Ecclesiastes 8:12

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ¹  and still live a long time, ² 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ³  – for they stand in fear ⁴  before him.

Ecclesiastes 12:13

12:13 Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: ⁵ 

Fear God and keep his commandments,

because this is the whole duty ⁶  of man.

Psalms 25:12-14

25:12 The Lord shows his faithful followers

the way they should live. ⁷ 

25:13 They experience his favor; ⁸ 

their descendants ⁹  inherit the land. ¹⁰ 

25:14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance, ¹¹ 

and he reveals his covenantal demands to them. ¹² 

Psalms 145:19-20

145:19 He satisfies the desire ¹³  of his loyal followers; ¹⁴ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

145:20 The Lord protects those who love him,

but he destroys all the wicked.

Jeremiah 32:40

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ¹⁵  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ¹⁶  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹⁷  they will never again turn ¹⁸  away from me.

Malachi 4:2

4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ¹⁹  will rise with healing wings, ²⁰  and you will skip about ²¹  like calves released from the stall.

Luke 1:50

1:50 from ²²  generation to generation he is merciful ²³  to those who fear ²⁴  him.

[8:12]  ¹ tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

[8:12]  ² tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

[8:12]  ³ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

[8:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “they fear.”

[12:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “The end of the matter, everything having been heard.”

[12:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “This is all men”; or “This is the whole of man.” The phrase זֶה כָּל־הָאָדָם (zeh kol-ha’adam, “this is all men”) features rhetorical elision of a key word. The ambiguity over the elided word has led to no less than five basic approaches: (1) “this is the whole duty of man” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NAB, NIV); (2) “this is the duty of all men” (MLB, ASV margin, RSV margin); (3) “this applies to all men” (NASB, NJPS); (4) “this is the whole duty of all men” (NRSV, Moffatt); and (5) “there is no more to man than this” (NEB). The four-fold repetition of כֹּל (kol, “all”) in 12:13-14 suggests that Qoheleth is emphasizing the “bottom line,” that is, the basic duty of man is simply to fear and obey God: After “all” (כֹּל) has been heard in the book, his conclusion is that the “whole” (כֹּל) duty of man is to obey God because God will bring “all” (כֹּל) acts into judgment, including “all” (כֹּל) that is hidden, whether good or bad. See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 3:596.

[25:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Who is this man, the one who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.” The singular (note “man”) is representative here (see v. 14, where the plural is used), and has thus been translated as a plural (“followers…they”).

[25:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “his life in goodness dwells.” The singular is representative (see v. 14).

[25:13]  ⁹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[25:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “earth.”

[25:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the advice of the Lord belongs to those who fear him.”

[25:14]  ¹² tn Heb “and his covenant, to make them know.”

[145:19]  ¹³ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”

[32:40]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ¹⁶ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ¹⁷ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹⁸ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[4:2]  ¹⁹ tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

[4:2]  ²⁰ sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

[4:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”

[1:50]  ²² tn Grk “and from.” Here καί (kai) has been translated by a semicolon to improve the English style.

[1:50]  ²³ sn God’s mercy refers to his “loyal love” or “steadfast love,” expressed in faithful actions, as the rest of the psalm illustrates.

[1:50]  ²⁴ tn That is, “who revere.” This refers to those who show God a reverential respect for his sovereignty.