Job 2:11

The Visit of Job’s Friends ¹ 

2:11 When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country ²  – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. ³  They met together ⁴  to come to show sympathy ⁵  for him and to console ⁶  him.

Job 4:4

4:4 Your words have supported ⁷  those

who stumbled, ⁸ 

and you have strengthened the knees

that gave way. ⁹ 

Job 16:5

16:5 But ¹⁰  I would strengthen ¹¹  you with my words; ¹² 

comfort from my lips would bring ¹³  you relief.

Genesis 37:35

37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by ¹⁴  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ¹⁵  So Joseph’s ¹⁶  father wept for him.

Isaiah 35:3-4

35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,

steady the knees that shake! ¹⁷ 

35:4 Tell those who panic, ¹⁸ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ¹⁹ 

John 11:19

11:19 so many of the Jewish people of the region ²⁰  had come to Martha and Mary to console them ²¹  over the loss of their brother.) ²² 

Romans 12:15

12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ²³  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ²⁴  – which is your reasonable service.

Colossians 1:26

1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints.

Hebrews 12:12

12:12 Therefore, strengthen ²⁵  your listless hands and your weak knees, ²⁶ 

Hebrews 13:3

13:3 Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them, ²⁷  and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment. ²⁸ 

[2:11]  ¹ sn See N. C. Habel, “‘Only the Jackal is My Friend,’ On Friends and Redeemers in Job,” Int 31 (1977): 227-36.

[2:11]  ² tn Heb “a man from his place”; this is the distributive use, meaning “each man came from his place.”

[2:11]  ³ sn Commentators have tried to analyze the meanings of the names of the friends and their locations. Not only has this proven to be difficult (Teman is the only place that is known), it is not necessary for the study of the book. The names are probably not symbolic of the things they say.

[2:11]  ⁴ tn The verb can mean that they “agreed together”; but it also (and more likely) means that they came together at a meeting point to go visit Job together.

[2:11]  ⁵ tn The verb “to show grief” is נוּד (nud), and literally signifies “to shake the head.” It may be that his friends came to show the proper sympathy and express the appropriate feelings. They were not ready for what they found.

[2:11]  ⁶ tn The second infinitive is from נָחָם (nakham, “to comfort, console” in the Piel). This word may be derived from a word with a meaning of sighing deeply.

[4:4]  ⁷ tn Both verbs in this line are imperfects, and probably carry the same nuance as the last verb in v. 3, namely, either customary imperfect or preterite. The customary has the aspect of stressing that this was what Job used to do.

[4:4]  ⁸ tn The form is the singular active participle, interpreted here collectively. The verb is used of knees that give way (Isa 35:3; Ps 109:24).

[4:4]  ⁹ tn The expression is often translated as “feeble knees,” but it literally says “the bowing [or “tottering”] knees.” The figure is one who may be under a heavy load whose knees begin to shake and buckle (see also Heb 12:12).

[16:5]  ¹⁰ tn “But” has been added in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

[16:5]  ¹¹ tn The Piel of אָמַץ (’amats) means “to strengthen, fortify.”

[16:5]  ¹² tn Heb “my mouth.”

[16:5]  ¹³ tn The verb יַחְשֹׂךְ (yakhsokh) means “to restrain; to withhold.” There is no object, so many make it first person subject, “I will not restrain.” The LXX and the Syriac have a different person – “I would not restrain.” G. R. Driver, arguing that the verb is intransitive here, made it “the solace of my lips would not [added] be withheld” (see JTS 34 [1933]: 380). D. J. A. Clines says that what is definitive is the use of the verb in the next line, where it clearly means “soothed, assuaged.”

[37:35]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.

[37:35]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Indeed I will go down to my son mourning to Sheol.’” Sheol was viewed as the place where departed spirits went after death.

[37:35]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”

[35:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ¹⁹ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[11:19]  ²⁰ tn Or “many of the Judeans” (cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e); Grk “many of the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding area in general (those who had been friends or relatives of Lazarus or his sisters would mainly be in view) since the Jewish religious authorities (“the chief priests and the Pharisees”) are specifically mentioned as a separate group in John 11:46-47. See also the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 8.

[11:19]  ²¹ tn Or “to comfort them” or “to offer them sympathy.”

[11:19]  ²² tn Grk “to comfort them concerning their brother”; the words “loss of” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[12:1]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ²⁴ 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.

[12:12]  ²⁵ tn Or “straighten.”

[12:12]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 35:3. Strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees refers to the readers’ need for renewed resolve and fresh strength in their struggles (cf. Heb 10:36-39; 12:1-3).

[13:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “as being imprisoned together.”

[13:3]  ²⁸ tn Or “since you too are vulnerable”; Grk “you also being in the body.”