Job 31:20

31:20 whose heart did not bless me ¹ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ² 

Proverbs 29:2

29:2 When the righteous become numerous, ³  the people rejoice;

when the wicked rule, the people groan. ⁴ 

Luke 4:22

4:22 All ⁵  were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They ⁶  said, “Isn’t this ⁷  Joseph’s son?”

Luke 11:27

11:27 As ⁸  he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out ⁹  to him, “Blessed is the womb ¹⁰  that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!” ¹¹ 

[31:20]  ¹ tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).

[31:20]  ² tn This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed…?”

[29:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew form בִּרְבוֹת (birvot) is the Qal infinitive construct of רָבָה (ravah) with a בּ (bet) preposition, forming a temporal clause with a subjective genitive following it. It is paralleled in the second colon by the same construction, showing the antithesis: וּבִמְשֹׁל (uvimshol), “and when the wicked rule.” Some commentators wish to change the first verb to make it parallel this more closely, e.g., רָדָה (radah, “to rule”), but that would be too neat and is completely unsupported. The contrast is between when the righteous increase and when the wicked rule. It is not hard to see how this contrast works out in society.

[29:2]  ⁴ tn The Niphal verb אָנַח (’anakh) means “to sigh; to groan,” usually because of grief or physical and emotional distress. The word is a metonymy of effect; the cause is the oppression and distress due to evil rulers.

[4:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “And all.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “And they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:22]  ⁷ sn The form of the question assumes a positive reply. It really amounts to an objection, as Jesus’ response in the next verses shows. Jesus spoke smoothly and impressively. He made a wonderful declaration, but could a local carpenter’s son make such an offer? That was their real question.

[11:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “And it happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “lifted up her voice and said.” This idiom is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “spoke out.”

[11:27]  ¹⁰ tn For this term see L&N 8.69.

[11:27]  ¹¹ sn Both the reference to the womb and the breasts form a figure of speech called metonymy. In this case the parts are mentioned instead of the whole; the meaning is “Blessed is your mother!” The warnings seem to have sparked a little nervousness that brought forth this response. In the culture a mother was valued for the accomplishments of her son. So this amounts to a compliment to Jesus.