Genesis 6:9

The Judgment of the Flood

6:9 This is the account of Noah. ¹ 

Noah was a godly man; he was blameless ² 

among his contemporaries. ³  He ⁴  walked with ⁵  God.

Psalms 33:18-19

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, ⁶ 

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness ⁷ 

33:19 by saving their lives from death ⁸ 

and sustaining them during times of famine. ⁹ 

Proverbs 10:6-7

10:6 Blessings ¹⁰  are on the head of the righteous,

but the speech ¹¹  of the wicked conceals ¹²  violence. ¹³ 

10:7 The memory ¹⁴  of the righteous is a blessing,

but the reputation ¹⁵  of the wicked will rot. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 10:9

10:9 The one who conducts himself ¹⁷  in integrity ¹⁸  will live ¹⁹  securely,

but the one who behaves perversely ²⁰  will be found out.

Proverbs 11:4-8

11:4 Wealth does not profit in the day of wrath, ²¹ 

but righteousness delivers from mortal danger. ²² 

11:5 The righteousness of the blameless will make straight their way, ²³ 

but the wicked person will fall by his own wickedness. ²⁴ 

11:6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, ²⁵ 

but the faithless will be captured ²⁶  by their own desires. ²⁷ 

11:7 When a wicked person dies, his expectation perishes, ²⁸ 

and the hope of his strength ²⁹  perishes. ³⁰ 

11:8 The righteous person is delivered ³¹  out of trouble,

and the wicked turns up in his stead. ³² 

Isaiah 3:10-11

3:10 Tell the innocent ³³  it will go well with them, ³⁴ 

for they will be rewarded for what they have done. ³⁵ 

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ³⁶ 

Philippians 2:15-16

2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world ³⁷  2:16 by holding on to ³⁸  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

Philippians 2:2

2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, ³⁹  by having the same love, being united in spirit, ⁴⁰  and having one purpose.

Philippians 2:5-9

2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, ⁴¹ 

2:6 ⁴² who though he existed in the form of God ⁴³ 

did not regard equality with God

as something to be grasped,

2:7 but emptied himself

by taking on the form of a slave, ⁴⁴ 

by looking like other men, ⁴⁵ 

and by sharing in human nature. ⁴⁶ 

2:8 He humbled himself,

by becoming obedient to the point of death

– even death on a cross!

2:9 As a result God exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

[6:9]  ¹ sn There is a vast body of scholarly literature about the flood story. The following studies are particularly helpful: A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels; M. Kessler, “Rhetorical Criticism of Genesis 7,” Rhetorical Criticism: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg (PTMS), 1-17; I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; A. R. Millard, “A New Babylonian ‘Genesis Story’,” TynBul 18 (1967): 3-18; G. J. Wenham, “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” VT 28 (1978): 336-48.

[6:9]  ² tn The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “blameless”) is used of men in Gen 17:1 (associated with the idiom “walk before,” which means “maintain a proper relationship with,” see 24:40); Deut 18:13 (where it means “blameless” in the sense of not guilty of the idolatrous practices listed before this; see Josh 24:14); Pss 18:23, 26 (“blameless” in the sense of not having violated God’s commands); 37:18 (in contrast to the wicked); 101:2, 6 (in contrast to proud, deceitful slanderers; see 15:2); Prov 2:21; 11:5 (in contrast to the wicked); 28:10; Job 12:4.

[6:9]  ³ tn Heb “Noah was a godly man, blameless in his generations.” The singular “generation” can refer to one’s contemporaries, i.e., those living at a particular point in time. The plural “generations” can refer to successive generations in the past or the future. Here, where it is qualified by “his” (i.e., Noah’s), it refers to Noah’s contemporaries, comprised of the preceding generation (his father’s generation), those of Noah’s generation, and the next generation (those the same age as his children). In other words, “his generations” means the generations contemporary with him. See BDB 190 s.v. דוֹר.

[6:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Noah.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:9]  ⁵ tn The construction translated “walked with” is used in Gen 5:22, 24 (see the note on this phrase in 5:22) and in 1 Sam 25:15, where it refers to David’s and Nabal’s men “rubbing shoulders” in the fields. Based on the use in 1 Sam 25:15, the expression seems to mean “live in close proximity to,” which may, by metonymy, mean “maintain cordial relations with.”

[33:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[33:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

[33:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “to save from death their live[s].”

[33:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “and to keep them alive in famine.”

[10:6]  ¹⁰ sn The word “blessings” has the sense of gifts, enrichments, that is, the rewards or the results of being righteous. The blessings come either from the people the righteous deal with, or from God. CEV understands the blessings as praise for good behavior (“Everyone praises good people”).

[10:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.

[10:6]  ¹² tn Heb “covers.” Behind the speech of the wicked is aggressive violence (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 422).

[10:6]  ¹³ tn The syntax of this line is ambiguous. The translation takes “the mouth of the wicked” as the nominative subject and “violence” as the accusative direct object; however, the subject might be “violence,” hence: “violence covers the mouth of the wicked” (cf. KJV, ASV, NIV).

[10:7]  ¹⁴ sn “Memory” (זֵכֶר, zekher) and “name” are often paired as synonyms. “Memory” in this sense has to do with reputation, fame. One’s reputation will be good or bad by righteousness or wickedness respectively.

[10:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “name.” The term “name” often functions as a metonymy of association for reputation (BDB 1028 s.v. שֵׁם 2.b).

[10:7]  ¹⁶ tn The editors of BHS suggest a reading “will be cursed” to make a better parallelism, but the reading of the MT is more striking as a metaphor.

[10:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he who walks.” The idiom is used widely in both OT and NT for conduct, behavior, or lifestyle.

[10:9]  ¹⁸ sn “Integrity” here means “blameless” in conduct. Security follows integrity, because the lifestyle is blameless. The righteous is certain of the course to be followed and does not fear retribution from man or God.

[10:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “walks.”

[10:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he who perverts his ways” (so NASB); NIV “who takes crooked paths” (NLT similar). The Piel participle מְעַקֵּשׁ (mÿ’aqqesh) means “make crooked; twisted; perverse.” It is stronger than simply taking crooked paths; it refers to perverting the ways. The one who is devious will not get away with it.

[11:4]  ²¹ sn The “day of wrath” refers to divine punishment in this life (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 67; e.g., also Job 21:30; Ezek 7:19; Zeph 1:18). Righteousness and not wealth is more valuable in anticipating judgment.

[11:4]  ²² tn Heb “from death.”

[11:5]  ²³ tn Heb “his way.”

[11:5]  ²⁴ sn The righteous will enjoy security and serenity throughout life. Righteousness makes the path straight; wickedness destroys the wicked.

[11:6]  ²⁵ sn The contrast is between being rescued or delivered (נָצַל, natsal) and being captured (לָכַד, lakhad). Righteousness is freeing; [evil] desires are enslaving.

[11:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “taken captive” (so NRSV); NIV, TEV “are trapped.”

[11:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “but by the desire of the faithless are they taken captive.”

[11:7]  ²⁸ tn The first colon features an imperfect tense depicting habitual action, while the second has a perfect tense verb depicting gnomic action.

[11:7]  ²⁹ tc There are several suggested changes for this word אוֹנִים (’onim, “vigor” or “strength”). Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105, suggests that the word refers to children, a meaning implied from Gen 49:3. This would mean that even his children would not benefit from his wickedness. Tg. Prov 11:7 rendered it “who practice crookedness,” deriving it from the first root which means “wickedness.”

[11:7]  ³⁰ tc The LXX adds an antithesis to this: “When the righteous dies, hope does not perish.” The LXX translators wanted to see the hope of the righteous fulfilled in the world to come.

[11:8]  ³¹ tn The verb is the Niphal perfect from the first root חָלַץ (khalats), meaning “to draw off; to withdraw,” and hence “to be delivered.”

[11:8]  ³² tn The verb is masculine singular, so the subject cannot be “trouble.” The trouble from which the righteous escape will come on the wicked – but the Hebrew text literally says that the wicked “comes [= arrives; turns up; shows up] in the place of the righteous.” Cf. NASB “the wicked takes his place”; NRSV “the wicked get into it instead”; NIV “it comes on the wicked instead.”

[3:10]  ³³ tn Or “the righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, TEV); NLT “those who are godly.”

[3:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “that it is good.”

[3:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.”

[3:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

[2:15]  ³⁷ tn Or “as stars in the universe.”

[2:16]  ³⁸ tn Or “holding out, holding forth.”

[2:2]  ³⁹ tn Or “and feel the same way,” “and think the same thoughts.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated “and be of the same mind” to reflect its epexegetical force to the imperative “complete my joy.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumyucoi, literally “fellow souled”).

[2:5]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which also [was] in Christ Jesus,” or “Have this attitude in/among yourselves which [you] also [have] in Christ Jesus.”

[2:6]  ⁴² sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[2:6]  ⁴³ sn The Greek term translated form indicates a correspondence with reality. Thus the meaning of this phrase is that Christ was truly God.

[2:7]  ⁴⁴ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 1:1.

[2:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “by coming in the likeness of people.”

[2:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and by being found in form as a man.” The versification of vv. 7 and 8 (so also NRSV) is according to the versification in the NA²⁷ and UBS⁴ editions of the Greek text. Some translations, however, break the verses in front of this phrase (NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.