Job 8:16

8:16 He is a well-watered plant ¹  in ²  the sun,

its shoots spread ³  over its garden. ⁴ 

Psalms 1:3

1:3 He is like ⁵  a tree planted by flowing streams; ⁶ 

it ⁷  yields ⁸  its fruit at the proper time, ⁹ 

and its leaves never fall off. ¹⁰ 

He succeeds in everything he attempts. ¹¹ 

Psalms 92:10-15

92:10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox. ¹² 

I am covered ¹³  with fresh oil.

92:11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me; ¹⁴ 

I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me. ¹⁵ 

92:12 The godly ¹⁶  grow like a palm tree;

they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon. ¹⁷ 

92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,

they grow in the courts of our God.

92:14 They bear fruit even when they are old;

they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. ¹⁸ 

92:15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector,

is just and never unfair. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 58:11

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ²⁰ 

He will give you renewed strength, ²¹ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

Ezekiel 31:4-10

31:4 The water made it grow;

underground springs made it grow tall.

Rivers flowed all around the place it was planted,

while smaller channels watered all the trees of the field. ²² 

31:5 Therefore it grew taller than all the trees of the field;

its boughs grew large and its branches grew long,

because of the plentiful water in its shoots. ²³ 

31:6 All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs;

under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,

in its shade all the great ²⁴  nations lived.

31:7 It was beautiful in its loftiness, in the length of its branches;

for its roots went down deep to plentiful waters.

31:8 The cedars in the garden of God could not eclipse it,

nor could the fir trees ²⁵  match its boughs;

the plane trees were as nothing compared to its branches;

no tree in the garden of God could rival its beauty.

31:9 I made it beautiful with its many branches;

all the trees of Eden, in the garden of God, envied it.

31:10 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,

Ezekiel 47:12

47:12 On both sides of the river’s banks, every kind of tree will grow for food. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fail, but they will bear fruit every month, because their water source flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” ²⁶ 

[8:16]  ¹ tn The figure now changes to a plant that is flourishing and spreading and then suddenly cut off. The word רָטַב (ratav) means “to be moist; to be watered.” The word occurs in Arabic, Aramaic, and Akkadian, but only twice in the Bible: here as the adjective and in 24:8 as the verb.

[8:16]  ² tn The Hebrew is לִפְנֵי (lifne, “before”). Does this mean “in the presence of the sun,” i.e., under a sweltering sun, or “before” the sun rises? It seems more natural to take לִפְנֵי (lifne) as “in the presence of” or “under.”

[8:16]  ³ tn Heb “its shoot goes out.”

[8:16]  ⁴ tc Some have emended this phrase to obtain “over the roofs.” The LXX has “out of his corruption.” H. M. Orlinsky has shown that this reading arose from an internal LXX change, saprias having replaced prasias, “garden” (JQR 26 [1935/36]: 134-35).

[1:3]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same characteristic force as the imperfect in the preceding verse. According to the psalmist, the one who studies and obeys God’s commands typically prospers.

[1:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “channels of water.”

[1:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “which.”

[1:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the typical nature of the actions/states they describe.

[1:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “in its season.”

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “fade”; “wither.”

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and all which he does prospers”; or “and all which he does he causes to prosper.” (The simile of the tree does not extend to this line.) It is not certain if the Hiphil verbal form (יַצְלִיחַ, yatsliakh) is intransitive-exhibitive (“prospers”) or causative (“causes to prosper”) here. If the verb is intransitive, then כֹּל (kol, “all, everything”) is the subject. If the verb is causative, then the godly individual or the Lord himself is the subject and כֹּל is the object. The wording is reminiscent of Josh 1:8, where the Lord tells Joshua: “This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper (literally, “cause your way to prosper”) and be successful.”

[92:10]  ¹² sn The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “to exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; Lam 2:17).

[92:10]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew verb בָּלַל (balal) usually has the nuance “to mix.” Here it seems to mean “to smear” or “to anoint.” Some emend the form to בַּלֹּתַנִי (ballotaniy; a second person form of the verb with a first person suffix) and read, “you anoint me.”

[92:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my eye gazes upon those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2. The form שׁוּרָי (shuray) should be emended to שׁוֹרְרָי (shorÿray).

[92:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “those who rise up against me, evil [foes], my ears hear.”

[92:12]  ¹⁶ tn The singular is used in a representative sense, with the typical godly person being in view.

[92:12]  ¹⁷ sn The cedars of the Lebanon forest were well-known in ancient Israel for their immense size.

[92:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”

[92:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the Lord, my rocky summit, and there is no injustice in him.”

[58:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”

[31:4]  ²² tn Heb “Waters made it grow; the deep made it grow tall. It (the deep) was flowing with its rivers around the place it (the tree) was planted, it (the deep) sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.”

[31:5]  ²³ tn Heb “when it sends forth.” Repointing the consonants of the Masoretic text would render the proposed reading “shoots” (cf. NRSV).

[31:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “many.”

[31:8]  ²⁵ tn Or “cypress trees” (cf. NASB, NLT); NIV “pine trees.”

[47:12]  ²⁶ sn See Rev 22:1-2.