Proverbs 16:1

16:1 The intentions of the heart ¹  belong to a man, ² 

but the answer of the tongue ³  comes from ⁴  the Lord. ⁵ 

Proverbs 16:9

16:9 A person ⁶  plans his course, ⁷ 

but the Lord directs ⁸  his steps. ⁹ 

Proverbs 20:24

20:24 The steps of a person ¹⁰  are ordained by ¹¹  the Lord –

so how can anyone ¹²  understand his own ¹³  way?

Ezra 7:27-28

7:27 ¹⁴ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem! 7:28 He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Nehemiah 1:11

1:11 Please, ¹⁵  O Lord, listen attentively ¹⁶  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ¹⁷  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ¹⁸  in the presence of this man.”

Now ¹⁹  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 2:4

2:4 The king responded, ²⁰  “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven

Psalms 105:25

105:25 He caused them ²¹  to hate his people,

and to mistreat ²²  his servants.

Psalms 106:46

106:46 He caused all their conquerors ²³ 

to have pity on them.

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ²⁴ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ²⁵  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

Acts 7:10

7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made ²⁶  him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

[16:1]  ¹ tn Heb “plans of the heart” (so ASV, NASB, NIV). The phrase מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב (ma’arkhe-lev) means “the arrangements of the mind.”

[16:1]  ² tn Heb “[are] to a man.”

[16:1]  ³ tn Here “the tongue” is a metonymy of cause in which the instrument of speech is put for what is said: the answer expressed.

[16:1]  ⁴ sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas – the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the Lord.

[16:1]  ⁵ sn There are two ways this statement can be taken: (1) what one intends to say and what one actually says are the same, or (2) what one actually says differs from what the person intended to say. The second view fits the contrast better. The proverb then is giving a glimpse of how God even confounds the wise. When someone is trying to speak [“answer” in the book seems to refer to a verbal answer] before others, the Lord directs the words according to his sovereign will.

[16:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the heart of a man.” This stresses that it is within the heart that plans are made. Only those plans that are approved by God will succeed.

[16:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).

[16:9]  ⁸ tn The verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish; to confirm”) with צַעַד (tsa’ad, “step”) means “to direct” (e.g., Ps 119:133; Jer 10:23). This contrasts what people plan and what actually happens – God determines the latter.

[16:9]  ⁹ sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.

[20:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the steps of a man”; but “man” is the noun גֶּבֶר (gever, in pause), indicating an important, powerful person. BDB 149-50 s.v. suggests it is used of men in their role of defending women and children; if that can be validated, then a translation of “man” would be appropriate here. But the line seems to have a wider, more general application. The “steps” represent (by implied comparison) the course of life (cf. NLT “the road we travel”).

[20:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the Lord”; NRSV “ordered by the Lord”; NIV “directed by the Lord.”

[20:24]  ¹² tn The verse uses an independent nominative absolute to point up the contrast between the mortal and the immortal: “and man, how can he understand his way?” The verb in the sentence would then be classified as a potential imperfect; and the whole question rhetorical. It is affirming that humans cannot understand very much at all about their lives.

[20:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “his way.” The referent of the third masculine singular pronoun is unclear, so the word “own” was supplied in the translation to clarify that the referent is the human individual, not the Lord.

[7:27]  ¹⁴ sn At this point the language of the book reverts from Aramaic (7:12-26) back to Hebrew.

[1:11]  ¹⁵ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ¹⁹ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[2:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “said to me.”

[105:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “their heart.”

[105:25]  ²² tn Or “to deal deceptively.” The Hitpael of נָכַל (nakhal) occurs only here and in Gen 37:18, where it is used of Joseph’s brothers “plotting” to kill him.

[106:46]  ²³ tn Or “captors.”

[4:35]  ²⁴ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ²⁵ tn Aram “strikes against.”

[7:10]  ²⁶ tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.