Job 12:13

12:13 “With God ¹  are wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his. ² 

Proverbs 21:30

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

and there is no counsel against ³  the Lord. ⁴ 

Isaiah 5:19

5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, ⁵ 

so we can see;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel ⁶  take shape ⁷  and come to pass,

then we will know it!”

Isaiah 28:29

28:29 This also comes from the Lord who commands armies,

who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom. ⁸ 

Isaiah 40:13

40:13 Who comprehends ⁹  the mind ¹⁰  of the Lord,

or gives him instruction as his counselor? ¹¹ 

Isaiah 46:10

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ¹²  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

Isaiah 53:10

53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,

once restitution is made, ¹³ 

he will see descendants and enjoy long life, ¹⁴ 

and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

Ephesians 1:11

1:11 In Christ ¹⁵  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ¹⁶  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

Hebrews 6:17

6:17 In the same way ¹⁷  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ¹⁸  and so he intervened with an oath,

[12:13]  ¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:13]  ² sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 91) says, “These attributes of God’s [sic] confound and bring to nought everything bearing the same name among men.”

[21:30]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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).

[5:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.

[5:19]  ⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”

[28:29]  ⁸ sn Verses 23-29 emphasize that God possesses great wisdom and has established a natural order. Evidence of this can be seen in the way farmers utilize divinely imparted wisdom to grow and harvest crops. God’s dealings with his people will exhibit this same kind of wisdom and order. Judgment will be accomplished according to a divinely ordered timetable and, while severe enough, will not be excessive. Judgment must come, just as planting inevitably follows plowing. God will, as it were, thresh his people, but he will not crush them to the point where they will be of no use to him.

[40:13]  ⁹ tn Perhaps the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “advises” (note the following line).

[40:13]  ¹⁰ tn In this context רוּחַ (ruakh) likely refers to the Lord’s “mind,” or mental faculties, rather than his personal Spirit (see BDB 925 s.v.).

[40:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “or [as] the man of his counsel causes him to know?”

[46:10]  ¹² tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

[53:10]  ¹³ tn The meaning of this line is uncertain. It reads literally, “if you/she makes, a reparation offering, his life.” The verb תָּשִׂים (tasim) could be second masculine singular,in which case it would have to be addressed to the servant or to God. However, the servant is only addressed once in this servant song (see 52:14a), and God either speaks or is spoken about in this servant song; he is never addressed. Furthermore, the idea of God himself making a reparation offering is odd. If the verb is taken as third feminine singular, then the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) at the end of the line is the likely subject. In this case one can take the suffixed form of the noun as equivalent to a pronoun and translate, “if he [literally, “his life”] makes a reparation offering.”

[53:10]  ¹⁴ sn The idiomatic and stereotypical language emphasizes the servant’s restoration to divine favor. Having numerous descendants and living a long life are standard signs of divine blessing. See Job 42:13-16.

[1:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[6:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in which.”

[6:17]  ¹⁸ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”