Job 5:14

5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, ¹ 

and grope about ²  in the noontime as if it were night. ³ 

Job 12:25

12:25 They grope about in darkness ⁴  without light;

he makes them stagger ⁵  like drunkards.

Psalms 69:23-24

69:23 May their eyes be blinded! ⁶ 

Make them shake violently! ⁷ 

69:24 Pour out your judgment ⁸  on them!

May your raging anger ⁹  overtake them!

Isaiah 59:10

59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,

we grope like those who cannot see; ¹⁰ 

we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.

Though others are strong, we are like dead men. ¹¹ 

Lamentations 5:17

5:17 Because of this, our hearts are sick; ¹² 

because of these things, we can hardly see ¹³  through our tears. ¹⁴ 

Zephaniah 1:17

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ¹⁵ 

and they will stumble ¹⁶  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ¹⁷  will be scattered ¹⁸  like manure.

Romans 11:7-10

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ¹⁹  rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ²⁰ 

11:9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,

and make their backs bend continually.” ²¹ 

Romans 11:25

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ²²  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ²³  until the full number ²⁴  of the Gentiles has come in.

Romans 11:2

11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Colossians 4:3-4

4:3 At the same time pray ²⁵  for us too, that ²⁶  God may open a door for the message ²⁷  so that we may proclaim ²⁸  the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ²⁹  4:4 Pray that I may make it known as I should. ³⁰ 

[5:14]  ¹ sn God so confuses the crafty that they are unable to fulfill their plans – it is as if they encounter darkness in broad daylight. This is like the Syrians in 2 Kgs 6:18-23.

[5:14]  ² tn The verb מָשַׁשׁ (mashash) expresses the idea of groping about in the darkness. This is part of the fulfillment of Deut 28:29, which says, “and you shall grope at noonday as the blind grope in darkness.” This image is also in Isa 59:10.

[5:14]  ³ sn The verse provides a picture of the frustration and bewilderment in the crafty who cannot accomplish their ends because God thwarts them.

[12:25]  ⁴ tn The word is an adverbial accusative.

[12:25]  ⁵ tn The verb is the same that was in v. 24, “He makes them [the leaders still] wander” (the Hiphil of תָּעָה, ta’ah). But in this passage some commentators emend the text to a Niphal of the verb and put it in the plural, to get the reading “they reel to and fro.” But even if the verse closes the chapter and there is no further need for a word of divine causation, the Hiphil sense works well here – causing people to wander like a drunken man would be the same as making them stagger.

[69:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”

[69:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”

[69:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger.

[69:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971), 17-81.

[59:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”

[59:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”

[5:17]  ¹² tn Heb “are faint” or “are sick.” The adjective דַּוָּי (davvay, “faint”) is used in reference to emotional sorrow (e.g., Isa 1:5; Lam 1:22; Jer 8:18). The related adjective דָּוֶה (daveh) means “(physically) sick” and “(emotionally) sad,” while the related verb דָּוָה (davah) means “to be sad.” The cognate Aramaic term means “sorrow,” and the cognate Syriac term refers to “misery.”

[5:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “our eyes are dim.” The physical description of losing sight is metaphorical, perhaps for being blinded by tears or more abstractly for being unable to see (= envision) any hope. The collocation “darkened eyes” is too rare to clarify the nuance.

[5:17]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “through our tears” is added in the translation for the sake of clarification.

[1:17]  ¹⁵ tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).

[1:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ¹⁷ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ¹⁸ tn The words “will be scattered” are supplied in the translation for clarity based on the parallelism with “will be poured out” in the previous line.

[11:7]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[11:10]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.

[11:25]  ²² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ²³ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ²⁴ tn Grk “fullness.”

[4:3]  ²⁵ tn Though προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) is an adverbial participle related to the previous imperative, προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite), it is here translated as an independent clause due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:3]  ²⁶ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been rendered as substantival here, indicating the content of the prayer rather than the purpose for it. These two ideas are very similar and difficult to differentiate in this passage, but the conjunction ἵνα following a verb of praying is generally regarded as giving the content of the prayer.

[4:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “that God may open for us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ.” The construction in Greek is somewhat awkward in this clause. The translation attempts to simplify this structure somewhat and yet communicate exactly what Paul is asking for.

[4:3]  ²⁸ tn Or “so that we may speak.”

[4:3]  ²⁹ tn Or “in prison.”

[4:4]  ³⁰ tn The phrase begins with the ἵνα (Jina) clause and is subordinate to the imperative προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite) in v. 2. The reference to the idea that Paul must make it known indicates that this clause is probably best viewed as purpose and not content, like the ἵνα of v. 3. It is the second purpose stated in the context; the first is expressed through the infinitive λαλῆσαι (lalhsai) in v. 3. The term “pray” at the beginning of the sentence is intended to pick up the imperative of v. 3.