Isaiah 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ¹  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ²  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ³  will not disappear. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 4:19

4:19 When you look up ⁵  to the sky ⁶  and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation ⁷  – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, ⁸  for the Lord your God has assigned ⁹  them to all the people ¹⁰  of the world. ¹¹ 

Job 31:26-28

31:26 if I looked at the sun ¹²  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, ¹³ 

31:28 then this ¹⁴  also would be iniquity to be judged, ¹⁵ 

for I would have been false ¹⁶  to God above.

Psalms 8:3-4

8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,

and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, ¹⁷ 

8:4 Of what importance is the human race, ¹⁸  that you should notice ¹⁹  them?

Of what importance is mankind, ²⁰  that you should pay attention to them, ²¹ 

Psalms 19:1

Psalm 19 ²² 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; ²³ 

the sky displays his handiwork. ²⁴ 

[51:6]  ¹ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ² tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ³ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[4:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

[4:19]  ⁶ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[4:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”

[4:19]  ⁸ tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.

[4:19]  ⁹ tn Or “allotted.”

[4:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “nations.”

[4:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “under all the heaven.”

[31:26]  ¹² tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[31:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.

[31:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “it.”

[31:28]  ¹⁵ tn See v. 11 for the construction. In Deut 17:2ff. false worship of heavenly bodies is a capital offense. In this passage, Job is talking about just a momentary glance at the sun or moon and the brief lapse into a pagan thought. But it is still sin.

[31:28]  ¹⁶ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; to disappoint; to grow lean.” Here it means that he would have failed or proven unfaithful because his act would have been a denial of God.

[8:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “when I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you established.” The verb “[and] see” is understood by ellipsis in the second half of the verse.

[8:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “What is man[kind]?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race.

[8:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “remember him.”

[8:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.

[8:4]  ²¹ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.

[19:1]  ²² sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.

[19:1]  ²³ sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.

[19:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.