2 Corinthians 7:6

7:6 But God, who encourages ¹  the downhearted, encouraged ²  us by the arrival of Titus.

Job 5:17-19

5:17 “Therefore, ³  blessed ⁴  is the man whom God corrects, ⁵ 

so do not despise the discipline ⁶  of the Almighty. ⁷ 

5:18 For ⁸  he ⁹  wounds, ¹⁰  but he also bandages;

he strikes, but his hands also heal.

5:19 He will deliver you ¹¹  from six calamities;

yes, in seven ¹²  no evil will touch you.

Job 22:29

22:29 When people are brought low ¹³  and you say

‘Lift them up!’ ¹⁴ 

then he will save the downcast; ¹⁵ 

Psalms 37:24

37:24 Even if ¹⁶  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ¹⁷ 

for the Lord holds ¹⁸  his hand.

Psalms 42:5

42:5 Why are you depressed, ¹⁹  O my soul? ²⁰ 

Why are you upset? ²¹ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²² 

Psalms 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ²³  O my soul? ²⁴ 

Why are you upset? ²⁵ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 43:2

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ²⁷  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ²⁸  you.

[7:6]  ¹ tn Or “comforts,” “consoles.”

[7:6]  ² tn Or “comforted,” “consoled.”

[5:17]  ³ tn The particle “therefore” links this section to the preceding; it points this out as the logical consequence of the previous discussion, and more generally, as the essence of Job’s suffering.

[5:17]  ⁴ tn The word אַשְׁרֵי (’ashre, “blessed”) is often rendered “happy.” But “happy” relates to what happens. “Blessed” is a reference to the heavenly bliss of the one who is right with God.

[5:17]  ⁵ tn The construction is an implied relative clause. The literal rendering would simply be “the man God corrects him.” The suffix on the verb is a resumptive pronoun, completing the use of the relative clause. The verb יָכַח (yakhakh) is a legal term; it always has some sense of a charge, dispute, or conflict. Its usages show that it may describe a strife breaking out, a charge or quarrel in progress, or the settling of a dispute (Isa 1:18). The derived noun can mean “reproach; recrimination; charge” (13:6; 23:4). Here the emphasis is on the consequence of the charge brought, namely, the correction.

[5:17]  ⁶ tn The noun מוּסַר (musar) is parallel to the idea of the first colon. It means “discipline, correction” (from יָסַר, yasar). Prov 3:11 says almost the same thing as this line.

[5:17]  ⁷ sn The name Shaddai occurs 31 times in the book. This is its first occurrence. It is often rendered “Almighty” because of the LXX and some of the early fathers. The etymology and meaning of the word otherwise remains uncertain, in spite of attempts to connect it to “mountains” or “breasts.”

[5:18]  ⁸ sn Verses 18-23 give the reasons why someone should accept the chastening of God – the hand that wounds is the same hand that heals. But, of course, the lines do not apply to Job because his suffering is not due to divine chastening.

[5:18]  ⁹ tn The addition of the independent pronoun here makes the subject emphatic, as if to say, “For it is he who makes….”

[5:18]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbs in this verse describe the characteristic activities of God; the classification as habitual imperfect fits the idea and is to be rendered with the English present tense.

[5:19]  ¹¹ 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.

[5:19]  ¹² 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).

[22:29]  ¹³ tn There is no expressed subject here, and so the verb is taken as a passive voice again.

[22:29]  ¹⁴ tn The word גֵּוָה (gevah) means “loftiness; pride.” Here it simply says “up,” or “pride.” The rest is paraphrased. Of the many suggestions, the following provide a sampling: “It is because of pride” (ESV), “he abases pride” (H. H. Rowley); “[he abases] the lofty and the proud” (Beer); “[he abases] the word of pride” [Duhm]; “[he abases] the haughtiness of pride” [Fohrer and others]; “[he abases] the one who speaks proudly” [Weiser]; “[he abases] the one who boasts in pride” [Kissane]; and “God [abases] pride” [Budde, Gray].

[22:29]  ¹⁵ tn Or “humble”; Heb “the lowly of eyes.”

[37:24]  ¹⁶ tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ¹⁸ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[42:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:5]  ²⁰ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “and [why] are you in turmoil upon me?” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the descriptive present nuance of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

[42:5]  ²² tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of his face.” The verse division in the Hebrew text is incorrect. אֱלֹהַי (’elohay, “my God”) at the beginning of v. 7 belongs with the end of v. 6 (see the corresponding refrains in 42:11 and 43:5, both of which end with “my God” after “saving acts of my face”). The Hebrew term פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”) should be emended to פְּנֵי (pÿney, “face of”). The emended text reads, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention.

[42:11]  ²³ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ²⁴ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ²⁶ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[43:2]  ²⁷ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”