Job 11:12

11:12 But an empty man will become wise,

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

Job 22:13

22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such deep darkness? ² 

Psalms 73:11

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

Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” ³ 

Ecclesiastes 11:5

11:5 Just as you do not know the path ⁴  of the wind,

or how the bones form ⁵  in the womb of a pregnant woman, ⁶ 

so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Ezekiel 37:3

37:3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.”

Ezekiel 37:11

37:11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

John 3:4

3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” ⁷ 

John 3:9

3:9 Nicodemus replied, ⁸  “How can these things be?” ⁹ 

John 9:10

9:10 So they asked him, ¹⁰  “How then were you made to see?” ¹¹ 

[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).

[22:13]  ² sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).

[73:11]  ³ 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).

[11:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “what is the way of the wind.” Some take these words with what follows: “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman.” There is debate whether הָרוּחַ מַה־דֶּרֶךְ (mah-derekh haruakh) refers to the wind (“the path of the wind”) or the human spirit of a child in the mother’s womb (“how the spirit comes”). The LXX understood it as the wind: “the way of the wind” (ἡ ὁδὸς τοῦ πνεύματος, Jh Jodos tou pneumatos); however, the Targum and Vulgate take it as the human spirit. The English versions are divided: (1) spirit: “the way of the spirit” (KJV, YLT, Douay); “the breath of life” (NAB); “how a pregnant woman comes to have…a living spirit in her womb” (NEB); “how the lifebreath passes into the limbs within the womb of the pregnant woman” (NJPS); “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child” (RSV); “how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb” (NRSV); and (2) wind: “the way of the wind” (ASV, RSV margin); “the path of the wind” (NASB, NIV); and “how the wind blows” (MLB, Moffatt).

[11:5]  ⁵ tn The term “form” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[11:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “the one who is full.” The feminine adjective מְלֵאָה (mÿle’ah, from מָלֵא, male’, “full”) is used as a substantive referring to a pregnant woman whose womb is filled with her infant (HALOT 584 s.v. מָלֵא 2; BDB 571 s.v. מָלֵא). This term is used in reference to a pregnant woman in later Hebrew (HALOT 584 s.v. מָלֵא). The LXX understood the term in this sense: κυοφορούσης (kuoforoushs, “pregnant woman”).

[3:4]  ⁷ tn The grammatical structure of the question in Greek presupposes a negative reply.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “Nicodemus answered and said to him.”

[3:9]  ⁹ sn “How can these things be?” is Nicodemus’ answer. It is clear that at this time he has still not grasped what Jesus is saying. Note also that this is the last appearance of Nicodemus in the dialogue. Having served the purpose of the author, at this point he disappears from the scene. As a character in the narrative, he has served to illustrate the prevailing Jewish misunderstanding of Jesus’ teaching about the necessity of a new, spiritual birth from above. Whatever parting words Nicodemus might have had with Jesus, the author does not record them.

[9:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “So they were saying to him.”

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “How then were your eyes opened” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).