had forgotten the name of our God.” To “forget the name” here refers to rejecting the
2 tn Heb “and spread out your hands to another god.” Spreading out the hands was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). In its most fundamental sense זר (“another; foreign; strange”) refers to something that is outside one’s circle, often making association with it inappropriate. A “strange” god is an alien deity, an “outside god” (see L. A. Snijders, TDOT 4:54-55).
3 tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.
4 tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.
5 tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”
6 tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.
7 sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.
8 tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.
9 tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).
10 tn Heb “all my ways.”
11 tn Or “for.”
12 tn Heb “look, O
13 tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will and the “kidneys” the center of emotions.
14 tn Heb “Oracle of the
15 tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “Oracle of the
17 tn Grk “all.” The word “people” has been supplied for clarity, since the Greek word πάντας (pantas) is masculine plural (thus indicating people rather than things).
18 tn The masculine form has been retained here in the translation to maintain the connection with “a man of the Pharisees” in 3:1, with the understanding that the reference is to people of both genders.
19 tn See previous note on “man” in this verse.
20 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.
22 tn Or “was sad.”
23 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Grk “said to.”
25 tn Grk “and said to him.” The words “to him” are clear from the context and slightly redundant in English.
26 tc ‡ Most witnesses, especially later ones (A Θ Ψ Ë13 Ï), read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while B C have ᾿Ιησοῦς without the article and א D W Ë1 33 565 al lat lack both. Because of the rapid verbal exchange in this pericope, “Jesus” is virtually required for clarity, providing a temptation to scribes to add the name. Further, the name normally occurs with the article. Although it is possible that B C accidentally omitted the article with the name, it is just as likely that they added the simple name to the text for clarity’s sake, while other witnesses added the article as well. The omission of ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς thus seems most likely to be authentic. NA27 includes the words in brackets, indicating some doubts as to their authenticity.
27 tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”
28 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.
30 tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).
31 tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”
32 sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.
33 tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”