Discovery BoxNehemiah 2:4
Context2:4 The king responded, 1 “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven
Nehemiah 2:2
Context2:2 So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.
Nehemiah 1:5
Context1:5 Then I said, “Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant 2 with those who love him and obey 3 his commandments,
Psalms 20:5
Context20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your 4 victory;
we will rejoice 5 in the name of our God!
May the Lord grant all your requests!
Psalms 35:27
Context35:27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice!
May they continually say, 6 “May the Lord be praised, 7 for he wants his servant to be secure.” 8
Psalms 102:13-14
Context102:13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion. 9
For it is time to have mercy on her,
for the appointed time has come.
102:14 Indeed, 10 your servants take delight in her stones,
and feel compassion for 11 the dust of her ruins. 12
Psalms 122:6
Context122:6 Pray 13 for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love her prosper! 14
Ecclesiastes 7:18
Context7:18 It is best to take hold of one warning 15 without letting go of the other warning; 16
[1:5] 2 tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The phrase is a hendiadys: the first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second noun functions adjectivally (“loyal love” = loving). Alternately, the first might function adjectivally and the second noun function as the noun: “covenant and loyal love” = covenant fidelity (see Neh 9:32).
[1:5] 3 tn Heb “keep.” The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to observe; to keep”) is often used as an idiom that means “to obey” the commandments of God (e.g., Exod 20:6; Deut 5:16; 23:24; 29:8; Judg 2:22; 1 Kgs 2:43; 11:11; Ps 119:8, 17, 34; Jer 35:18; Ezek 17:14; Amos 2:4). See BDB 1036 s.v. 3.c.
[20:5] 4 sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).
[20:5] 5 tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נגיל (“we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).
[35:27] 6 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27a are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-26).
[35:27] 7 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the
[35:27] 8 tn Heb “the one who desires the peace of his servant.”
[102:13] 9 tn The imperfect verbal forms are understood as expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God’s intervention. Another option is to take them as expressing the psalmist’s request or wish, “You, rise up and have compassion!”
[102:14] 11 tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor.
[102:14] 12 tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.
[122:6] 13 tn Heb “ask [for].”
[7:18] 15 tn The word “warning” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation two times in this line for clarity.
[7:18] 16 sn The other warning. Qoheleth is referring to the two words of advice in 7:16-17. He is not, as some suggest, urging his readers to grasp righteousness without letting go of wickedness. His point is not that people should live their lives with a balance of modest righteousness and modest wickedness. Because he urges the fear of God in 7:18b, he cannot be inconsistent in suggesting that his readers offend the fear of God by indulging in some degree of sin in order to counterbalance an overly righteous life. Rather, the proper fear of God will prevent a person from trusting in righteousness and wisdom alone for his security, and it will also prevent indulgence in wickedness and folly.
[7:18] 17 tn Or “will escape both”; or “will go forth in both.” The Hebrew phrase יֵצֵא אֶת־כֻּלָּם (yetse’ ’et-kullam, “he will follow both of them”) has been interpreted in several ways: (1) To adopt a balanced lifestyle that is moderately righteous while allowing for self-indulgence in moderate wickedness (“to follow both of them,” that is, to follow both righteousness and wickedness). However, this seems to unnecessarily encourage an antinomian rationalization of sin and moral compromise. (2) To avoid the two extremes of being over-righteous and over-wicked. This takes יֵצֵא in the sense of “to escape,” e.g., Gen 39:12, 15; 1 Sam 14:14; Jer 11:11; 48:9; cf. HALOT 426 s.v. יצא 6.c; BDB 423 s.v. יָצָא 1.d. (3) To follow both of the warnings given in 7:16-17. This approach finds parallels in postbiblical rabbinic literature denoting the action of discharging one’s duty of obedience and complying with instruction. In postbiblical rabbinic literature the phrase יַדֵי יֵצֵא (yetse’ yade, “to go out of the hands”) is an idiom meaning “to comply with the requirements of the law” (Jastrow 587 s.v. יָצָא Hif.5.a). This fits nicely with the context of 7:16-17 in which Qoheleth issued two warnings. In 7:18a Qoheleth exhorted his readers to follow both of his warnings: “It is best to grasp the first warning without letting go of the second warning.” The person who fears God will heed both warnings. He will not depend upon his own righteousness and wisdom, but upon God’s sovereign bestowal of blessings. Likewise, he will not exploit the exceptions to the doctrine of retribution to indulge in sin, rationalizing sin away just because the wicked sometimes do not get what they deserve.
[7:18] 18 tn Heb “both.” The term “warnings” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Alternately, “both [extremes]” or “both [fates].” The point of this expression is either (1) “ he achieves both things,” (2) “he escapes all these misfortunes,” (3) “he does his duty by both,” or (4) “he avoids both extremes.” See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 3:580–81.
