Job 29:12-17

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ¹  had no one to assist him;

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, ² 

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; ³ 

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, ⁴ 

my just dealing ⁵  was like a robe and a turban;

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father ⁶  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

29:17 I broke the fangs ⁷  of the wicked,

and made him drop ⁸  his prey from his teeth.

Psalms 40:8

40:8 I want to do what pleases you, ⁹  my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 112:1

Psalm 112 ¹¹ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ¹²  who obeys ¹³  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 119:16

119:16 I find delight ¹⁵  in your statutes;

I do not forget your instructions. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 119:92

119:92 If I had not found encouragement in your law, ¹⁷ 

I would have died in my sorrow. ¹⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 3:12

Enjoy Life in the Present

3:12 I have concluded ¹⁹  that there is nothing better for people ²⁰ 

than ²¹  to be happy and to enjoy

themselves ²²  as long as they live,

Isaiah 64:5

64:5 You assist ²³  those who delight in doing what is right, ²⁴ 

who observe your commandments. ²⁵ 

Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.

How then can we be saved? ²⁶ 

John 4:34

4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me ²⁷  and to complete ²⁸  his work. ²⁹ 

Romans 7:22

7:22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being.

[29:12]  ¹ tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).

[29:13]  ² tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).

[29:13]  ³ tn The verb אַרְנִן (’arnin) is from רָנַן (ranan, “to give a ringing cry”) but here “cause to give a ringing cry,” i.e., shout of joy. The rejoicing envisioned in this word is far greater than what the words “sing” or “rejoice” suggest.

[29:14]  ⁴ tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.

[29:14]  ⁵ tn The word מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) is simply “my justice” or “my judgment.” It refers to the decisions he made in settling issues, how he dealt with other people justly.

[29:16]  ⁶ sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.

[29:17]  ⁷ tn The word rendered “fangs” actually means “teeth,” i.e., the molars probably; it is used frequently of the teeth of wild beasts. Of course, the language is here figurative, comparing the oppressing enemy to a preying animal.

[29:17]  ⁸ tn “I made [him] drop.” The verb means “to throw; to cast,” throw in the sense of “to throw away.” But in the context with the figure of the beast with prey in its mouth, “drop” or “cast away” is the idea. Driver finds another cognate meaning “rescue” (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

[40:8]  ⁹ tn Or “your will.”

[40:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.

[112:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ¹² tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[119:16]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfects in this verse emphasize the attitude the psalmist maintains toward God’s law. Another option is to translate with the future tense, “I will find delight…I will not forget.”

[119:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural here.

[119:92]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “if your law had not been my delight.”

[119:92]  ¹⁸ tn Or “my suffering.”

[3:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I know.”

[3:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for them”; the referent (people, i.e., mankind) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:12]  ²¹ tn Qoheleth uses the exceptive particle אִם…כִּי (ki…’im, “except”) to identify the only exception to the futility within man’s life (BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 2).

[3:12]  ²² tn Heb “to do good.” The phrase לַעֲשׂוֹת טוֹב (la’asot tov) functions idiomatically for “to experience [or see] happiness [or joy].” The verb עָשַׂה (’asah) probably denotes “to acquire; to obtain” (BDB 795 s.v. עָשַׂה II.7), and טוֹב (tov) means “good; pleasure; happiness,” e.g., Eccl 2:24; 3:13; 5:17 (BDB 375 s.v. טוֹב 1).

[64:5]  ²³ tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”

[64:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”

[64:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”

[64:5]  ²⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).

[4:34]  ²⁷ sn The one who sent me refers to the Father.

[4:34]  ²⁸ tn Or “to accomplish.”

[4:34]  ²⁹ tn The substantival ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as an English infinitive clause.