Job 33:27-28

33:27 That person sings ¹  to others, ²  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ³ 

33:28 He redeemed my life ⁴ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Psalms 102:19-20

102:19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above; ⁵ 

from heaven the Lord will look toward earth, ⁶ 

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ⁷ 

Isaiah 57:15-18

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ⁸  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ⁹ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹⁰ 

57:16 For I will not be hostile ¹¹  forever

or perpetually angry,

for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, ¹² 

the life-giving breath I created.

57:17 I was angry because of their sinful greed;

I attacked them and angrily rejected them, ¹³ 

yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. ¹⁴ 

57:18 I have seen their behavior, ¹⁵ 

but I will heal them and give them rest,

and I will once again console those who mourn. ¹⁶ 

Hosea 5:15--6:2

5:15 Then I will return again to my lair

until they have suffered their punishment. ¹⁷ 

Then they will seek me; ¹⁸ 

in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Superficial Repentance Breeds False Assurance of God’s Forgiveness

6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!

He himself has torn us to pieces,

but he will heal us!

He has injured ¹⁹  us,

but he will bandage our wounds!

6:2 He will restore ²⁰  us in a very short time; ²¹ 

he will heal us in a little while, ²² 

so that we may live in his presence.

Luke 15:20

15:20 So ²³  he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home ²⁴  his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; ²⁵  he ran and hugged ²⁶  his son ²⁷  and kissed him.

[33:27]  ¹ tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ² tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ³ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”

[33:28]  ⁴ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[102:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”

[102:19]  ⁶ tn The perfect verbal forms in v. 19 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 18.

[102:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

[57:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[57:16]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “argue,” or “accuse” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:16]  ¹² tn Heb “for a spirit from before me would be faint.”

[57:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I struck him, hiding, and I was angry.” פָּנַיִם (panayim, “face”) is the implied object of “hiding.”

[57:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he walked [as an] apostate in the way of his heart.”

[57:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”

[57:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”

[5:15]  ¹⁷ tn The verb יֶאְשְׁמוּ (ye’shÿmu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from אָשַׁם, ’asham, “to be guilty”) means “to bear their punishment” (Ps 34:22-23; Prov 30:10; Isa 24:6; Jer 2:3; Hos 5:15; 10:2; 14:1; Zech 11:5; Ezek 6:6; BDB 79 s.v. אָשַׁם 3). Many English versions translate this as “admit their guilt” (NIV, NLT) or “acknowledge their guilt” (NASB, NRSV), but cf. NAB “pay for their guilt” and TEV “have suffered enough for their sins.”

[5:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “seek my face” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “seek my presence.”

[6:1]  ¹⁹ tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”

[6:2]  ²⁰ tn The Piel of חָיָה (khayah) may mean: (1) to keep/preserve persons alive from the threat of premature death (1 Kgs 20:31; Ezek 13:18; 18:27); (2) to restore the dead to physical life (Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; cf. NCV “will put new life in us”); or (3) to restore the dying back to life from the threat of death (Ps 71:20; BDB 311 s.v. חָיָה).

[6:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “after two days” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV). The expression “after two days” is an idiom meaning “after a short time” (see, e.g., Judg 11:4; BDB 399 s.v. יוֹם 5.a).

[6:2]  ²² tn Heb “on the third day” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV), which parallels “after two days” and means “in a little while.” The “2-3” sequence is an example of graded numerical parallelism (Prov 30:15-16, 18-19, 21-23, 24-28, 29-31). This expresses the unrepentant overconfidence of Israel that the Lord’s discipline of Israel would be relatively short and that he would restore them quickly.

[15:20]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the son’s decision to return home. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[15:20]  ²⁴ tn Grk “a long way off from [home].” The word “home” is implied (L&N 85.16).

[15:20]  ²⁵ tn Or “felt great affection for him,” “felt great pity for him.”

[15:20]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he fell on his neck,” an idiom for showing special affection for someone by throwing one’s arms around them. The picture is of the father hanging on the son’s neck in welcome.

[15:20]  ²⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.