Psalms 37:3

37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! ¹ 

Psalms 37:19

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; ² 

when famine comes they will have enough to eat. ³ 

Job 5:19-22

5:19 He will deliver you ⁴  from six calamities;

yes, in seven ⁵  no evil will touch you.

5:20 In time of famine ⁶  he will redeem you from death,

and in time of war from the power of the sword. ⁷ 

5:21 You will be protected ⁸  from malicious gossip, ⁹ 

and will not be afraid of the destruction ¹⁰  when it comes.

5:22 You will laugh at destruction and famine ¹¹ 

and need not ¹²  be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

Proverbs 10:3

10:3 The Lord satisfies ¹³  the appetite ¹⁴  of the righteous,

but he thwarts ¹⁵  the craving ¹⁶  of the wicked.

Isaiah 33:16

33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; ¹⁷ 

he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; ¹⁸ 

he will have food

and a constant supply of water.

Matthew 6:31-33

6:31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 6:32 For the unconverted ¹⁹  pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom ²⁰  and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

¹ tn Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (ra’ah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

² tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

³ tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”

⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect of נָצַל (natsal, “deliver”). These verbs might have been treated as habitual imperfects if it were not for the use of the numerical images – “six calamities…in seven.” So the nuance is specific future instead.

⁵ tn The use of a numerical ladder as we have here – “six // seven” is frequent in wisdom literature to show completeness. See Prov 6:16; Amos 1:3, Mic 5:5. A number that seems to be sufficient for the point is increased by one, as if to say there is always one more. By using this Eliphaz simply means “in all troubles” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 56).

⁶ sn Targum Job here sees an allusion to the famine of Egypt and the war with Amalek.

⁷ tn Heb “from the hand of the sword.” This is idiomatic for “the power of the sword.” The expression is also metonymical, meaning from the effect of the sword, which is death.

⁸ tn The Hebrew verb essentially means “you will be hidden.” In the Niphal the verb means “to be hidden, to be in a hiding place,” and protected (Ps 31:20).

⁹ tn Heb “from the lash [i.e., whip] of the tongue.” Sir 26:9 and 51:2 show usages of these kinds of expressions: “the lash of the tongue” or “the blow of the tongue.” The expression indicates that a malicious gossip is more painful than a blow.

¹⁰ tn The word here is שׁוֹד (shod); it means “destruction,” but some commentators conjecture alternate readings: שׁוֹאָה (sho’ah, “desolation”); or שֵׁד (shed, “demon”). One argument for maintaining שׁוֹד (shod) is that it fits the assonance within the verse שׁוֹד…לָשׁוֹן…שׁוֹט (shot…lashon…shod).

¹¹ tc The repetition of “destruction” and “famine” here has prompted some scholars to delete the whole verse. Others try to emend the text. The LXX renders them as “the unrighteous and the lawless.” But there is no difficulty in having the repetition of the words as found in the MT.

¹² tn The negated jussive is used here to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen (GKC 322 §109.e).

¹³ tn Heb “does not allow…to go hungry.” The expression “The Lord does not allow the appetite of the righteous to go hungry” is an example of tapeinosis – a figurative expression stated in the negative to emphasize the positive: The Lord satisfies the appetite of the righteous.

¹⁴ tn The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) means “soul” but its root meaning is “throat” and it has a broad range of meanings; here it denotes “appetite” (BDB 660 s.v. 5.a; see, e.g., Pss 63:6; 107:9; Prov 27:7; Isa 56:11; 58:10; Jer 50:19; Ezek 7:19). The term could denote “desire” (BDB 660 s.v. 6.a) which would include the inner urge for success. By contrast, the wicked live unfulfilled lives – as far as spiritual values are concerned.

¹⁵ tn Heb “thrusts away” (cf. ASV, NASB); NLT “refuses to satisfy.” The verb הָדַף (hadaf) means “to thrust away; to push; to drive,” either to depose or reject (BDB 213 s.v.).

¹⁶ tn This verse contrasts the “appetite” of the righteous with the “craving” of the wicked. This word הַוַּה (havvah, “craving”) means “desire” often in a bad sense, as ‘the desire of the wicked,” which could not be wholesome (Ps 52:9).

¹⁷ tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”

¹⁹ tn Or “unbelievers”; Grk “Gentiles.”

²⁰ tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.