37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day 1
and they possess a permanent inheritance. 2
37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; 3
when famine comes they will have enough to eat. 4
37:20 But 5 evil men will die;
the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated 6 –
they will go up in smoke. 7
37:21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous. 8
37:22 Surely 9 those favored by the Lord 10 will possess the land,
but those rejected 11 by him will be wiped out. 12
37:23 The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable. 13
37:24 Even if 14 he trips, he will not fall headlong, 15
for the Lord holds 16 his hand.
For the music director, a psalm of David.
139:1 O Lord, you examine me 18 and know.
139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, 19
you watch my footsteps. 20
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; 21
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. 22
1:7 The Lord is good 23 –
indeed, 24 he is a fortress 25 in time of distress, 26
and he protects 27 those who seek refuge 28 in him.
10:14 “I am the good shepherd. I 29 know my own 30 and my own know me –
1 tn Heb “the
2 tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”
3 tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”
4 tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”
5 tn Or “for,” but Hebrew כי in this case would have to extend all the way back to v. 17a. Another option is to understand the particle as asseverative, “surely” (see v. 22).
6 tc The meaning of the MT (כִּיקַר כָּרִים [kiqar karim], “like what is precious among the pastures/rams”) is uncertain. One possibility is to take the noun כָּרִים as “pastures” and interpret “what is precious” as referring to flowers that blossom but then quickly disappear (see v. 2 and BDB 430 s.v. יָקָר 3). If כָּרִים is taken as “rams,” then “what is precious” might refer to the choicest portions of rams. The present translation follows a reading in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpPs37), כיקוד כורם (“like the burning of an oven”). The next line, which pictures the
7 tn Heb “they perish in smoke, they perish.” In addition to repeating the verb for emphasis, the psalmist uses the perfect form of the verb to picture the enemies’ demise as if it had already taken place. In this way he draws attention to the certitude of their judgment.
8 tn Heb “an evil [man] borrows and does not repay; but a godly [man] is gracious and gives.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The three active participles and one imperfect (“repay”) draw attention to the characteristic behavior of the two types.
9 tn The particle כִּי is best understood as asseverative or emphatic here.
10 tn Heb “those blessed by him.” The pronoun “him” must refer to the Lord (see vv. 20, 23), so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “cursed.”
12 tn Or “cut off”; or “removed” (see v. 9).
13 tn Heb “from the
14 tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).
15 tn Heb “be hurled down.”
16 tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.
17 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.
18 tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.
19 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
20 tn Heb “you know my path.”
21 tn The expression דֶּרֶךְ עִמָּדִי (derekh ’immadi) means “the way with me,” i.e., “the way that I take.” The Syriac has “my way and my standing.” Several commentators prefer “the way of my standing,” meaning where to look for me. J. Reider offers “the way of my life” (“Some notes to the text of the scriptures,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 115). Whatever the precise wording, Job knows that God can always find him.
22 tn There is a perfect verb followed by an imperfect in this clause with the protasis and apodosis relationship (see GKC 493 §159.b).
23 tn The Masoretic disjunctive accent marker (zaqeph parvum) divides the lines here. Most English versions reflect this line division (KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NKJV). Some extend the line: “Yahweh is better than a fortress” (NJB); “The
24 tn The preposition לְ (lamed) probably functions in an emphatic asseverative sense, suggested by D. L. Christensen, “The Acrostic of Nahum Reconsidered,” ZAW 87 (1975): 22. This explains the preceding statement: the
25 tc Some ancient versions read, “The
26 sn The phrase “time of distress” (בְּיוֹם צָרָה) refers to situations in which God’s people are oppressed by enemy armies (Isa 33:2; Jer 14:8; 15:11; 16:19; Obad 12; Pss 20:2; 37:39). Nahum may be alluding to recent Assyrian invasions of Judah, such as Sennacherib’s devastating invasion in 701
27 tn Heb “he knows” or “he recognizes.” The basic meaning of the verb יָדַע (yada’) is “to know,” but it may denote “to take care of someone” or “to protect” (HALOT 391 s.v.; see Gen 39:6; Job 9:21; Ps 31:8). Most English versions render it as “know” here (KJV, RSV, NASB, NKJV) but at least two recognize the nuance “protect” (NRSV, NIV [which reads “cares for”]). It often refers to God protecting and caring for his people (2 Sam 7:20; Ps 144:3). When the subject is a king (suzerain) and the object is a servant (vassal), it often has covenantal overtones. In several ancient Near Eastern languages this term depicts the king (suzerain) recognizing his treaty obligation to protect and rescue his servant (vassal) from its enemies. For example, a letter from Abdi-Ashirta governor of Ammuru to the Egyptian king Amenophis III ends with a plea for protection from the raids of the Mittani: “May the king my lord know [= protect] me” (yi-da-an-ni; EA 60:30-32). Similarly, in the treaty between Muwattallis and Alaksandus, the Hittite suzerain assures his vassal that in case he was attacked, “As he is an enemy of you, even so he is an enemy to the Sun; I the Sun, will know [= “protect”] only you, Alaksandus” (see H. B. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew YADA`,” BASOR 181 (1966): 31-37; idem, “A Further Note on the Treaty Background of Hebrew YADA`,” BASOR 184 (1966): 36-38.
28 tn Or “those who trust in him” (NIV); NAB “those who have recourse to him.”
29 tn Grk “And I.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
30 tn The direct object is frequently omitted in Greek and must be supplied from the context. Here it could be “sheep,” but Jesus was ultimately talking about “people.”
31 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
32 tn The imperative here is really more than a simple conditional imperative (= “if you destroy”); its semantic force here is more like the ironical imperative found in the prophets (Amos 4:4, Isa 8:9) = “Go ahead and do this and see what happens.”