Job 31:13-15

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ¹  with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ² 

when he intervenes, ³ 

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? ⁴ 

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

Proverbs 12:10

12:10 A righteous person cares for ⁵  the life of his animal,

but even the most compassionate acts ⁶  of the wicked are cruel.

James 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁷  judgment.

[31:13]  ¹ tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.

[31:14]  ² tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”

[31:14]  ³ tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”

[31:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).

[12:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “knows”; NLT “concerned for the welfare of.” The righteous take care of animals, not just people.

[12:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “but the mercies.” The additional words appear in the translation for the sake of clarification. The line can be interpreted in two ways: (1) when the wicked exhibit a kind act, they do it in a cruel way, or (2) even the kindest of their acts is cruel by all assessments, e.g., stuffing animals with food to fatten them for market – their “kindness” is driven by ulterior motives (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 129).

[2:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.