1 Kings 8:39

8:39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, ¹  and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives. ²  (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) ³ 

1 Kings 8:1

Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple

8:1 ⁴ Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem ⁵  Israel’s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion). ⁶ 

1 Kings 1:9

1:9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened steers at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, ⁷  as well as all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.

1 Kings 1:2

1:2 His servants advised ⁸  him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, ⁹  to take care of the king’s needs ¹⁰  and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you ¹¹  and keep our master, the king, warm.” ¹² 

1 Kings 16:9

16:9 His servant Zimri, a commander of half of his chariot force, conspired against him. While Elah was drinking heavily ¹³  at the house of Arza, who supervised the palace in Tirzah,

Psalms 7:9

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ¹⁴  come to an end! ¹⁵ 

But make the innocent ¹⁶  secure, ¹⁷ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ¹⁸  inner thoughts and motives! ¹⁹ 

Psalms 139:2

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

Proverbs 15:11

15:11 Death and Destruction ²⁰  are before the Lord –

how much more ²¹  the hearts of humans! ²² 

Proverbs 16:2

16:2 All a person’s ways ²³  seem right ²⁴  in his own opinion, ²⁵ 

but the Lord evaluates ²⁶  the motives. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ²⁸ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ²⁹  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ³⁰ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ³¹ 

Jeremiah 17:10

17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.

I examine people’s hearts. ³² 

I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.

I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.

Jeremiah 20:12

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, ³³  you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds. ³⁴ 

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

Acts 1:24

1:24 Then they prayed, ³⁵  “Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen

Hebrews 4:13

4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ³⁶  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Revelation 2:23

2:23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers ³⁷  with a deadly disease, ³⁸  and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay ³⁹  each one of you ⁴⁰  what your deeds deserve. ⁴¹ 

[8:39]  ¹ tn The words “their sin” are added for clarification.

[8:39]  ² tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 37-39a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.

[8:39]  ³ tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”

[8:1]  ⁴ tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words at the beginning of ch. 8: “It so happened that when Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his own house, after twenty years.”

[8:1]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to King Solomon [in] Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David (it is Zion).”

[1:9]  ⁷ tc The ancient Greek version omits this appositional phrase.

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “said to.”

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.

[1:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”

[16:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “while he was drinking and drunken.”

[7:9]  ¹⁴ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.

[7:9]  ¹⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ¹⁸ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[15:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Sheol and Abaddon” (שְׁאוֹל וַאֲבַדּוֹן (shÿ’ol va’adon); so ASV, NASB, NRSV; cf. KJV “Hell and destruction”; NAB “the nether world and the abyss.” These terms represent the remote underworld and all the mighty powers that reside there (e.g., Prov 27:20; Job 26:6; Ps 139:8; Amos 9:2; Rev 9:11). The Lord knows everything about this remote region.

[15:11]  ²¹ tn The construction אַף כִּי (’af ki, “how much more!”) introduces an argument from the lesser to the greater: If all this is open before the Lord, how much more so human hearts. “Hearts” here is a metonymy of subject, meaning the motives and thoughts (cf. NCV “the thoughts of the living”).

[15:11]  ²² tn Heb “the hearts of the sons of man,” although here “sons of man” simply means “men” or “human beings.”

[16:2]  ²³ tn Heb “ways of a man.”

[16:2]  ²⁴ sn The Hebrew term translated “right” (z~E) means “innocent” (NIV) or “pure” (NAB, NRSV, NLT). It is used in the Bible for pure oils or undiluted liquids; here it means unmixed actions. Therefore on the one hand people rather naively conclude that their actions are fine.

[16:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in his eyes.”

[16:2]  ²⁶ tn The figure (a hypocatastasis) of “weighing” signifies “evaluation” (e.g., Exod 5:8; 1 Sam 2:3; 16:7; Prov 21:2; 24:12). There may be an allusion to the Egyptian belief of weighing the heart after death to determine righteousness. But in Hebrew thought it is an ongoing evaluation as well, not merely an evaluation after death.

[16:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “spirits” (so KJV, ASV). This is a metonymy for the motives, the intentions of the heart (e.g., 21:2 and 24:2).

[11:20]  ²⁸ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[17:10]  ³² 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.

[20:12]  ³³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[20:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Lord of armies, the one who tests the righteous, who sees kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[1:24]  ³⁵ tn Grk “And praying, they said.” 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.

[4:13]  ³⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ³⁷ tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.

[2:23]  ³⁸ 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).

[2:23]  ³⁹ tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”

[2:23]  ⁴⁰ sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.

[2:23]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”