Job 42:8

42:8 So now take ¹  seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede ²  for you, and I will respect him, ³  so that I do not deal with you ⁴  according to your folly, ⁵  because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” ⁶ 

Genesis 18:26-32

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁷  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁸  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁹  the whole city because five are lacking?” ¹⁰  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ¹¹  spoke to him again, ¹²  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ¹³  said, “May the Lord not be angry ¹⁴  so that I may speak! ¹⁵  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ¹⁶  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ¹⁷  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

Isaiah 58:12

58:12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; ¹⁸ 

you will reestablish the ancient foundations.

You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls,

the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 5:1

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

5:1 The Lord said, ²⁰ 

“Go up and down ²¹  through the streets of Jerusalem. ²² 

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. ²³ 

If you can, ²⁴  then I will not punish this city. ²⁵ 

Acts 27:24

27:24 and said, ²⁶  ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before ²⁷  Caesar, ²⁸  and God has graciously granted you the safety ²⁹  of all who are sailing with you.’

[42:8]  ¹ tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.

[42:8]  ² tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”

[42:8]  ³ tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”

[42:8]  ⁴ tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.

[42:8]  ⁵ tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.

[42:8]  ⁶ sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.

[18:27]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁸ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[18:28]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ¹² tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ¹⁵ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[58:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they will build from you ancient ruins.”

[58:12]  ¹⁹ tc The Hebrew text has “the one who restores paths for dwelling.” The idea of “paths to dwell in” is not a common notion. Some have proposed emending נְתִיבוֹת (nÿtivot, “paths”) to נְתִיצוֹת (nÿtitsot, “ruins”), a passive participle from נָתַץ (natats, “tear down”; see HALOT 732 s.v. *נְתִיצָה), because tighter parallelism with the preceding line is achieved. However, none of the textual sources support this emendation. The line may mean that paths must be repaired in order to dwell in the land.

[5:1]  ²⁰ tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31 where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.

[5:1]  ²¹ tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.

[5:1]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:1]  ²³ tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”

[5:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”

[5:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”

[27:24]  ²⁶ tn Grk “came to me saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:24]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 2.a.α states, “Also as a t.t. of legal usage appear before, come before…Καίσαρι σε δεῖ παραστῆναι you must stand before the Emperor (as judge) Ac 27:24.” See Acts 23:11. Luke uses the verb δεῖ (dei) to describe what must occur.

[27:24]  ²⁸ tn Or “before the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[27:24]  ²⁹ tn Grk “God has graciously granted you all who are sailing with you.” The words “the safety of” have been supplied to clarify the meaning of the verb κεχάρισται (kecaristai) in this context.