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 ¹  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 ²  of his father.

Job 5:12

5:12 He frustrates ³  the plans ⁴  of the crafty ⁵ 

so that ⁶  their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned! ⁷ 

Job 28:28

28:28 And he said to mankind,

‘The fear of the Lord ⁸  – that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” ⁹ 

Jeremiah 4:22

4:22 The Lord answered, ¹⁰ 

“This will happen ¹¹  because my people are foolish.

They do not know me.

They are like children who have no sense. ¹² 

They have no understanding.

They are skilled at doing evil.

They do not know how to do good.”

Jeremiah 8:9

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

They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ¹³ 

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what wisdom do they really have?

Matthew 11:25

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, ¹⁴  “I praise ¹⁵  you, Father, Lord ¹⁶  of heaven and earth, because ¹⁷  you have hidden these things from the wise ¹⁸  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

Luke 16:8

16:8 The ¹⁹  master commended the dishonest ²⁰  manager because he acted shrewdly. ²¹  For the people ²²  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ²³  than the people ²⁴  of light.

Romans 1:22

1:22 Although they claimed ²⁵  to be wise, they became fools

Romans 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁶  a slave ²⁷  of Christ Jesus, ²⁸  called to be an apostle, ²⁹  set apart for the gospel of God. ³⁰ 

Colossians 3:19-20

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 3:13-18

True Wisdom

3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. ³¹  3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. 3:15 Such ³²  wisdom does not come ³³  from above but is earthly, natural, ³⁴  demonic. 3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ³⁵  full of mercy and good fruit, ³⁶  impartial, and not hypocritical. ³⁷  3:18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness ³⁸  is planted ³⁹  in peace among ⁴⁰  those who make peace.

[17:14]  ¹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[17:23]  ² tc The Greek recensions of Origen and Lucian have here “house” for “grave.”

[5:12]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[28:28]  ⁸ tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“Lord”); BHS has אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 383) points out, this is the only occurrence of אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) in the book of Job, creating doubt for retaining it. Normally, YHWH is avoided in the book. “Fear of” (יִרְאַת, yir’at) is followed by שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) in 6:14 – the only other occurrence of this term for “fear” in construct with a divine title.

[28:28]  ⁹ tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “Lord”) here, and (2) it is not consistent with the argument that precedes it. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 185) points out, there is inconsistency in this reasoning, for many of the critics have already said that this chapter is an interpolation. Following that line of thought, then, one would not expect it to conform to the rest of the book in this matter of the divine name. And concerning the second difficulty, the point of this chapter is that wisdom is beyond human comprehension and control. It belongs to God alone. So the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is wisdom is the necessary conclusion. Rowley concludes: “It is a pity to rob the poem of its climax and turn it into the expression of unrelieved agnosticism.”

[4:22]  ¹⁰ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the Lord answers, giving the reason for the devastation Jeremiah foresees.

[4:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.

[4:22]  ¹² tn Heb “They are senseless children.”

[8:9]  ¹³ 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).

[11:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:25]  ¹⁵ tn Or “thank.”

[11:25]  ¹⁶ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

[11:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or “that.”

[11:25]  ¹⁸ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

[16:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:8]  ²⁰ sn Is the manager dishonest because of what he just did? Or is it a reference to what he had done earlier, described in v. 1? This is a difficult question, but it seems unlikely that the master, having fired the man for prior dishonesty, would now commend those same actions. It would also be unusual for Jesus to make that point of the story the example. Thus it is more likely the reference to dishonesty goes back to the earliest events, while the commendation is for the cleverness of the former manager reflected in vv. 5-7.

[16:8]  ²¹ sn Where this parable ends is debated: Does it conclude with v. 7, after v. 8a, after v. 8b, or after v. 9? Verse 8a looks as if it is still part of the story, with its clear reference to the manager, while 8b looks like Jesus’ application, since its remarks are more general. So it is most likely the parable stops after v. 8a.

[16:8]  ²² tn Grk “sons” (an idiom).

[16:8]  ²³ tn Grk “with their own generation.”

[16:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “sons.” Here the phrase “sons of light” is a reference to the righteous. The point is that those of the world often think ahead about consequences better than the righteous do.

[1:22]  ²⁵ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ²⁸ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

[1:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

[3:13]  ³¹ tn Grk “works in the gentleness of wisdom.”

[3:15]  ³² tn Grk “This.”

[3:15]  ³³ tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”

[3:15]  ³⁴ 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.

[3:17]  ³⁵ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ³⁶ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “sincere.”

[3:18]  ³⁸ tn Grk “the fruit of righteousness,” meaning righteous living as a fruit, as the thing produced.

[3:18]  ³⁹ tn Grk “is sown.”

[3:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “for,” or possibly “by.”