Job 22:28

22:28 Whatever you decide ¹  on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

Ecclesiastes 9:1

Everyone Will Die

9:1 So I reflected on all this, ²  attempting to clear ³  it all up.

I concluded that ⁴  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;

whether a person will be loved or hated ⁵  –

no one knows what lies ahead. ⁶ 

Lamentations 3:37

מ (Mem)

3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled ⁷ 

unless the Lord ⁸  decreed it?

James 4:15

4:15 You ought to say instead, ⁹  “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”

[22:28]  ¹ tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.

[9:1]  ² tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”

[9:1]  ³ tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction + Qal infinitive construct from בּוּר, bur, “to make clear”) denotes “to examine; to make clear; to clear up; to explain” (HALOT 116 s.v. בור; BDB 101 s.v. בּוּר). The term is related to Arabic baraw “to examine” (G. R. Driver, “Supposed Arabisms in the Old Testament,” JBL 55 [1936]: 108). This verb is related to the Hebrew noun בֹּר (bor, “cleanness”) and adjective בַּר (bar, “clean”). The term is used in the OT only in Ecclesiastes (1:13; 2:3; 7:25; 9:1). This use of the infinitive has a connotative sense (“attempting to”), and functions in a complementary sense, relative to the main verb.

[9:1]  ⁴ tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”

[9:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”

[3:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “Who is this, he spoke and it came to pass?” The general sense is to ask whose commands are fulfilled. The phrase “he spoke and it came to pass” is taken as an allusion to the creation account (see Gen 1:3).

[3:37]  ⁸ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[4:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “instead of your saying.”