Job 23:13

23:13 But he is unchangeable, ¹  and who can change ²  him?

Whatever he ³  has desired, he does.

Job 34:29

34:29 But if God ⁴  is quiet, who can condemn ⁵  him?

If he hides his face, then who can see him?

Yet ⁶  he is over the individual and the nation alike, ⁷ 

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ⁸ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ⁹  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

Ephesians 1:11

1:11 In Christ ¹⁰  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ¹¹  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

[23:13]  ¹ tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).

[23:13]  ² tn Heb “cause him to return.”

[23:13]  ³ tn Or “his soul.”

[34:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:29]  ⁵ tn The verb in this position is somewhat difficult, although it does make good sense in the sentence – it is just not what the parallelism would suggest. So several emendations have been put forward, for which see the commentaries.

[34:29]  ⁶ tn The line simply reads “and over a nation and over a man together.” But it must be the qualification for the points being made in the previous lines, namely, that even if God hides himself so no one can see, yet he is still watching over them all (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 222).

[34:29]  ⁷ tn The word translated “alike” (Heb “together”) has bothered some interpreters. In the reading taken here it is acceptable. But others have emended it to gain a verb, such as “he visits” (Beer), “he watches over” (Duhm), “he is compassionate” (Kissane), etc. But it is sufficient to say “he is over.”

[4:35]  ⁸ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ⁹ tn Aram “strikes against.”

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.