Job 11:12

11:12 But an empty man will become wise,

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being. ¹ 

Proverbs 3:7

3:7 Do not be wise in your own estimation; ² 

fear the Lord and turn away from evil. ³ 

Proverbs 26:12

26:12 Do you see ⁴  a man wise in his own eyes? ⁵ 

There is more hope for a fool ⁶  than for him.

Proverbs 26:16

26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation ⁷ 

than seven people who respond with good sense. ⁸ 

John 9:41

9:41 Jesus replied, ⁹  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ¹⁰  but now because you claim that you can see, ¹¹  your guilt ¹²  remains.” ¹³ 

Romans 1:22

1:22 Although they claimed ¹⁴  to be wise, they became fools

Romans 11:25

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ¹⁵  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ¹⁶  until the full number ¹⁷  of the Gentiles has come in.

Romans 12:16

12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. ¹⁸  Do not be conceited. ¹⁹ 

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ²⁰  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ²¹  – which is your reasonable service.

Colossians 3:18-20

Exhortation to Households

3:18 Wives, submit to your ²²  husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.

[11:12]  ¹ tn As A. B. Davidson (Job, 84) says, the one thing will happen when the other happens – which is never. The word “empty” נָבוּב (navuv) means “hollow; witless,” and “become wise” (יִלָּבֵב, yillavev) is “will get heart” (not to “lack heart” as Driver suggested”). Many commentators do not like the last line of the verse, and so offer even more emendations. E. F. Sutcliffe wanted to change פֶּרֶא (pere’, “donkey”) to פֶּרֶד (pered, “stallion”), rendering “a witless wight may get wit when a mule is born a stallion” (“Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 70-71); and others approached the verse by changing the verb from יִוָּלֵד (yivvaled, “is born”) to יִלָּמֵד (yillamed, “is taught”), resulting in “a hollow man may get understanding, and a wild donkey’s colt may be taught [= tamed]” (cf. NAB).

[3:7]  ² tn Heb “in your own eyes” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.”

[3:7]  ³ sn The second colon clarifies the first. If one fears the Lord and turns away from evil, then he is depending on the Lord and not wise in his own eyes. There is a higher source of wisdom than human insight.

[26:12]  ⁴ tn The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.

[26:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[26:12]  ⁶ sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool – he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.

[26:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “in his eyes.” The lazy person thinks that he has life all figured out and has chosen the wise course of action – but he is simply lazy. J. H. Greenstone says, for example, “Much anti-intellectualism may be traced to such rationalization for laziness” (Proverbs, 269).

[26:16]  ⁸ tn The term means “taste; judgment.” The related verb means “to taste; to perceive,” that is, “to examine by tasting,” or examine by experiencing (e.g., Ps 34:9). Here the idea is expressed with the participle in construct, “those returners [of] good sense,” those who answer tastefully, with discretion. Cf. NIV “who (+ can NRSV) answer discreetly.”

[9:41]  ⁹ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ¹¹ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ¹² tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ¹³ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

[1:22]  ¹⁴ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[11:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “fullness.”

[12:16]  ¹⁸ tn Or “but give yourselves to menial tasks.” The translation depends on whether one takes the adjective “lowly” as masculine or neuter.

[12:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Do not be wise in your thinking.”

[12:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ²¹ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[3:18]  ²² tn The article τοῖς (tois) with ἀνδράσιν (andrasin, “husbands”) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (“your”); see ExSyn 215.