Jeremiah 40:12

40:12 So all these Judeans returned to the land of Judah from the places where they had been scattered. They came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Thus they harvested a large amount of wine and dates and figs. ¹ 

Numbers 11:5-6

11:5 We remember ²  the fish we used to eat ³  freely ⁴  in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 11:6 But now we ⁵  are dried up, ⁶  and there is nothing at all before us ⁷  except this manna!”

Job 21:14-15

21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!

We do not want to ⁸  know your ways. ⁹ 

21:15 Who is the Almighty, that ¹⁰  we should serve him?

What would we gain

if we were to pray ¹¹  to him?’ ¹² 

Psalms 73:9-15

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ¹³ 

73:10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,

and even suck up the water of the sea. ¹⁴ 

73:11 They say, “How does God know what we do?

Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” ¹⁵ 

73:12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, ¹⁶ 

those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. ¹⁷ 

73:13 I concluded, ¹⁸  “Surely in vain I have kept my motives ¹⁹  pure

and maintained a pure lifestyle. ²⁰ 

73:14 I suffer all day long,

and am punished every morning.”

73:15 If I had publicized these thoughts, ²¹ 

I would have betrayed your loyal followers. ²² 

Malachi 3:13-15

Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency

3:13 “You have criticized me sharply,” ²³  says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’ 3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ²⁴  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ²⁵  3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. ²⁶  In fact, those who challenge ²⁷  God escape!’”

[40:12]  ¹ tn Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.

[11:5]  ² tn The perfect tense here expresses the experience of a state of mind.

[11:5]  ³ tn The imperfect tense would here be the customary imperfect, showing continual or incomplete action in past time.

[11:5]  ⁴ tn The adverb “freely” is from the word חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”), from which is derived the noun “grace.” The word underscores the idea of “free, without cost, for no reason, gratis.” Here the simple sense is “freely,” without any cost. But there may be more significance in the choice of the words in this passage, showing the ingratitude of the Israelites to God for His deliverance from bondage. To them now the bondage is preferable to the salvation – this is what angered the Lord.

[11:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “our souls.”

[11:6]  ⁶ sn The Hebrews were complaining both about the bland taste of the manna and dehydration – they were parched in the wilderness.

[11:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “before our eyes,” meaning that “we see nothing except this manna.”

[21:14]  ⁸ tn The absence of the preposition before the complement adds greater vividness to the statement: “and knowing your ways – we do not desire.”

[21:14]  ⁹ sn Contrast Ps 25:4, which affirms that walking in God’s ways means to obey God’s will – the Torah.

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”

[21:15]  ¹¹ tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.

[21:15]  ¹² tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.

[73:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.

[73:10]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “therefore his people return [so Qere (marginal reading); Kethib (consonantal text) has “he brings back”] to here, and waters of abundance are sucked up by them.” The traditional Hebrew text (MT) defies explanation. The present translation reflects M. Dahood’s proposed emendations (Psalms [AB], 2:190) and reads the Hebrew text as follows: לָכֵן יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם וּמֵי מָלֵא יָמֹצּוּ לָמוֹ (“therefore they are filled with food, and waters of abundance they suck up for themselves”). The reading יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם (yisvÿ’um lekhem, “they are filled with food”) assumes (1) an emendation of יָשׁיּב עַמּוֹ (yashyyv, “he will bring back his people”) to יִשְׂבְעוּם (yisvÿ’um, “they will be filled”; a Qal imperfect third masculine plural form from שָׂבַע [sava’] with enclitic mem [ם]), and (2) an emendation of הֲלֹם (halom, “to here”) to לֶחֶם (“food”). The expression “be filled/fill with food” appears elsewhere at least ten times (see Ps 132:15, for example). In the second line the Niphal form יִמָּצוּ (yimmatsu, derived from מָצָה, matsah, “drain”) is emended to a Qal form יָמֹצּוּ (yamotsu), derived from מָצַץ (matsats, “to suck”). In Isa 66:11 the verbs שָׂבַע (sava’; proposed in Ps 73:10a) and מָצַץ (proposed in Ps 73:10b) are parallel. The point of the emended text is this: Because they are seemingly sovereign (v. 9), they become greedy and grab up everything they need and more.

[73:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).

[73:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Look, these [are] the wicked.”

[73:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the ones who are always at ease [who] increase wealth.”

[73:13]  ¹⁸ tn The words “I concluded” are supplied in the translation. It is apparent that vv. 13-14 reflect the psalmist’s thoughts at an earlier time (see vv. 2-3), prior to the spiritual awakening he describes in vv. 17-28.

[73:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “heart,” viewed here as the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[73:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and washed my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The reference to “hands” suggests actions.

[73:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “If I had said, ‘I will speak out like this.’”

[73:15]  ²² tn Heb “look, the generation of your sons I would have betrayed.” The phrase “generation of your [i.e., God’s] sons” occurs only here in the OT. Some equate the phrase with “generation of the godly” (Ps 14:5), “generation of the ones seeking him” (Ps 24:6), and “generation of the upright” (Ps 112:2). In Deut 14:1 the Israelites are referred to as God’s “sons.” Perhaps the psalmist refers here to those who are “Israelites” in the true sense because of their loyalty to God (note the juxtaposition of “Israel” with “the pure in heart” in v. 1).

[3:13]  ²³ tn Heb “your words are hard [or “strong”] against me”; cf. NIV “said harsh things against me”; TEV, NLT “said terrible things about me.”

[3:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

[3:14]  ²⁵ sn The people’s public display of self-effacing piety has gone unrewarded by the Lord. The reason, of course, is that it was blatantly hypocritical.

[3:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “built up” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “prosper”; NLT “get rich.”

[3:15]  ²⁷ tn Or “test”; NRSV, CEV “put God to the test.”