Discovery BoxJob 15:32
Context15:32 Before his time 1 he will be paid in full, 2
and his branches will not flourish. 3
Job 21:23-25
Context21:23 “One man dies in his full vigor, 4
completely secure and prosperous,
21:24 his body 5 well nourished, 6
and the marrow of his bones moist. 7
21:25 And another man 8 dies in bitterness of soul, 9
never having tasted 10 anything good.
Job 22:16
Context22:16 men 11 who were carried off 12 before their time, 13
when the flood 14 was poured out 15
on their foundations? 16
Genesis 38:7-10
Context38:7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord killed him.
38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with 17 your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise 18 up a descendant for your brother.” 19 38:9 But Onan knew that the child 20 would not be considered his. 21 So whenever 22 he had sexual relations with 23 his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely 24 so as not to give his brother a descendant. 38:10 What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord 25 killed him too.
Leviticus 10:1-2
Context10:1 Then 26 Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire 27 before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. 10:2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord 28 and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.
Psalms 55:23
Context55:23 But you, O God, will bring them 29 down to the deep Pit. 30
Violent and deceitful people 31 will not live even half a normal lifespan. 32
But as for me, I trust in you.
[15:32] 1 tn Heb “before his day.”
[15:32] 2 tn Those who put the last colon of v. 31 with v. 32 also have to change the verb תִּמָּלֵא (timmale’, “will be fulfilled”). E. Dhorme (Job, 225) says, “a mere glance at the use of yimmal…abundantly proves that the original text had timmal (G, Syr., Vulg), which became timmale’ through the accidental transposition of the ‘alep of bÿsi’o…in verse 31….” This, of course, is possible, if all the other changes up to now are granted. But the meaning of a word elsewhere in no way assures it should be the word here. The LXX has “his harvest shall perish before the time,” which could translate any number of words that might have been in the underlying Hebrew text. A commercial metaphor is not out of place here, since parallelism does not demand that the same metaphor appear in both lines.
[15:32] 3 tn Now, in the second half of the verse, the metaphor of a tree with branches begins.
[21:23] 4 tn The line has “in the bone of his perfection.” The word עֶצֶם (’etsem), which means “bone,” is used pronominally to express “the same, very”; here it is “in the very fullness of his strength” (see GKC 449 §139.g). The abstract תֹּם (tom) is used here in the sense of physical perfection and strengths.
[21:24] 5 tn The verb עָטַן (’atan) has the precise meaning of “press olives.” But because here it says “full of milk,” the derived meaning for the noun has been made to mean “breasts” or “pails” (although in later Hebrew this word occurs – but with olives, not with milk). Dhorme takes it to refer to “his sides,” and repoints the word for “milk” (חָלָב, khalav) to get “fat” (חֶלֶב, khelev) – “his sides are full of fat,” a rendering followed by NASB. However, this weakens the parallelism.
[21:24] 6 tn This interpretation, adopted by several commentaries and modern translations (cf. NAB, NIV), is a general rendering to capture the sense of the line.
[21:24] 7 tn The verb שָׁקָה (shaqah) means “to water” and here “to be watered thoroughly.” The picture in the line is that of health and vigor.
[21:25] 8 tn The expression “this (v. 23)…and this” (v. 25) means “one…the other.”
[21:25] 9 tn The text literally has “and this [man] dies in soul of bitterness.” Some simply reverse it and translate “in the bitterness of soul.” The genitive “bitterness” may be an attribute adjective, “with a bitter soul.”
[21:25] 10 tn Heb “eaten what is good.” It means he died without having enjoyed the good life.
[22:16] 11 tn The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”
[22:16] 12 tn The verb קָמַט (qamat) basically means “to seize; to tie together to make a bundle.” So the Pual will mean “to be bundled away; to be carried off.”
[22:16] 13 tn The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.
[22:16] 14 tn The word is נָהַר (nahar, “river” or “current”); it is taken here in its broadest sense of the waters on the earth that formed the current of the flood (Gen 7:6, 10).
[22:16] 15 tn The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out; to shed; to spill; to flow.” The Pual means “to be poured out” (as in Lev 21:10 and Ps 45:3).
[22:16] 16 tn This word is then to be taken as an adverbial accusative of place. Another way to look at this verse is what A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) proposes “whose foundation was poured away and became a flood.” This would mean that that on which they stood sank away.
[38:8] 17 tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:8] 18 tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.
[38:8] 19 sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.
[38:9] 21 tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.
[38:9] 22 tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.
[38:9] 23 tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:9] 24 tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.
[38:10] 25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[10:1] 26 tn Although it has been used elsewhere in this translation as an English variation from the ubiquitous use of vav in Hebrew, in this instance “then” as a rendering for vav is intended to show that the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe took place on the inauguration day described in Lev 9. The tragic incident in Lev 10 happened in close temporal connection to the
[10:1] 27 tn The expression “strange fire” (אֵשׁ זָרָה, ’esh zarah) seems imprecise (cf. NAB “profane fire”; NIV “unauthorized fire”; NRSV “unholy fire”; NLT “a different kind of fire”) and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from someplace other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” אִישׁ זָר (’ish zar) in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” קְטֹרֶת זָרָה (qÿtoreh zarah) on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).
[10:2] 28 tn See the note on 9:24a.
[55:23] 29 tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).
[55:23] 30 tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).
