2 Samuel 16:23

16:23 In those days Ahithophel’s advice was considered as valuable as a prophetic revelation. ¹  Both David and Absalom highly regarded the advice of Ahithophel. ² 

2 Samuel 17:14

17:14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel.” Now the Lord had decided ³  to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:23

17:23 When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and returned to his house in his hometown. After setting his household in order, he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the grave ⁴  of his father.

Job 5:12

5:12 He frustrates ⁵  the plans ⁶  of the crafty ⁷ 

so that ⁸  their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned! ⁹ 

Job 12:16-20

12:16 With him are strength and prudence; ¹⁰ 

both the one who goes astray ¹¹ 

and the one who misleads are his.

12:17 He ¹²  leads ¹³  counselors away stripped ¹⁴ 

and makes judges ¹⁵  into fools. ¹⁶ 

12:18 He loosens ¹⁷  the bonds ¹⁸  of kings

and binds a loincloth ¹⁹  around their waist.

12:19 He leads priests away stripped ²⁰ 

and overthrows ²¹  the potentates. ²² 

12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers ²³  of speech ²⁴ 

and takes away the discernment ²⁵  of elders.

Isaiah 19:3

19:3 The Egyptians will panic, ²⁶ 

and I will confuse their strategy. ²⁷ 

They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,

from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 19:11-25

19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; ²⁹ 

Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.

How dare you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the sages,

one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” ³⁰ 

19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? ³¹ 

Let them tell you, let them find out

what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,

the officials of Memphis ³²  are misled;

the rulers ³³  of her tribes lead Egypt astray.

19:14 The Lord has made them undiscerning; ³⁴ 

they lead Egypt astray in all she does,

so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. ³⁵ 

19:15 Egypt will not be able to do a thing,

head or tail, shoots and stalk. ³⁶ 

19:16 At that time ³⁷  the Egyptians ³⁸  will be like women. ³⁹  They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them. ⁴⁰  19:17 The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them. ⁴¹ 

19:18 At that time five cities ⁴²  in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. ⁴³  19:19 At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar ⁴⁴  dedicated to the Lord at its border. 19:20 It ⁴⁵  will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of ⁴⁶  the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender ⁴⁷  who will rescue them. 19:21 The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they ⁴⁸  will acknowledge the Lord’s authority ⁴⁹  at that time. ⁵⁰  They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. 19:22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord and he will listen to their prayers ⁵¹  and heal them.

19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. ⁵²  19:24 At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing ⁵³  in the earth. ⁵⁴  19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ⁵⁵  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ⁵⁶  Israel!”

Jeremiah 8:8-9

8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!

We have the law of the Lord”?

The truth is, ⁵⁷  those who teach it ⁵⁸  have used their writings

to make it say what it does not really mean. ⁵⁹ 

8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.

They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ⁶⁰ 

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what wisdom do they really have?

Jeremiah 8:1

8:1 The Lord says, “When that time comes, ⁶¹  the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves.

Colossians 1:20

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ⁶²  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Colossians 3:18-20

Exhortation to Households

3:18 Wives, submit to your ⁶³  husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.

James 3:15

3:15 Such ⁶⁴  wisdom does not come ⁶⁵  from above but is earthly, natural, ⁶⁶  demonic.

[16:23]  ¹ tn Heb “And the advice of Ahithophel which he advised in those days was as when one inquires of the word of God.”

[16:23]  ² tn Heb “So was all the advice of Ahithophel, also to David, also to Absalom.”

[17:14]  ³ tn Heb “commanded.”

[17:23]  ⁴ tc The Greek recensions of Origen and Lucian have here “house” for “grave.”

[5:12]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil form מֵפֵר (mefer) is the participle from פָּרַר (parar, “to annul; to frustrate; to break”). It continues the doxological descriptions of God; but because of the numerous verses in this section, it may be clearer to start a new sentence with this form (rather than translating it “who…”).

[5:12]  ⁶ tn The word is related to the verb “to think; to plan; to devise,” and so can mean “thoughts; plans; imagination.” Here it refers to the plan of the crafty that must be frustrated (see also Isa 44:25 for the contrast).

[5:12]  ⁷ tn The word עֲרוּמִים (’arumim) means “crafty” or “shrewd.” It describes the shrewdness of some to achieve their ends (see Gen 3:1, where the serpent is more cunning than all the creatures, that is, he knows where the dangers are and will attempt to bring down the innocent). In the next verse it describes the clever plans of the wise – those who are wise in their own sight.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn The consecutive clause showing result or purpose is simply introduced with the vav and the imperfect/jussive (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[5:12]  ⁹ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is a technical word from wisdom literature. It has either the idea of the faculty of foresight, or of prudence in general (see 12:6; 26:3). It can be parallel in the texts to “wisdom,” “counsel,” “help,” or “strength.” Here it refers to what has been planned ahead of time.

[12:16]  ¹⁰ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is here rendered “prudence.” Some object that God’s power is intended here, and so a word for power and not wisdom should be included. But v. 13 mentioned wisdom. The point is that it is God’s efficient wisdom that leads to success. One could interpret this as a metonymy of cause, the intended meaning being victory or success.

[12:16]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text uses a wordplay here: שֹׁגֵג (shogeg) is “the one going astray,” i.e., the one who is unable to guard and guide his life. The second word is מַשְׁגֶּה (mashgeh), from a different but historically related root שָׁגָה (shagah), which here in the Hiphil means “the one who misleads, causes to go astray.” These two words are designed to include everybody – all are under the wisdom of God.

[12:17]  ¹² tn The personal pronoun normally present as the subject of the participle is frequently omitted (see GKC 381 §119.s).

[12:17]  ¹³ tn GKC 361-62 §116.x notes that almost as a rule a participle beginning a sentence is continued with a finite verb with or without a ו (vav). Here the participle (“leads”) is followed by an imperfect (“makes fools”) after a ו (vav).

[12:17]  ¹⁴ tn The word שׁוֹלָל (sholal), from the root שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder; to strip”), is an adjective expressing the state (and is in the singular, as if to say, “in the state of one naked” [GKC 375 §118.o]). The word is found in military contexts (see Mic 1:8). It refers to the carrying away of people in nakedness and shame by enemies who plunder (see also Isa 8:1-4). They will go away as slaves and captives, deprived of their outer garments. Some (cf. NAB) suggest “barefoot,” based on the LXX of Mic 1:8; but the meaning of that is uncertain. G. R. Driver wanted to derive the word from an Arabic root “to be mad; to be giddy,” forming a better parallel.

[12:17]  ¹⁵ sn The judges, like the counselors, are nobles in the cities. God may reverse their lot, either by captivity or by shame, and they cannot resist his power.

[12:17]  ¹⁶ tn Some translate this “makes mad” as in Isa 44:25, but this gives the wrong connotation today; more likely God shows them to be fools.

[12:18]  ¹⁷ tn The verb may be classified as a gnomic perfect, or possibly a potential perfect – “he can loosen.” The Piel means “to untie; to unbind” (Job 30:11; 38:31; 39:5).

[12:18]  ¹⁸ tc There is a potential textual difficulty here. The MT has מוּסַר (musar, “discipline”), which might have replaced מוֹסֵר (moser, “bond, chain”) from אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). Or מוּסַר might be an unusual form of אָסַר (an option noted in HALOT 557 s.v. *מוֹסֵר). The line is saying that if the kings are bound, God can set them free, and in the second half, if they are free, he can bind them. Others take the view that this word “bond” refers to the power kings have over others, meaning that God can reduce kings to slavery.

[12:18]  ¹⁹ tn Some commentators want to change אֵזוֹר (’ezor, “girdle”) to אֵסוּר (’esur, “bond”) because binding the loins with a girdle was an expression for strength. But H. H. Rowley notes that binding the king’s loins this way would mean so that he would do servitude, menial tasks. Such a reference would certainly indicate troubled times.

[12:19]  ²⁰ tn Except for “priests,” the phraseology is identical to v. 17a.

[12:19]  ²¹ tn The verb has to be defined by its context: it can mean “falsify” (Exod 23:8), “make tortuous” (Prov 19:3), or “plunge” into misfortune (Prov 21:12). God overthrows those who seem to be solid.

[12:19]  ²² tn The original meaning of אֵיתָן (’eytan) is “perpetual.” It is usually an epithet for a torrent that is always flowing. It carries the connotations of permanence and stability; here applied to people in society, it refers to one whose power and influence does not change. These are the pillars of society.

[12:20]  ²³ tn The Hebrew נֶאֱמָנִים (ne’emanim) is the Niphal participle; it is often translated “the faithful” in the Bible. The Rabbis rather fancifully took the word from נְאֻם (nÿ’um, “oracle, utterance”) and so rendered it “those who are eloquent, fluent in words.” But that would make this the only place in the Bible where this form came from that root or any other root besides אָמַן (’aman, “confirm, support”). But to say that God takes away the speech of the truthful or the faithful would be very difficult. It has to refer to reliable men, because it is parallel to the elders or old men. The NIV has “trusted advisers,” which fits well with kings and judges and priests.

[12:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he removes the lip of the trusted ones.”

[12:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “taste,” meaning “opinion” or “decision.”

[19:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”

[19:3]  ²⁷ tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.

[19:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.

[19:11]  ²⁹ tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”

[19:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.

[19:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.

[19:13]  ³² tn Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”

[19:13]  ³³ tn Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.

[19:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the Lord has mixed into her midst a spirit of blindness.”

[19:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “like the going astray of a drunkard in his vomit.”

[19:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “And there will not be for Egypt a deed, which head and tail, shoot and stalk can do.” In 9:14-15 the phrase “head or tail” refers to leaders and prophets, respectively. This interpretation makes good sense in this context, where both leaders and advisers (probably including prophets and diviners) are mentioned (vv. 11-14). Here, as in 9:14, “shoots and stalk” picture a reed, which symbolizes the leadership of the nation in its entirety.

[19:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 18 and 19.

[19:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Egypt,” which stands by metonymy for the country’s inhabitants.

[19:16]  ³⁹ sn As the rest of the verse indicates, the point of the simile is that the Egyptians will be relatively weak physically and will wilt in fear before the Lord’s onslaught.

[19:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he will tremble and be afraid because of the brandishing of the hand of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], which he brandishes against him.” Since according to the imagery here the Lord’s “hand” is raised as a weapon against the Egyptians, the term “fist” has been used in the translation.

[19:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and the land of Judah will become [a source of] shame to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it [i.e., the land of Judah] will fear because of the plan of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] which he is planning against him.”

[19:18]  ⁴² sn The significance of the number “five” in this context is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:376-77.

[19:18]  ⁴³ tc The Hebrew text has עִיר הַהֶרֶס (’ir haheres, “City of Destruction”; cf. NASB, NIV) but this does not fit the positive emphasis of vv. 18-22. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and some medieval Hebrew mss read עִיר הָחֶרֶס (’ir hakheres, “City of the Sun,” i.e., Heliopolis). This reading also finds support from Symmachus’ Greek version, the Targum, and the Vulgate. See HALOT 257 s.v. חֶרֶס and HALOT 355 s.v. II חֶרֶס.

[19:19]  ⁴⁴ tn This word is sometimes used of a sacred pillar associated with pagan worship, but here it is associated with the worship of the Lord.

[19:20]  ⁴⁵ tn The masculine noun מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbbeakh, “altar”) in v. 19 is probably the subject of the masculine singular verb הָיָה (hayah) rather than the feminine noun מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”), also in v. 19.

[19:20]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “a sign and a witness to the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] in the land of Egypt.”

[19:20]  ⁴⁷ tn רָב (rav) is a substantival participle (from רִיב, riv) meaning “one who strives, contends.”

[19:21]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Egypt.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the present translation uses the pronoun (“they”) here.

[19:21]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “will know the Lord.”

[19:21]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 23 and 24.

[19:22]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “he will be entreated.” The Niphal has a tolerative sense here, “he will allow himself to be entreated.”

[19:23]  ⁵² tn The text could be translated, “and Egypt will serve Assyria” (cf. NAB), but subjugation of one nation to the other does not seem to be a theme in vv. 23-25. Rather the nations are viewed as equals before the Lord (v. 25). Therefore it is better to take אֶת (’et) in v. 23b as a preposition, “together with,” rather than the accusative sign. The names of the two countries are understood to refer by metonymy to their respective inhabitants.

[19:24]  ⁵³ tn Heb “will be a blessing” (so NCV).

[19:24]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB).

[19:25]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24.

[19:25]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “my inheritance” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[8:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “Surely, behold!”

[8:8]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the scribes.”

[8:8]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.

[8:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “be trapped.” However, the word “trapped” generally carries with it the connotation of divine judgment. See BDB 540 s.v. לָכַד Niph.2, and compare usage in Jer 6:11 for support. The verbs in the first two lines are again the form of the Hebrew verb that emphasizes that the action is as good as done (Hebrew prophetic perfects).

[8:1]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “At that time.”

[1:20]  ⁶² tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[3:18]  ⁶³ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with ἀνδράσιν (andrasin, “husbands”) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (“your”); see ExSyn 215.

[3:15]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “This.”

[3:15]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”

[3:15]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “soulish,” which describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 19.