Genesis 19:21

19:21 “Very well,” he replied, ¹  “I will grant this request too ²  and will not overthrow ³  the town you mentioned.

Job 34:19

34:19 who shows no partiality to princes,

and does not take note of ⁴  the rich more than the poor,

because all of them are the work of his hands?

[19:21]  ¹ tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.

[19:21]  ² tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”

[19:21]  ³ tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).

[34:19]  ⁴ tn The verb means “to give recognition; to take note of” and in this passage with לִפְנֵי (lifne, “before”) it means to show preferential treatment to the rich before the poor. The word for “rich” here is an unusual word, found parallel to “noble” (Isa 32:2). P. Joüon thinks it is a term of social distinction (Bib 18 [1937]: 207-8).