1 Kings 22:34

22:34 Now an archer shot an arrow at random, ¹  and it struck the king of Israel between the plates of his armor. The king ²  ordered his charioteer, “Turn around and take me from the battle line, ³  because I’m wounded.”

Job 20:23-25

20:23 “While he is ⁴  filling his belly,

God ⁵  sends his burning anger ⁶  against him,

and rains down his blows upon him. ⁷ 

20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,

then an arrow ⁸  from a bronze bow pierces him.

20:25 When he pulls it out ⁹  and it comes out of his back,

the gleaming point ¹⁰  out of his liver,

terrors come over him.

Psalms 50:22

50:22 Carefully consider this, you who reject God! ¹¹ 

Otherwise I will rip you to shreds ¹² 

and no one will be able to rescue you.

Proverbs 21:30

21:30 There is no wisdom and there is no understanding,

and there is no counsel against ¹³  the Lord. ¹⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 8:12-13

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ¹⁵  and still live a long time, ¹⁶ 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ¹⁷  – for they stand in fear ¹⁸  before him.

8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,

nor will they ¹⁹  prolong their ²⁰  days like a shadow, ²¹ 

because they ²²  do not stand in fear ²³  before God.

Ecclesiastes 8:1

Human Government Demonstrates Limitations of Wisdom

8:1 Who is ²⁴  a ²⁵  wise person? Who knows the solution ²⁶  to a problem? ²⁷ 

A person’s wisdom brightens his appearance, ²⁸  and softens ²⁹  his harsh countenance. ³⁰ 

Ecclesiastes 5:3

5:3 Just as dreams come when there are many cares, ³¹ 

so ³²  the rash vow ³³  of a fool occurs ³⁴  when there are many words.

[22:34]  ¹ tn Heb “now a man drew a bow in his innocence” (i.e., with no specific target in mind, or at least without realizing his target was the king of Israel).

[22:34]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:34]  ³ tn Heb “camp.”

[20:23]  ⁴ tn D. J. A. Clines observes that to do justice to the three jussives in the verse, one would have to translate “May it be, to fill his belly to the full, that God should send…and rain” (Job [WBC], 477). The jussive form of the verb at the beginning of the verse could also simply introduce a protasis of a conditional clause (see GKC 323 §109.h, i). This would mean, “if he [God] is about to fill his [the wicked’s] belly to the full, he will send….” The NIV reads “when he has filled his belly.” These fit better, because the context is talking about the wicked in his evil pursuit being cut down.

[20:23]  ⁵ tn “God” is understood as the subject of the judgment.

[20:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “the anger of his wrath.”

[20:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “rain down upon him, on his flesh.” Dhorme changes עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon him”) to “his arrows”; he translates the line as “he rains his arrows upon his flesh.” The word בִּלְחוּמוֹ (bilkhumo,“his flesh”) has been given a wide variety of translations: “as his food,” “on his flesh,” “upon him, his anger,” or “missiles or weapons of war.”

[20:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.

[20:25]  ⁹ tn The MT has “he draws out [or as a passive, “it is drawn out/forth”] and comes [or goes] out of his back.” For the first verb שָׁלַף (shalaf, “pull, draw”), many commentators follow the LXX and use שֶׁלַח (shelakh, “a spear”). It then reads “and a shaft comes out of his back,” a sword flash comes out of his liver.” But the verse could also be a continuation of the preceding.

[20:25]  ¹⁰ tn Possibly a reference to lightnings.

[50:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[you who] forget God.” “Forgetting God” here means forgetting about his commandments and not respecting his moral authority.

[50:22]  ¹² sn Elsewhere in the psalms this verb is used (within a metaphorical framework) of a lion tearing its prey (see Pss 7:2; 17:12; 22:13).

[21:30]  ¹³ tn The form לְנֶגֶד (lÿneged) means “against; over against; in opposition to.” The line indicates they cannot in reality be in opposition, for human wisdom is nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 232).

[21:30]  ¹⁴ sn The verse uses a single sentence to state that all wisdom, understanding, and advice must be in conformity to the will of God to be successful. It states it negatively – these things cannot be in defiance of God (e.g., Job 5:12-13; Isa 40:13-14).

[8:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

[8:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

[8:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

[8:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they fear.”

[8:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ²⁰ tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:13]  ²¹ tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.

[8:13]  ²² tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ²³ tn Heb “they do not fear.”

[8:1]  ²⁴ tn The preposition כְּ (kaf) prefixed to כְּהֶחָכָם (kÿhekhakham, “wise man”) is traditionally taken in a comparative sense: “Who is like [or as] the wise man?” On the other hand, it may denote identity, e.g., Gen 1:26; Num 11:1; 1 Sam 20:3; 2 Sam 9:8; Neh 7:2; Job 10:9; Nah 3:6 (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 47, §261; IBHS 202-4 §11.2.9b).

[8:1]  ²⁵ tn The definite article on הֶחָכָם (hekhakham, “wise man”) may be taken in an individualizing (“the wise man”) or generic sense (“a wise man”).

[8:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “the explanation.” The noun פֵּשֶׁר (pesher) denotes “solution; explanation; interpretation; meaning” (HALOT 982–83 s.v. פֵּשֶׁר; BDB 833 s.v. פֵּשֶׁר). The Hebrew term is an Aramaic loanword from פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “diagnosis; meaning; solution”). The Aramaic noun פְּשַׁר (pÿshar, “interpretation of a dream or prophecy”) and verb פְּשַׁר (pÿshar, “to interpret a dream or prophecy”) reflect a later meaning not present in Ecclesiastes, but current at the time of Daniel (Dan 2:5-7; 4:3, 15, 16; 5:12, 15, 16; 7:16) and Qumran (e.g., 1QpHab).

[8:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a thing.”

[8:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “makes his face shine.”

[8:1]  ²⁹ tc The MT vocalizes the consonantal form ישנא as יְשֻׁנֶּא (yÿshunne’, Pual imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from I שָׁנָה, shana, “to change”). However, the LXX μισθήσεται (misqhsetai) reflects an alternate vocalization tradition of יִשָּׂנֵא (yissane’, Niphal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from שָׂנֵא, sane’, “to hate”), while the Vulgate’s commutabit reflects יְשַׁנֶּה (yÿshanneh, Piel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from II שָׁנָה, shanah, “to repeat”).

[8:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the strength of his face is changed.” The expression עֹז פָּנָיו (’oz panayv, “strength of his face”) is an idiom for “boldness; impudence” (BDB 739 s.v. עֹז 4) or “hard face” = harsh countenance (HALOT 805 s.v. I עֹז 1.c).

[5:3]  ³¹ tn The term עִנְיַן (’inyan) means “business; affair; task; occupation” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן; BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן). HALOT nuances עִנְיַן בְּרֹב (bÿrov ‘inyan) as “excessive activity” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן). Here, it is used as a metonymy of cause (i.e., tasks) for effect (i.e., cares). The term is nuanced variously: (1) literal sense: “business” (KJV, ASV, YLT, NEB, RSV) and “effort” (NASB), and (2) metonymical: “cares” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), “concerns” (MLB, Douay), “worries” (Moffatt) and “brooding” (NJPS). The LXX mistakenly related עִנְיַן to the root II עָנַה (’anah) “to afflict,” and rendered it as πειρασμοῦ (peirasmou, “trial”).

[5:3]  ³² tn The juxtaposition of the two lines joined by vav (“just as…so…”) suggests a comparison (BDB 253 s.v. ו 1.j); see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §437.

[5:3]  ³³ tn Heb “voice.” The Hebrew term קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used as a metonymy of cause (i.e., voice) for the contents (i.e., the thing said), e.g., Gen 3:17; 4:23; Exod 3:18; 4:1, 9; Deut 1:45; 21:18, 20; 1 Sam 2:25; 8:7, 9; 2 Sam 12:18); see HALOT 1084 s.v. קוֹל 4.b; BDB 877 s.v. קוֹל 3.a; also E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 545–46. Contextually, this refers to a rash vow made by a fool who made a mistake in making it because he is unable to fulfill it.

[5:3]  ³⁴ tn The word “occurs” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.