Job 14:16

The Present Condition ¹ 

14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; ² 

then you would not mark ³  my sin. ⁴ 

Job 34:21

34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual,

he observes all a person’s ⁵  steps.

Genesis 16:13

16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” ⁶  for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” ⁷ 

Genesis 16:2

16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ⁸  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ⁹  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ¹⁰  Abram did what ¹¹  Sarai told him.

Genesis 16:9

16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit ¹²  to her authority.

Psalms 44:21

44:21 would not God discover it,

for he knows ¹³  one’s thoughts? ¹⁴ 

Psalms 139:1-3

Psalm 139 ¹⁵ 

For the music director, a psalm of David.

139:1 O Lord, you examine me ¹⁶  and know.

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; ¹⁷ 

you are aware of everything I do. ¹⁸ 

Proverbs 5:21

5:21 For the ways of a person ¹⁹  are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord ²⁰  weighs ²¹  all that person’s ²²  paths.

Proverbs 15:3

15:3 The eyes of the Lord ²³  are in every place,

keeping watch ²⁴  on those who are evil and those who are good.

Jeremiah 16:17

16:17 For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it. ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 32:19

32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ²⁶  You see everything people do. ²⁷  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ²⁸ 

John 1:48

1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, ²⁹  “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, ³⁰  I saw you.”

Hebrews 4:13

4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ³¹  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

[14:16]  ¹ sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.

[14:16]  ² tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.

[14:16]  ³ sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O Lord, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, in order that you might be feared.”

[14:16]  ⁴ tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.

[34:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (a person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).

[16:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “after one who sees me.”

[16:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

[16:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[16:9]  ¹² tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.

[44:21]  ¹³ tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.

[44:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.

[139:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.

[139:1]  ¹⁶ tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.

[139:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).

[139:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all my ways.”

[5:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “man.”

[5:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ²¹ tn BDB 814 s.v. פָּלַס 2 suggests that the participle מְפַּלֵּס (mÿpalles) means “to make level [or, straight].” As one’s ways are in front of the eyes of the Lord, they become straight or right. It could be translated “weighs” since it is a denominative from the noun for “balance, scale”; the Lord weighs or examines the actions.

[5:21]  ²² tn Heb “all his”; the referent (the person mentioned in the first half of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:3]  ²³ sn The proverb uses anthropomorphic language to describe God’s exacting and evaluating knowledge of all people.

[15:3]  ²⁴ tn The form צֹפוֹת (tsofot, “watching”) is a feminine plural participle agreeing with “eyes.” God’s watching eyes comfort good people but convict evil.

[16:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “For my eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from before me. And their sin is not hidden away from before my eyes.”

[32:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”

[32:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”

[32:19]  ²⁸ tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

[1:48]  ²⁹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”

[1:48]  ³⁰ sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)

[4:13]  ³¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.