Job 32:18

32:18 For I am full of words,

and the spirit within me ¹  constrains me. ² 

Job 32:20

32:20 I will speak, ³  so that I may find relief;

I will open my lips, so that I may answer.

Psalms 50:2

50:2 From Zion, the most beautiful of all places, ⁴ 

God comes in splendor. ⁵ 

Psalms 83:1-2

Psalm 83 ⁶ 

A song, a psalm of Asaph.

83:1 O God, do not be silent!

Do not ignore us! ⁷  Do not be inactive, O God!

83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;

those who hate you are hostile. ⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 8:11-12

8:11 When ⁹  a sentence ¹⁰  is not executed ¹¹  at once against a crime, ¹² 

the human heart ¹³  is encouraged to do evil. ¹⁴ 

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ¹⁵  and still live a long time, ¹⁶ 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ¹⁷  – for they stand in fear ¹⁸  before him.

Jeremiah 15:6

15:6 I, the Lord, say: ¹⁹  ‘You people have deserted me!

You keep turning your back on me.’ ²⁰ 

So I have unleashed my power against you ²¹  and have begun to destroy you. ²² 

I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!” ²³ 

Jeremiah 44:22

44:22 Finally the Lord could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses. ²⁴ 

Luke 18:7

18:7 Won’t ²⁵  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ²⁶  to him day and night? ²⁷  Will he delay ²⁸  long to help them?

Luke 18:2

18:2 He said, ²⁹  “In a certain city ³⁰  there was a judge ³¹  who neither feared God nor respected people. ³² 

Luke 3:9-10

3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, ³³  and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be ³⁴  cut down and thrown into the fire.”

3:10 So ³⁵  the crowds were asking ³⁶  him, “What then should we do?”

Luke 3:15

3:15 While the people were filled with anticipation ³⁷  and they all wondered ³⁸  whether perhaps John ³⁹  could be the Christ, ⁴⁰ 

[32:18]  ¹ tn Heb “the spirit of my belly.”

[32:18]  ² tn The verb צוּק (tsuq) means “to constrain; to urge; to press.” It is used in Judg 14:17; 16:16 with the sense of wearing someone down with repeated entreaties. Elihu cannot withhold himself any longer.

[32:20]  ³ tn The cohortative expresses Elihu’s resolve to speak.

[50:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the perfection of beauty.”

[50:2]  ⁶ tn Or “shines forth.”

[83:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 83. The psalmist asks God to deliver Israel from the attacks of foreign nations. Recalling how God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of Deborah and Gideon, he prays that the hostile nations would be humiliated.

[83:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “do not be deaf.”

[83:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.

[8:11]  ¹¹ tn The particle אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is used as a conjunction in a conditional/temporal clause to introduce the protasis (“when” or “if”), and עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken) introduces the apodosis (“then”); cf. BDB 83 s.v. אֲשֶׁר 8.d.

[8:11]  ¹² tn The noun פִתְגָם (fitgam, “decision; announcement; edict; decree”) is a loanword from Persian patigama (HALOT 984 s.v. פִּתְגָם; BDB 834 s.v. פִּתְגָם). The Hebrew noun occurs twice in the OT (Eccl 8:11; Esth 1:20), twice in the Apocrypha (Sir 5:11; 8:9), and five times in Qumran (11QtgJob 9:2; 29:4; 30:1; 34:3; 1QapGen 22:27). The English versions consistently nuance this as a judicial sentence against a crime: “sentence” (KJV, NEB, NAB, ASV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, MLB, YLT), “sentence for a crime” (NIV), “sentence imposed” (NJPS), “sentence on a crime” (Moffatt).

[8:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “is not done.” The verb עָשַׂה (’asah, “to do”) refers to a judicial sentence being carried out (HALOT 892 s.v. 2). The Niphal can denote “be executed; be carried out” of a sentence (Eccl 8:11) or royal decree (Esth 9:1; BDB 795 s.v. 1.a). Similarly, the Qal can denote “to execute” vengeance (Judg 11:36) or judgment (1 Sam 28:18; Isa 48:14; Ezek 25:11; 28:26; Ps 149:7, 9; BDB 794 s.v.).

[8:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the evil.”

[8:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the heart of the sons of man.” The singular noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) is used collectively. The term לֵב is often used figuratively (metonymy) in reference to inclinations and determinations of the will (BDB 525 s.v. 4), moral character (BDB 525 s.v. 6), and as a synecdoche for the man himself (BDB 525 s.v. 7).

[8:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “is full to do evil.” The verb מָלֵא (male’, “to fill”) is used figuratively (metonymy): the lack of swift judicial punishment only emboldens the wicked to commit more crimes without fear of retribution. Most English versions translate the term literally: “are filled” (NIV, MLB, YLT), “is fully set” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV). However, several versions nuance it figuratively: “emboldened” (ASV, NJPS) and “boldly” (NEB). Moffatt renders the line, “Because sentence on a crime is not executed at once, the mind of man is prone to evil practices.”

[8:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

[8:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

[8:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

[8:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they fear.”

[15:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.” In the original text this phrase is found between “you have deserted me” and “you keep turning your back on me.” It is put at the beginning and converted to first person for sake of English style and clarity.

[15:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you are going backward.” This is the only occurrence of this adverb with this verb. It is often used with another verb meaning “turn backward” (= abandon; Heb סוּג [sug] in the Niphal). For examples see Jer 38:22; 46:5. The only other occurrence in Jeremiah has been in the unusual idiom in 7:24 where it was translated “they got worse and worse instead of better.” That is how J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 109) translates it here. However it is translated, it has connotations of apostasy.

[15:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stretched out my hand against you.” For this idiom see notes on 6:12.

[15:6]  ¹⁸ tn There is a difference of opinion on how the verbs here and in the following verses are to be rendered, whether past or future. KJV, NASB, NIV for example render them as future. ASV, RSV, TEV render them as past. NJPS has past here and future in vv. 7-9. This is perhaps the best solution. The imperfect + vav consecutive here responds to the perfect in the first line. The imperfects + vav consecutives followed by perfects in vv. 7-9 and concluded by an imperfect in v. 9 pick up the perfects + vav (ו) consecutives in vv. 3-4. Verses 7-9 are further development of the theme in vv. 1-4. Verses 5-6 have been an apostrophe or a turning aside to address Jerusalem directly. For a somewhat similar alternation of the tenses see Isa 5:14-17 and consult GKC 329-30 §111.w. One could of course argue that the imperfects + vav consecutive in vv. 7-9 continue the imperfect + vav consecutive here. In this case, vv. 7-9 are not a continuation of the oracle of doom but another lament by God (cf. 14:1-6, 17-18).

[15:6]  ¹⁹ sn It is difficult to be sure what intertextual connections are intended by the author in his use of vocabulary. The Hebrew word translated “grown tired” is not very common. It has been used twice before. In 9:5-6b where it refers to the people being unable to repent and in 6:11 where it refers to Jeremiah being tired or unable to hold back his anger because of that inability. Now God too has worn out his patience with them (cf. Isa 7:13).

[44:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And/Then the Lord could no longer endure because of the evil of your deeds [and] because of the detestable things that you did and [or so] your land became a desolation and a waste and an occasion of a curse without inhabitant as this day.” The sentence has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style, but an attempt has been made to preserve the causal and consequential connections.

[18:7]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:7]  ²⁰ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

[18:7]  ²¹ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

[18:7]  ²² sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.

[18:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”

[18:2]  ²² tn Or “town.”

[18:2]  ²³ sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.

[18:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[3:9]  ²³ sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).

[3:9]  ²⁴ tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.

[3:10]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.

[3:10]  ²⁶ tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.

[3:15]  ²⁷ tn Or “with expectation.” The participle προσδοκῶντος (prosdokwnto") is taken temporally.

[3:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “pondered in their hearts.”

[3:15]  ²⁹ tn Grk “in their hearts concerning John, (whether) perhaps he might be the Christ.” The translation simplifies the style here.

[3:15]  ³⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”