Job 2:3

2:3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly ¹  to his integrity, ²  so that ³  you stirred me up to destroy him ⁴  without reason.” ⁵ 

Job 27:6

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness

and never let it go;

my conscience ⁶  will not reproach me

for as long as I live. ⁷ 

Proverbs 23:23

23:23 Acquire ⁸  truth and do not sell it –

wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.

Proverbs 23:1

23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully ⁹  what ¹⁰  is before you,

Proverbs 5:21

5:21 For the ways of a person ¹¹  are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord ¹²  weighs ¹³  all that person’s ¹⁴  paths.

Proverbs 5:2

5:2 in order to safeguard ¹⁵  discretion, ¹⁶ 

and that your lips may guard knowledge.

Proverbs 2:15

2:15 whose paths ¹⁷  are morally crooked, ¹⁸ 

and who are devious ¹⁹  in their ways;

Proverbs 2:2

2:2 by making ²⁰  your ear ²¹  attentive to wisdom,

and ²²  by turning ²³  your heart ²⁴  to understanding,

Proverbs 1:13

1:13 We will seize ²⁵  all kinds ²⁶  of precious wealth;

we will fill our houses with plunder. ²⁷ 

Jude 1:3

Condemnation of the False Teachers

1:3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you ²⁸  about our common salvation, I now feel compelled ²⁹  instead to write to encourage ³⁰  you to contend earnestly ³¹  for the faith ³²  that was once for all ³³  entrusted to the saints. ³⁴ 

Revelation 2:25

2:25 However, hold on to what you have until I come.

Revelation 3:3

3:3 Therefore, remember what you received and heard, ³⁵  and obey it, ³⁶  and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never ³⁷  know at what hour I will come against ³⁸  you.

Revelation 3:11

3:11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one can take away ³⁹  your crown. ⁴⁰ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn The form is the Hiphil participle, “make strong, seize, hold fast.” It is the verbal use here; joined with עֹדֶנּוּ (’odennu, “yet he”) it emphasizes that “he is still holding firmly.” The testing has simply strengthened Job in his integrity.

[2:3]  ² tn This is the same word used to describe Job as “blameless, pure.” Here it carries the idea of “integrity”; Job remained blameless, perfect.

[2:3]  ³ tn The vav (ו) with the preterite is used here to express the logical conclusion or consequence of what was stated previously. God is saying that Job has maintained his integrity, so that now it is clear that Satan moved against him groundlessly (GKC 328 §111.l).

[2:3]  ⁴ tn The verb literally means “to swallow”; it forms an implied comparison in the line, indicating the desire of Satan to ruin him completely. See A Guillaume, “A Note on the Root bala`,” JTS 13 (1962): 320-23; and N. M. Sarna, “Epic Substratum in the Prose of Job,”JBL 76 (1957): 13-25, for a discussion of the Ugaritic deity Mot swallowing up the enemy.

[2:3]  ⁵ sn Once again the adverb חִנָּם (khinnam, “gratis”) is used. It means “graciously, gratis, free, without cause, for no reason.” Here the sense has to be gratuitously, for no reason.” The point of the verb חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”) and its derivatives is that the action is undeserved. In fact, they would deserve the opposite. Sinners seeking grace deserve punishment. Here, Job deserves reward, not suffering.

[27:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “my heart.”

[27:6]  ⁷ tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”

[23:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “buy” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “Invest in truth.”

[23:1]  ⁹ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense of instruction with the infinitive absolute to emphasize the careful discernment required on such occasions. Cf. NIV “note well”; NLT “pay attention.”

[23:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “who,” referring to the ruler (so ASV, NAB, TEV).

[5:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “man.”

[5:21]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all his”; the referent (the person mentioned in the first half of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “keep, protect, guard.”

[5:2]  ¹⁶ sn This “discretion” is the same word in 1:4; it is wise, prudential consideration, careful planning, or the ability to devise plans with a view to the best way to carry them out. If that ability is retained then temptations to digress will not interfere.

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn The noun in this relative clause is an accusative of specification: The evil people are twisted with respect to their paths/conduct.

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “crooked.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh, “crooked; twisted”) uses the morphological pattern of adjectives that depict permanent bodily defects, e.g., blindness, lameness. Their actions are morally defective and, apart from repentance, are permanently crooked and twisted.

[2:15]  ¹⁹ tn The Niphal participle of לוּז (luz, “devious; crooked”) describes conduct that is morally deceptive, crafty, and cunning (Isa 30:12).

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַקְשִׁיב (lÿhaqshiv, “by making attentive”) functions as an epexegetical explanation of how one will receive the instruction.

[2:2]  ²¹ sn The word “ear” is a metonymy of cause; the word is used as the instrument of hearing. But in parallelism with “heart” it indicates one aspect of the mental process of hearing and understanding. A “hearing ear” describes an obedient or responsive person (BDB 24 s.v. אֹזֶן 2).

[2:2]  ²² tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[2:2]  ²³ tn The Hiphil imperfect (“by turning”) continues the nuance introduced by the infinitive construct in the first colon (GKC 352 §114.r). The verb נָטָה (natah) normally means “to stretch out” and only occasionally “to turn” or “to incline” one’s heart to something, as is the case here.

[2:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “mind” (the center of the will, the choice).

[1:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “find.” The use of the verb מָצָא (matsa’, “to find”) is deliberate understatement to rhetorically down-play the heinous act of thievery.

[1:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all wealth of preciousness.”

[1:13]  ²⁷ tn The noun שָׁלָל (shalal, “plunder”) functions as an adverbial accusative of material: “with plunder.” This term is normally used for the spoils of war (e.g., Deut 20:14; Josh 7:21; Judg 8:24, 25; 1 Sam 30:20) but here refers to “stolen goods” (so NCV, CEV; e.g., Isa 10:2; Prov 16:19; BDB 1022 s.v. 3). The enticement was to join a criminal gang and adopt a life of crime to enjoy ill-gotten gain (A. Cohen, Proverbs, 4). Cf. NAB, NRSV “booty”; TEV “loot.”

[1:3]  ²⁸ tn Grk “while being quite diligent to write to you,” or “while making all haste to write to you.” Two issues are at stake: (1) whether σπουδή (spoudh) here means diligence, eagerness, or haste; (2) whether ποιούμενος γράφειν (poioumeno" grafein) is to be taken conatively (“I was about to write”) or progressively (“I was writing”). Without knowing more of the background, it is difficult to tell which option is to be preferred.

[1:3]  ²⁹ tn Grk “I had the necessity.” The term ἀνάγκη (anankh, “necessity”) often connotes urgency or distress. In this context, Jude is indicating that the more comprehensive treatment about the faith shared between himself and his readers was not nearly as urgent as the letter he found it now necessary to write.

[1:3]  ³⁰ tn Grk “encouraging.” Παρακαλῶν (parakalwn) is most likely a telic participle. In keeping with other participles of purpose, it is present tense and occurs after the main verb.

[1:3]  ³¹ tn the verb ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagwnizomai) is an intensive form of ἀγωνίζομαι (agwnizomai). As such, the notion of struggling, fighting, contending, etc. is heightened.

[1:3]  ³² tn Τῇ πίστει (th pistei) here is taken as a dative of advantage (“on behalf of the faith”). Though rare (see BDAG 820 s.v. 3), it is not unexampled and must have this meaning here.

[1:3]  ³³ sn The adverb once for all (ἅπαξ, Japax) seems to indicate that the doctrinal convictions of the early church had been substantially codified. That is to say, Jude could appeal to written documents of the Christian faith in his arguments with the false teachers. Most likely, these documents were the letters of Paul and perhaps one or more gospels. First and Second Peter may also have been among the documents Jude has in mind (see also the note on the phrase entrusted to the saints in this verse).

[1:3]  ³⁴ sn I now feel compelled instead…saints. Apparently news of some crisis has reached Jude, prompting him to write a different letter than what he had originally planned. A plausible scenario (assuming authenticity of 2 Peter or at least that there are authentic Petrine snippets in it) is that after Peter’s death, Jude intended to write to the same Gentile readers that Peter had written to (essentially, Paul’s churches). Jude starts by affirming that the gospel the Gentiles had received from Paul was the same as the one the Jewish Christians had received from the other apostles (our common salvation). But in the midst of writing this letter, Jude felt that the present crisis deserved another, shorter piece. The crisis, as the letter reveals, is that the false teachers whom Peter prophesied have now infiltrated the church. The letter of Jude is thus an ad hoc letter, intended to confirm the truth of Peter’s letter and encourage the saints to ground their faith in the written documents of the nascent church, rather than listen to the twisted gospel of the false teachers. In large measure, the letter of Jude illustrates the necessity of clinging to the authority of scripture as opposed to those who claim to be prophets.

[3:3]  ³⁵ tn The expression πῶς εἴληφας καὶ ἤκουσας (pw" eilhfa" kai hkousa") probably refers to the initial instruction in the Christian life they had received and been taught; this included doctrine and ethical teaching.

[3:3]  ³⁶ tn Grk “keep it,” in the sense of obeying what they had initially been taught.

[3:3]  ³⁷ tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh, the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek).

[3:3]  ³⁸ tn Or “come on.”

[3:11]  ³⁹ tn On the verb λάβῃ (labh) here BDAG 583 s.v. λαμβάνω 2 states, “to take away, remove…with or without the use of force τὰ ἀργύρια take away the silver coins (fr. the temple) Mt 27:6. τὰς ἀσθενείας diseases 8:17. τὸν στέφανον Rv 3:11.”

[3:11]  ⁴⁰ sn Your crown refers to a wreath consisting either of foliage or of precious metals formed to resemble foliage and worn as a symbol of honor, victory, or as a badge of high office – ‘wreath, crown’ (L&N 6.192).