Isaiah 9:12

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ¹ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Isaiah 9:2

9:2 (9:1) The people walking in darkness

see a bright light; ³ 

light shines

on those who live in a land of deep darkness. ⁴ 

Isaiah 20:6

20:6 At that time ⁵  those who live on this coast ⁶  will say, ‘Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”

Job 9:12

9:12 If he snatches away, ⁷  who can turn him back? ⁸ 

Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

Job 23:13

23:13 But he is unchangeable, ⁹  and who can change ¹⁰  him?

Whatever he ¹¹  has desired, he does.

Psalms 33:11

33:11 The Lord’s decisions stand forever;

his plans abide throughout the ages. ¹² 

Proverbs 19:21

19:21 There are many plans ¹³  in a person’s mind, ¹⁴ 

but it ¹⁵  is the counsel ¹⁶  of the Lord which will stand.

Proverbs 21:30

21:30 There is no wisdom and there is no understanding,

and there is no counsel against ¹⁷  the Lord. ¹⁸ 

Daniel 4:31-35

4:31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, ¹⁹  a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, ²⁰  King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you! 4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ²¹  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

4:33 Now in that very moment ²²  this pronouncement about ²³  Nebuchadnezzar came true. ²⁴  He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws. ²⁵ 

4:34 But at the end of the appointed time ²⁶  I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up ²⁷  toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.

I extolled the Most High,

and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.

For his authority is an everlasting authority,

and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ²⁸ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ²⁹  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

[9:12]  ¹ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ² tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)

[9:2]  ³ sn The darkness symbolizes judgment and its effects (see 8:22); the light represents deliverance and its effects, brought about by the emergence of a conquering Davidic king (see vv. 3-6).

[9:2]  ⁴ tn Traditionally צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet) has been interpreted as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV, NIV), but usage indicates that the word, though it sometimes refers to death, means “darkness.” The term should probably be repointed as an abstract noun צַלְמוּת (tsalmut). See the note at Ps 23:4.

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[20:6]  ⁶ sn This probably refers to the coastal region of Philistia (cf. TEV).

[9:12]  ⁷ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 133) surveys the usages and concludes that the verb חָתַף (khataf) normally describes the wicked actions of a man, especially by treachery or trickery against another. But a verb חָתַף (khataf) is found nowhere else; a noun “robber” is found in Prov 23:28. Dhorme sees no reason to emend the text, because he concludes that the two verbs are synonymous. Job is saying that if God acts like a plunderer, there is no one who can challenge what he does.

[9:12]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect (potential again) from שׁוּב (shuv). In this stem it can mean “turn back, refute, repel” (BDB 999 s.v. Hiph.5).

[23:13]  ⁹ tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).

[23:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “cause him to return.”

[23:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “his soul.”

[33:11]  ¹² tn Heb “the thoughts of his heart for generation to generation.” The verb “abides” is supplied in the translation. The Lord’s “decisions” and “plans” here refer to his decrees and purposes.

[19:21]  ¹³ sn The plans (from the Hebrew verb חָשַׁב [khashav], “to think; to reckon; to devise”) in the human heart are many. But only those which God approves will succeed.

[19:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in the heart of a man” (cf. NAB, NIV). Here “heart” is used for the seat of thoughts, plans, and reasoning, so the translation uses “mind.” In contemporary English “heart” is more often associated with the seat of emotion than with the seat of planning and reasoning.

[19:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand.” The construction draws attention to the “counsel of the Lord”; it is an independent nominative absolute, and the resumptive independent pronoun is the formal subject of the verb.

[19:21]  ¹⁶ tn The antithetical parallelism pairs “counsel” with “plans.” “Counsel of the Lord” (עֲצַת יְהוָה, ’atsat yehvah) is literally “advice” or “counsel” with the connotation of “plan” in this context (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “purpose”; NCV “plan”; TEV “the Lord’s will”).

[21:30]  ¹⁷ tn The form לְנֶגֶד (lÿneged) means “against; over against; in opposition to.” The line indicates they cannot in reality be in opposition, for human wisdom is nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 232).

[21:30]  ¹⁸ sn The verse uses a single sentence to state that all wisdom, understanding, and advice must be in conformity to the will of God to be successful. It states it negatively – these things cannot be in defiance of God (e.g., Job 5:12-13; Isa 40:13-14).

[4:31]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”

[4:31]  ²⁰ tn Aram “to you they say.”

[4:32]  ²¹ tn Aram “until.”

[4:33]  ²² tn Aram “hour.”

[4:33]  ²³ tn Or “on.”

[4:33]  ²⁴ tn Aram “was fulfilled.”

[4:33]  ²⁵ tn The words “feathers” and “claws” are not present in the Aramaic text, but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[4:34]  ²⁶ tn Aram “days.”

[4:34]  ²⁷ tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”

[4:35]  ²⁸ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ²⁹ tn Aram “strikes against.”