Genesis 4:7

4:7 Is it not true ¹  that if you do what is right, you will be fine? ²  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching ³  at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” ⁴ 

Job 42:8-9

42:8 So now take ⁵  seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede ⁶  for you, and I will respect him, ⁷  so that I do not deal with you ⁸  according to your folly, ⁹  because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” ¹⁰ 

42:9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job. ¹¹ 

Psalms 34:15

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help. ¹² 

Psalms 102:17

102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, ¹³ 

and does not reject ¹⁴  their request. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 145:19

145:19 He satisfies the desire ¹⁶  of his loyal followers; ¹⁷ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

Jeremiah 14:10

14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people. ¹⁸ 

“They truly ¹⁹  love to go astray.

They cannot keep from running away from me. ²⁰ 

So I am not pleased with them.

I will now call to mind ²¹  the wrongs they have done ²² 

and punish them for their sins.”

Matthew 12:20

12:20 He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick,

until he brings justice to victory.

Luke 11:8

11:8 I tell you, even though the man inside ²³  will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s ²⁴  sheer persistence ²⁵  he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

Hebrews 2:17

2:17 Therefore he had ²⁶  to be made like his brothers and sisters ²⁷  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ²⁸  for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 4:15-16

4:15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 4:16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help. ²⁹ 

[4:7]  ¹ tn The introduction of the conditional clause with an interrogative particle prods the answer from Cain, as if he should have known this. It is not a condemnation, but an encouragement to do what is right.

[4:7]  ² tn The Hebrew text is difficult, because only one word occurs, שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et), which appears to be the infinitive construct from the verb “to lift up” (נָאָשׂ, na’as). The sentence reads: “If you do well, uplifting.” On the surface it seems to be the opposite of the fallen face. Everything will be changed if he does well. God will show him favor, he will not be angry, and his face will reflect that. But more may be intended since the second half of the verse forms the contrast: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching….” Not doing well leads to sinful attack; doing well leads to victory and God’s blessing.

[4:7]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “crouching” (רֹבֵץ, rovets) is an active participle. Sin is portrayed with animal imagery here as a beast crouching and ready to pounce (a figure of speech known as zoomorphism). An Akkadian cognate refers to a type of demon; in this case perhaps one could translate, “Sin is the demon at the door” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 29, 32-33).

[4:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and toward you [is] its desire, but you must rule over it.” As in Gen 3:16, the Hebrew noun “desire” refers to an urge to control or dominate. Here the desire is that which sin has for Cain, a desire to control for the sake of evil, but Cain must have mastery over it. The imperfect is understood as having an obligatory sense. Another option is to understand it as expressing potential (“you can have [or “are capable of having”] mastery over it.”). It will be a struggle, but sin can be defeated by righteousness. In addition to this connection to Gen 3, other linguistic and thematic links between chaps. 3 and 4 are discussed by A. J. Hauser, “Linguistic and Thematic Links Between Genesis 4:1-6 and Genesis 2–3,” JETS 23 (1980): 297-306.

[42:8]  ⁵ tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.

[42:8]  ⁶ tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”

[42:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”

[42:8]  ⁸ tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.

[42:8]  ⁹ tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.

[42:8]  ¹⁰ sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.

[42:9]  ¹¹ tn The expression “had respect for Job” means God answered his prayer.

[34:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

[102:17]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).

[102:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “despise.”

[102:17]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.

[145:19]  ¹⁶ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”

[14:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Thus said the Lord concerning this people.”

[14:10]  ¹⁹ tn It is difficult to be certain how the particle כֵּן (ken, usually used for “thus, so”) is to be rendered here. BDB 485 s.v. כֵּן 1.b says that the force sometimes has to be elicited from the general context and points back to the line of v. 9. IHBS 666 §39.3.4e states that when there is no specific comparative clause preceding a general comparison is intended. They point to Judg 5:31 as a parallel. Ps 127:2 may also be an example if כִּי (ki) is not to be read (cf. BHS fn). “Truly” seemed the best way to render this idea in contemporary English.

[14:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “They do not restrain their feet.” The idea of “away from me” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “remember.”

[14:10]  ²² tn Heb “their iniquities.”

[11:8]  ²³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man in bed in the house) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the first man mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ²⁵ tn The term ἀναίδεια (anaideia) is hard to translate. It refers to a combination of ideas, a boldness that persists over time, or “audacity,” which comes close. It most likely describes the one making the request, since the unit’s teaching is an exhortation about persistence in prayer. Some translate the term “shamelessness” which is the term’s normal meaning, and apply it to the neighbor as an illustration of God responding for the sake of his honor. But the original question was posed in terms of the first man who makes the request, not of the neighbor, so the teaching underscores the action of the one making the request.

[2:17]  ²⁶ tn Or “he was obligated.”

[2:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[2:17]  ²⁸ tn Or “propitiation.”

[4:16]  ²⁹ tn Grk “for timely help.”