Ezekiel 9:9

9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, ¹  for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ² 

Job 22:12-13

22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven? ³ 

And see ⁴  the lofty stars, ⁵  how high they are!

22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such deep darkness? ⁶ 

Psalms 73:11

73:11 They say, “How does God know what we do?

Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” ⁷ 

Psalms 94:7-10

94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;

the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” ⁸ 

94:8 Take notice of this, ⁹  you ignorant people! ¹⁰ 

You fools, when will you ever understand?

94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?

Does the one who forms the human eye not see? ¹¹ 

94:10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?

He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!

Isaiah 29:15

29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ¹² 

who do their work in secret and boast, ¹³ 

“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ¹⁴ 

[9:9]  ¹ tn Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”

[9:9]  ² sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.

[22:12]  ³ tn This reading preserves the text as it is. The nouns “high” and “heavens” would then be taken as adverbial accusatives of place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).

[22:12]  ⁴ tn The parallel passage in Isa 40:26-27, as well as the context here, shows that the imperative is to be retained here. The LXX has “he sees.”

[22:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “head of the stars.”

[22:13]  ⁶ sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).

[73:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).

[94:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “does not understand.”

[94:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.

[94:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”

[94:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”

[29:15]  ¹² tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.

[29:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”

[29:15]  ¹⁴ tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.