25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; 1
that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. 2
25:9 May he show 3 the humble what is right! 4
May he teach 5 the humble his way!
119:66 Teach me proper discernment 6 and understanding!
For I consider your commands to be reliable. 7
35:11 who teaches us 8 more than 9 the wild animals of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
2:6 For 10 the Lord gives 11 wisdom,
and from his mouth 12 comes 13 knowledge and understanding.
2:3 many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
so 14 he can teach us his requirements, 15
and 16 we can follow his standards.” 17
For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; 18
the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. 19
28:26 His God instructs him;
he teaches him the principles of agriculture. 20
54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,
and your children will enjoy great prosperity. 21
1 tn Heb “good and just.”
2 tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”
3 tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive; the psalmist expresses his prayer.
4 tn Heb “may he guide the humble into justice.” The Hebrew term עֲנָוִים (’anavim, “humble”) usually refers to the oppressed, but in this context, where the psalmist confesses his sin and asks for moral guidance, it apparently refers to sinners who humble themselves before God and seek deliverance from their sinful condition.
5 tn The prefixed verbal form is interpreted as a jussive (it stands parallel to the jussive form, “may he guide”).
6 tn Heb “goodness of taste.” Here “taste” refers to moral and ethical discernment.
7 tn Heb “for I believe in your commands.”
8 tn The form in the text, the Piel participle from אָלַף (’alaf, “teach”) is written in a contracted form; the full form is מְאַלְּפֵנוּ (mÿ’allÿfenu).
9 tn Some would render this “teaches us by the beasts.” But Elihu is stressing the unique privilege humans have.
10 tn This is a causal clause. The reason one must fear and know the
11 tn The verb is an imperfect tense which probably functions as a habitual imperfect describing a universal truth in the past, present and future.
12 sn This expression is an anthropomorphism; it indicates that the
13 tn The verb “comes” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
14 tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).
15 tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.
16 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.
17 tn Heb “walk in his ways.”
18 tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”
19 tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
20 tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”
21 tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”
22 sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.
23 tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”