Ecclesiastes 8:17

8:17 then I discerned all that God has done: ¹ 

No one really comprehends what happens ²  on earth. ³ 

Despite all human ⁴  efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp ⁵  it. ⁶ 

Even if ⁷  a wise person claimed ⁸  that he understood,

he would not really comprehend ⁹  it. ¹⁰ 

Job 11:7

11:7 “Can you discover ¹¹  the essence ¹²  of God?

Can you find out ¹³ 

the perfection of the Almighty? ¹⁴ 

Job 37:23

37:23 As for the Almighty, ¹⁵  we cannot attain to him!

He is great in power,

but justice ¹⁶  and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

Psalms 104:24

104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! ¹⁷ 

You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; ¹⁸ 

the earth is full of the living things you have made.

Matthew 11:27

11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. ¹⁹  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides ²⁰  to reveal him.

Romans 11:33

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!

[8:17]  ¹ tn Heb “all the work of God.”

[8:17]  ² tn Heb “the work that is done.”

[8:17]  ³ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[8:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.

[8:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “find.”

[8:17]  ⁶ tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:17]  ⁷ tn The particle אִם (’im, “even if”) introduces the protasis in a real conditional clause (“If a wise man …”); see IBHS 636-37 §38.2d; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 74, §453.

[8:17]  ⁸ tn The imperfect tense verb יֹאמַר (yo’mar, “to say”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility (see IBHS 508 §31.4e; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31, §169).

[8:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”

[8:17]  ¹⁰ tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is an implied direct object and has been supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.

[11:7]  ¹¹ tn The verb is מָצָא (matsa’, “to find; to discover”). Here it should be given the nuance of potential imperfect. And, in the rhetorical question it is affirming that Job cannot find out the essence of God.

[11:7]  ¹² tn The word means “search; investigation”; but it here means what is discovered in the search (so a metonymy of cause for the effect).

[11:7]  ¹³ tn The same verb is now found in the second half of the verse, with a slightly different sense – “attain, reach.” A. R. Ceresko notes this as an example of antanaclasis (repetition of a word with a lightly different sense – “find/attain”). See “The Function of Antanaclasis in Hebrew Poetry,” CBQ 44 (1982): 560-61.

[11:7]  ¹⁴ tn The abstract תַּכְלִית (takhlit) from כָּלָה (kalah, “to be complete; to be perfect”) may mean the end or limit of something, perhaps to perfection. So the NIV has “can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” The LXX has: “have you come to the end of that which the Almighty has made?”

[37:23]  ¹⁵ tn The name “Almighty” is here a casus pendens, isolating the name at the front of the sentence and resuming it with a pronoun.

[37:23]  ¹⁶ tn The MT places the major disjunctive accent (the atnach) under “power,” indicating that “and justice” as a disjunctive clause starting the second half of the verse (with ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT). Ignoring the Masoretic accent, NRSV has “he is great in power and justice.”

[104:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O Lord.” In this case the Lord’s “works” are the creatures he has made, as the preceding and following contexts make clear.

[104:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”

[11:27]  ¹⁹ sn This verse has been noted for its conceptual similarity to teaching in John’s Gospel (10:15; 17:2). The authority of the Son and the Father are totally intertwined.

[11:27]  ²⁰ tn Or “wishes”; or “intends”; or “plans” (cf. BDAG 182 s.v. βούλομαι 2.b). Here it is the Son who has sovereignty.