Job 5:12-13

5:12 He frustrates ¹  the plans ²  of the crafty ³ 

so that ⁴  their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned! ⁵ 

5:13 He catches ⁶  the wise in their own craftiness, ⁷ 

and the counsel of the cunning ⁸  is brought to a quick end. ⁹ 

Psalms 33:10-11

33:10 The Lord frustrates ¹⁰  the decisions of the nations;

he nullifies the plans ¹¹  of the peoples.

33:11 The Lord’s decisions stand forever;

his plans abide throughout the ages. ¹² 

Proverbs 21:30

21:30 There is no wisdom and there is no understanding,

and there is no counsel against ¹³  the Lord. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 8:10

8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted!

Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! ¹⁵ 

For God is with us! ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 28:17-18

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,

fairness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, ¹⁷ 

the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; ¹⁸ 

your agreement ¹⁹  with Sheol will not last. ²⁰ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, ²¹ 

you will be overrun by it. ²² 

Isaiah 30:1-3

Egypt Will Prove Unreliable

30:1 “The rebellious ²³  children are as good as dead,” ²⁴  says the Lord,

“those who make plans without consulting me, ²⁵ 

who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ²⁶ 

and thereby compound their sin. ²⁷ 

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ²⁸ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ²⁹ 

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Lamentations 3:37

מ (Mem)

3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled ³⁰ 

unless the Lord ³¹  decreed it?

Romans 3:31

3:31 Do we then nullify ³²  the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead ³³  we uphold the law.

Romans 4:14

4:14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. ³⁴ 

[5:12]  ¹ tn The Hiphil form מֵפֵר (mefer) is the participle from פָּרַר (parar, “to annul; to frustrate; to break”). It continues the doxological descriptions of God; but because of the numerous verses in this section, it may be clearer to start a new sentence with this form (rather than translating it “who…”).

[5:12]  ² tn The word is related to the verb “to think; to plan; to devise,” and so can mean “thoughts; plans; imagination.” Here it refers to the plan of the crafty that must be frustrated (see also Isa 44:25 for the contrast).

[5:12]  ³ tn The word עֲרוּמִים (’arumim) means “crafty” or “shrewd.” It describes the shrewdness of some to achieve their ends (see Gen 3:1, where the serpent is more cunning than all the creatures, that is, he knows where the dangers are and will attempt to bring down the innocent). In the next verse it describes the clever plans of the wise – those who are wise in their own sight.

[5:12]  ⁴ tn The consecutive clause showing result or purpose is simply introduced with the vav and the imperfect/jussive (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[5:12]  ⁵ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is a technical word from wisdom literature. It has either the idea of the faculty of foresight, or of prudence in general (see 12:6; 26:3). It can be parallel in the texts to “wisdom,” “counsel,” “help,” or “strength.” Here it refers to what has been planned ahead of time.

[5:13]  ⁶ tn The participles continue the description of God. Here he captures or ensnares the wise in their wickedly clever plans. See also Ps 7:16, where the wicked are caught in the pit they have dug – they are only wise in their own eyes.

[5:13]  ⁷ sn This is the only quotation from the Book of Job in the NT (although Rom 11:35 seems to reflect 41:11, and Phil 1:19 is similar to 13:6). Paul cites it in 1 Cor 3:19.

[5:13]  ⁸ tn The etymology of נִפְתָּלִים (niftalim) suggests a meaning of “twisted” (see Prov 8:8) in the sense of tortuous. See Gen 30:8; Ps 18:26 [27].

[5:13]  ⁹ tn The Niphal of מָהַר (mahar) means “to be hasty; to be irresponsible.” The meaning in the line may be understood in this sense: The counsel of the wily is hastened, that is, precipitated before it is ripe, i.e., frustrated (A. B. Davidson, Job, 39).

[33:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “breaks” or “destroys.” The Hebrew perfect verbal forms here and in the next line generalize about the Lord’s activity.

[33:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “thoughts.”

[33:11]  ¹² tn Heb “the thoughts of his heart for generation to generation.” The verb “abides” is supplied in the translation. The Lord’s “decisions” and “plans” here refer to his decrees and purposes.

[21:30]  ¹³ tn The form לְנֶגֶד (lÿneged) means “against; over against; in opposition to.” The line indicates they cannot in reality be in opposition, for human wisdom is nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 232).

[21:30]  ¹⁴ sn The verse uses a single sentence to state that all wisdom, understanding, and advice must be in conformity to the will of God to be successful. It states it negatively – these things cannot be in defiance of God (e.g., Job 5:12-13; Isa 40:13-14).

[8:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “speak a word, but it will not stand.”

[8:10]  ¹⁶ sn In these vv. 9-10 the tone shifts abruptly from judgment to hope. Hostile nations like Assyria may attack God’s people, but eventually they will be destroyed, for God is with his people, sometimes to punish, but ultimately to vindicate. In addition to being a reminder of God’s presence in the immediate crisis faced by Ahaz and Judah, Immanuel (whose name is echoed in this concluding statement) was a guarantee of the nation’s future greatness in fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises. Eventually God would deliver his people from the hostile nations (vv. 9-10) through another child, an ideal Davidic ruler who would embody God’s presence in a special way (see 9:6-7). Jesus the Messiah is the fulfillment of the Davidic ideal prophesied by Isaiah, the one whom Immanuel foreshadowed. Through the miracle of the incarnation he is literally “God with us.” Matthew realized this and applied Isaiah’s ancient prophecy of Immanuel’s birth to Jesus (Matt 1:22-23). The first Immanuel was a reminder to the people of God’s presence and a guarantee of a greater child to come who would manifest God’s presence in an even greater way. The second Immanuel is “God with us” in a heightened and infinitely superior sense. He “fulfills” Isaiah’s Immanuel prophecy by bringing the typology intended by God to realization and by filling out or completing the pattern designed by God. Of course, in the ultimate fulfillment of the type, the incarnate Immanuel’s mother must be a virgin, so Matthew uses a Greek term (παρθένος, parqenos), which carries that technical meaning (in contrast to the Hebrew word עַלְמָה [’almah], which has the more general meaning “young woman”). Matthew draws similar analogies between NT and OT events in 2:15, 18. The linking of these passages by analogy is termed “fulfillment.” In 2:15 God calls Jesus, his perfect Son, out of Egypt, just as he did his son Israel in the days of Moses, an historical event referred to in Hos 11:1. In so doing he makes it clear that Jesus is the ideal Israel prophesied by Isaiah (see Isa 49:3), sent to restore wayward Israel (see Isa 49:5, cf. Matt 1:21). In 2:18 Herod’s slaughter of the infants is another illustration of the oppressive treatment of God’s people by foreign tyrants. Herod’s actions are analogous to those of the Assyrians, who deported the Israelites, causing the personified land to lament as inconsolably as a mother robbed of her little ones (Jer 31:15).

[28:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.

[28:18]  ¹⁸ tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.

[28:18]  ¹⁹ tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).

[28:18]  ²¹ tn See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ²² tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”

[30:1]  ²³ tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”

[30:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”

[30:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”

[30:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.

[30:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”

[30:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[3:37]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Who is this, he spoke and it came to pass?” The general sense is to ask whose commands are fulfilled. The phrase “he spoke and it came to pass” is taken as an allusion to the creation account (see Gen 1:3).

[3:37]  ³¹ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[3:31]  ³² tn Grk “render inoperative.”

[3:31]  ³³ tn Grk “but” (Greek ἀλλά, alla).

[4:14]  ³⁴ tn Grk “rendered inoperative.”