Job 33:3

33:3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart, ¹ 

and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely. ² 

Job 33:33

33:33 If not, you listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 38:2

38:2 “Who is this ³  who darkens counsel ⁴ 

with words without knowledge?

Psalms 49:1-4

Psalm 49 ⁵ 

For the music director, a psalm by the Korahites.

49:1 Listen to this, all you nations!

Pay attention, all you inhabitants of the world! ⁶ 

49:2 Pay attention, all you people, ⁷ 

both rich and poor!

49:3 I will declare a wise saying; ⁸ 

I will share my profound thoughts. ⁹ 

49:4 I will learn a song that imparts wisdom;

I will then sing my insightful song to the accompaniment of a harp. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 71:15-18

71:15 I will tell about your justice,

and all day long proclaim your salvation, ¹¹ 

though I cannot fathom its full extent. ¹² 

71:16 I will come and tell about ¹³  the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord.

I will proclaim your justice – yours alone.

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ¹⁴  your amazing deeds.

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ¹⁵ 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 8:6-9

8:6 Listen, for I will speak excellent things, ¹⁷ 

and my lips will utter ¹⁸  what is right.

8:7 For my mouth ¹⁹  speaks truth, ²⁰ 

and my lips ²¹  hate wickedness. ²² 

8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; ²³ 

there is nothing in them twisted ²⁴  or crooked.

8:9 All of them are clear ²⁵  to the discerning

and upright to those who find knowledge.

Acts 20:20

20:20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming ²⁶  to you anything that would be helpful, ²⁷  and from teaching you publicly ²⁸  and from house to house,

Acts 20:27

20:27 For I did not hold back from ²⁹  announcing ³⁰  to you the whole purpose ³¹  of God.

[33:3]  ¹ tc This expression is unusual; R. Gordis (Job, 371) says it can be translated, “the purity of my heart [is reflected] in my words,” but that is far-fetched and awkward. So there have been suggestions for emending יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”). Kissane’s makes the most sense if a change is desired: “shall reveal” (an Arabic sense of yasher), although Holscher interpreted “shall affirm” (yasher, with a Syriac sense). Dhorme has “my heart will repeat” (יָשׁוּר, yashur), but this is doubtful. If Kissane’s view is taken, it would say, “my heart will reveal my words.” Some commentators would join “and knowledge” to this colon, and read “words of knowledge” – but that requires even more emendations.

[33:3]  ² tn More literally, “and the knowledge of my lips they will speak purely.”

[38:2]  ³ tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here to emphasize the interrogative pronoun (see GKC 442 §136.c).

[38:2]  ⁴ sn The referent of “counsel” here is not the debate between Job and the friends, but the purposes of God (see Ps 33:10; Prov 19:21; Isa 19:17). Dhorme translates it “Providence.”

[49:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 49. In this so-called wisdom psalm (see v. 3) the psalmist states that he will not fear the rich enemies who threaten him, for despite their wealth, they are mere men who will die like everyone else. The psalmist is confident the Lord will vindicate the godly and protect them from the attacks of their oppressors.

[49:1]  ⁶ tn The rare noun חָלֶד (kheled, “world”) occurs in Ps 17:14 and perhaps also in Isa 38:11 (see the note on “world” there).

[49:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “even the sons of mankind, even the sons of man.” Because of the parallel line, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, some treat these expressions as polar opposites, with בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes (cf. NIV, NRSV). But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; 62:9; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand “even the sons of mankind” and “even the sons of man” as synonymous expressions (cf. NEB “all mankind, every living man”). The repetition emphasizes the need for all people to pay attention, for the psalmist’s message is relevant to everyone.

[49:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “my mouth will speak wisdom.” According to BDB 315 s.v. חָכְמָה the plural חָכְמוֹת (khokhmot, “wisdom”) indicates degree or emphasis here.

[49:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the meditation of my heart [i.e., mind] is understanding.” The Hebrew term הָגוּת (hagut, “meditation”), derived from הָגָה (hagah, “to recite quietly; to meditate”), here refers to thoughts that are verbalized (see the preceding line). The plural form תְבוּנוֹת (tÿvunot, “understanding”) indicates degree or emphasis (see GKC 397-98 §124.e).

[49:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will turn my ear to a wise saying, I will open [i.e., “reveal; explain”] my insightful saying with a harp.” In the first line the psalmist speaks as a pupil who learns a song of wisdom from a sage. This suggests that the resulting insightful song derives from another source, perhaps God himself. Elsewhere the Hebrew word pair חִידָה/מָשָׁל (mashal/khidah) refers to a taunt song (Hab 2:6), a parable (Ezek 17:2), lessons from history (Ps 78:2), and proverbial sayings (Prov 1:6). Here it appears to refer to the insightful song that follows, which reflects on the mortality of humankind and the ultimate inability of riches to prevent the inevitable – death. Another option is that the word pair refers more specifically to the closely related proverbial sayings of vv. 12, 20 (note the use of the verb מָשָׁל, mashal, “to be like” in both verses). In this case the psalmist first hears the sayings and then explains (Heb “opens”) their significance (see vv. 5-11, 13-19).

[71:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my mouth declares your vindication, all the day your deliverance.”

[71:15]  ¹² tn Heb “though I do not know [the] numbers,” that is, the tally of God’s just and saving acts. HALOT 768 s.v. סְפֹרוֹת understands the plural noun to mean “the art of writing.”

[71:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will come with.”

[71:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[71:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[8:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “noble” or “princely.” Wisdom begins the first motivation by claiming to speak noble things, that is, excellent things.

[8:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “opening of my lips” (so KJV, NASB). The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause, with the organ of speech put for what is said.

[8:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “roof of the mouth.” This expression is a metonymy of cause for the activity of speaking.

[8:7]  ²⁰ tn The word “truth” (אֱמֶת, ’emet) is derived from the verbal root אָמַן (’aman) which means “to support.” There are a number of derived nouns that have the sense of reliability: “pillars,” “master craftsman,” “nurse,” “guardian.” Modifiers related to this group of words includes things like “faithful,” “surely,” “truly” (amen). In the derived stems the verb develops various nuances: The Niphal has the meanings of “reliable, faithful, sure, steadfast,” and the Hiphil has the meaning “believe” (i.e., consider something dependable). The noun “truth” means what is reliable or dependable, firm or sure.

[8:7]  ²¹ sn Wise lips detest wickedness; wisdom hates speaking wicked things. In fact, speaking truth results in part from detesting wickedness.

[8:7]  ²² tn Heb “wickedness is an abomination to my lips” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[8:8]  ²³ tn The phrase could be rendered with an understood ellipsis: “all the words of my mouth [are said] in righteousness”; or the preposition could be interpreted as a beth essentiae: “all the words of my mouth are righteousness.”

[8:8]  ²⁴ sn The verb פָּתַל (patal) means “to twist.” In the Niphal it means “to wrestle” (to twist oneself). It was used in Gen 30:8 for the naming of Naphtali, with the motivation for the name from this verb: “with great struggling.” Here it describes speech that is twisted. It is a synonym for the next word, which means “twisted; crooked; perverse.”

[8:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “front of.” Describing the sayings as “right in front” means they are open, obvious, and clear, as opposed to words that might be twisted or perverse. The parallel word “upright” means “straight, smooth, right.” Wisdom’s teachings are in plain view and intelligible for those who find knowledge.

[20:20]  ²⁶ tn Or “declaring.”

[20:20]  ²⁷ tn Or “profitable.” BDAG 960 s.v. συμφέρω 2.b.α has “τὰ συμφέροντα what advances your best interests or what is good for you Ac 20:20,” but the broader meaning (s.v. 2, “to be advantageous, help, confer a benefit, be profitable/useful”) is equally possible in this context.

[20:20]  ²⁸ tn Or “openly.”

[20:27]  ²⁹ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

[20:27]  ³⁰ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ³¹ tn Or “plan.”