Discovery BoxJob 1:21
Context1:21 He said, “Naked 1 I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. 2 The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. 3 May the name of the Lord 4 be blessed!”
Job 12:9-10
Context12:9 Which of all these 5 does not know
that the hand of the Lord 6 has done 7 this,
12:10 in whose hand 8 is the life 9 of every creature
and the breath of all the human race. 10
Psalms 49:6-7
Context49:6 They trust 11 in their wealth
and boast 12 in their great riches.
49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; 13
he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price 14
Psalms 52:5-7
Context52:5 Yet 15 God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. 16
He will scoop you up 17 and remove you from your home; 18
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
52:6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying: 19
52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make 20 God his protector!
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” 21
Ecclesiastes 8:8
Context8:8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, 22
so no one has power over the day of his 23 death.
Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, 24
so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. 25
Luke 16:2
Context16:2 So 26 he called the manager 27 in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? 28 Turn in the account of your administration, 29 because you can no longer be my manager.’
Luke 16:25
Context16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, 30 remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 31
[1:21] 1 tn The adjective “naked” is functioning here as an adverbial accusative of state, explicative of the state of the subject. While it does include the literal sense of nakedness at birth, Job is also using it symbolically to mean “without possessions.”
[1:21] 2 sn While the first half of the couplet is to be taken literally as referring to his coming into this life, this second part must be interpreted only generally to refer to his departure from this life. It is parallel to 1 Tim 6:7, “For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either.”
[1:21] 3 tn The two verbs are simple perfects. (1) They can be given the nuance of gnomic imperfect, expressing what the sovereign God always does. This is the approach taken in the present translation. Alternatively (2) they could be referring specifically to Job’s own experience: “Yahweh gave [definite past, referring to his coming into this good life] and Yahweh has taken away” [present perfect, referring to his great losses]. Many English versions follow the second alternative.
[1:21] 4 sn Some commentators are troubled by the appearance of the word “Yahweh” on the lips of Job, assuming that the narrator inserted his own name for God into the story-telling. Such thinking is based on the assumption that Yahweh was only a national god of Israel, unknown to anyone else in the ancient world. But here is a clear indication that a non-Israelite, Job, knew and believed in Yahweh.
[12:9] 5 tn This line could also be translated “by all these,” meaning “who is not instructed by nature?” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 93). But D. J. A. Clines points out that the verses have presented the animals as having knowledge and communicating it, so the former reading would be best (Job [WBC], 279).
[12:9] 6 tc Some commentators have trouble with the name “Yahweh” in this verse, which is not the pattern in the poetic section of Job. Three
[12:9] 7 sn The expression “has done this” probably refers to everything that has been discussed, namely, the way that God in his wisdom rules over the world, but specifically it refers to the infliction of suffering in the world.
[12:10] 8 tn The construction with the relative clause includes a resumptive pronoun referring to God: “who in his hand” = “in whose hand.”
[12:10] 9 tn The two words נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) and רוּחַ (ruakh) are synonymous in general. They could be translated “soul” and “spirit,” but “soul” is not precise for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), and so “life” is to be preferred. Since that is the case for the first half of the verse, “breath” will be preferable in the second part.
[12:10] 10 tn Human life is made of “flesh” and “spirit.” So here the line reads “and the spirit of all flesh of man.” If the text had simply said “all flesh,” that would have applied to all flesh in which there is the breath of life (see Gen 6:17; 7:15). But to limit this to human beings requires the qualification with “man.”
[49:6] 11 tn Heb “the ones who trust.” The substantival participle stands in apposition to “those who deceive me” (v. 5).
[49:6] 12 tn The imperfect verbal form emphasizes their characteristic behavior.
[49:7] 13 tn Heb “a brother, he surely does not ransom, a man.” The sequence אִישׁ...אָח (’akh...’ish, “a brother…a man”) is problematic, for the usual combination is אָח...אָח (“a brother…a brother”) or אִישׁ...אִישׁ (“a man…a man”). When אִישׁ and אָח are combined, the usual order is אָח...אִישׁ (“a man…a brother”), with “brother” having a third masculine singular suffix, “his brother.” This suggests that “brother” is the object of the verb and “man” the subject. (1) Perhaps the altered word order and absence of the suffix can be explained by the text’s poetic character, for ellipsis is a feature of Hebrew poetic style. (2) Another option, supported by a few medieval Hebrew
[49:7] 14 tn Heb “he cannot pay to God his ransom price.” Num 35:31 may supply the legal background for the metaphorical language used here. The psalmist pictures God as having a claim on the soul of the individual. When God comes to claim the life that ultimately belongs to him, he demands a ransom price that is beyond the capability of anyone to pay. The psalmist’s point is that God has ultimate authority over life and death; all the money in the world cannot buy anyone a single day of life beyond what God has decreed.
[52:5] 15 tn The adverb גַּם (gam, “also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response.
[52:5] 16 tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
[52:5] 17 tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
[52:5] 18 tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
[52:6] 19 tn Heb “and the godly will see and will fear and at him will laugh.”
[52:7] 20 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”
[52:7] 21 tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).
[8:8] 22 tn Heb “There is not a man who has mastery over the wind to restrain the wind.”
[8:8] 23 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:8] 24 tn Heb “There is no discharge in war.”
[16:2] 26 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the reports the man received about his manager.
[16:2] 27 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the manager) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:2] 28 sn Although phrased as a question, the charges were believed by the owner, as his dismissal of the manager implies.
[16:2] 29 tn Or “stewardship”; the Greek word οἰκονομία (oikonomia) is cognate with the noun for the manager (οἰκονόμος, oikonomo").
[16:25] 30 tn The Greek term here is τέκνον (teknon), which could be understood as a term of endearment.
[16:25] 31 tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92). Here is the reversal Jesus mentioned in Luke 6:20-26.
