Proverbs 16:26

16:26 A laborer’s ¹  appetite ²  works on his behalf, ³ 

for his hunger ⁴  urges him to work. ⁵ 

Job 22:2-3

22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?

Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable? ⁶ 

22:3 Is it of any special benefit ⁷  to the Almighty

that you should be righteous,

or is it any gain to him

that you make your ways blameless? ⁸ 

Job 22:21

22:21 “Reconcile yourself ⁹  with God, ¹⁰ 

and be at peace ¹¹  with him;

in this way your prosperity will be good.

Job 35:6-7

35:6 If you sin, how does it affect God? ¹² 

If your transgressions are many,

what does it do to him? ¹³ 

35:7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,

or what does he receive from your hand?

Isaiah 28:22

28:22 So now, do not mock,

or your chains will become heavier!

For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,

from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 18:20

18:20 The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer ¹⁵  for his father’s iniquity, and a father will not suffer ¹⁶  for his son’s iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness. ¹⁷ 

Ezekiel 18:2

18:2 “What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel,

“‘The fathers eat sour grapes

And the children’s teeth become numb?’ ¹⁸ 

Ezekiel 3:3-4

3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, ¹⁹  and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.

3:4 He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.

Ezekiel 3:16

3:16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁰ 

[16:26]  ¹ sn The word for “laborer” and “labors” emphasizes the drudgery and the agony of work (עָמַל, ’amal). For such boring drudgery motivations are necessary for its continuance, and hunger is the most effective. The line is saying that the appetites are working as hard as the laborer.

[16:26]  ² tn Heb “soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here means “appetite,” functioning as a metonymy; the “inner soul” of a person representing his appetite (BDB 660 s.v. 5a; see, e.g., Pss 63:6; 107:9; Prov 13:25; 16:24; 27:7; Isa 56:11; 58:10; Jer 50:19; Ezek 7:19). This is suggested by the parallelism with “hunger.”

[16:26]  ³ tn Heb “labors for him” (so NAB).

[16:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “his mouth” (so KJV, NAB). The term “mouth” is a metonymy for hunger or eating. The idea of the proverb is clear – the need to eat drives people to work.

[16:26]  ⁵ tc The LXX has apparently misread פִּיהוּ (pihu) and inserted the idea of “ruin” for the laborer: “he drives away ruin.” This influenced the Syriac to some degree; however, its first clause understood “suffering” instead of “labor”: “the person who causes suffering suffers.”

[22:2]  ⁶ tn Some do not take this to be parallel to the first colon, taking this line as a statement, but the parallel expressions here suggest the question is repeated.

[22:3]  ⁷ tn The word חֵפֶץ (khefets) in this passage has the nuance of “special benefit; favor.” It does not just express the desire for something or the interest in it, but the profit one derives from it.

[22:3]  ⁸ tn The verb תַתֵּם (tattem) is the Hiphil imperfect of תָּמַם (tamam, “be complete, finished”), following the Aramaic form of the geminate verb with a doubling of the first letter.

[22:21]  ⁹ tn The verb סָכַן (sakhan) meant “to be useful; to be profitable” in v. 2. Now, in the Hiphil it means “to be accustomed to” or “to have experience with.” Joined by the preposition “with” it means “to be reconciled with him.” W. B. Bishai cites Arabic and Ugaritic words to support a meaning “acquiesce” (“Notes on hskn in Job 22:21,” JNES 20 [1961]: 258-59).

[22:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:21]  ¹¹ tn The two imperatives in this verse imply a relationship of succession and not consequence.

[35:6]  ¹² tn Heb “him” (also in v. 7); the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:6]  ¹³ tn See Job 7:20.

[28:22]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).

[18:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lift up, bear.”

[18:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lift up, bear.”

[18:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the righteousness of the righteous one will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked one will be upon him.”

[18:2]  ¹⁸ tn This word only occurs here and in the parallel passage in Jer 31:29-30 in the Qal stem and in Eccl 10:10 in the Piel stem. In the latter passage it refers to the bluntness of an ax that has not been sharpened. Here the idea is of the “bluntness” of the teeth, not from having ground them down due to the bitter taste of sour grapes but to the fact that they have lost their “edge,” “bite,” or “sharpness” because they are numb from the sour taste. For this meaning for the word, see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:197.

[3:3]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.

[3:16]  ²⁰ sn This phrase occurs about fifty times in the book of Ezekiel.