Proverbs 3:21-24

3:21 My child, do not let them ¹  escape from your sight;

safeguard sound wisdom and discretion. ² 

3:22 So ³  they will give ⁴  life to you, ⁵ 

and grace to adorn ⁶  your neck. ⁷ 

3:23 Then you will walk on your way ⁸  with security,

and you ⁹  will not stumble. ¹⁰ 

3:24 When ¹¹  you lie down you will not be filled with fear; ¹² 

when ¹³  you lie down your sleep will be pleasant. ¹⁴ 

Deuteronomy 33:3

33:3 Surely he loves the people; ¹⁵ 

all your holy ones ¹⁶  are in your power. ¹⁷ 

And they sit ¹⁸  at your feet,

each receiving ¹⁹  your words.

Deuteronomy 33:26-29

General Praise and Blessing

33:26 There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, ²⁰ 

who rides through the sky ²¹  to help you,

on the clouds in majesty.

33:27 The everlasting God is a refuge,

and underneath you are his eternal arms; ²² 

he has driven out enemies before you,

and has said, “Destroy!”

33:28 Israel lives in safety,

the fountain of Jacob is quite secure, ²³ 

in a land of grain and new wine;

indeed, its heavens ²⁴  rain down dew. ²⁵ 

33:29 You have joy, Israel! Who is like you?

You are a people delivered by the Lord,

your protective shield

and your exalted sword.

May your enemies cringe before you;

may you trample on their backs.

Deuteronomy 33:1

Introduction to the Blessing of Moses

33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

Deuteronomy 2:9

2:9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar ²⁶  to the descendants of Lot ²⁷  as their possession.

Psalms 37:23-24

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ²⁸ 

37:24 Even if ²⁹  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ³⁰ 

for the Lord holds ³¹  his hand.

Psalms 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ³²  justice,

and never abandons ³³  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ³⁴ 

but the children ³⁵  of evil men are wiped out. ³⁶ 

Psalms 37:31

37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking; ³⁷ 

their ³⁸  feet do not slip.

Psalms 66:9

66:9 He preserves our lives ³⁹ 

and does not allow our feet to slip.

Psalms 145:20

145:20 The Lord protects those who love him,

but he destroys all the wicked.

Jeremiah 32:40-41

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ⁴⁰  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ⁴¹  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ⁴²  they will never again turn ⁴³  away from me. 32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ⁴⁴  firmly in the land.’

Jeremiah 32:1

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32:1 In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. ⁴⁵  That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah 1:5

1:5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb ⁴⁶  I chose you. ⁴⁷ 

Before you were born I set you apart.

I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

Jude 1:24

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, ⁴⁸  and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, ⁴⁹  without blemish ⁵⁰  before his glorious presence, ⁵¹ 

[3:21]  ¹ tn The object of the verb “escape” is either (1) wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in vv. 13-20 or (2) “wisdom and discretion” in the second colon of this verse. Several English versions transpose the terms “wisdom and discretion” from the second colon into the first colon for the sake of clarity and smoothness (e.g., RSV, NRSV, NIV, TEV, CEV).
NIV takes the subject from the second colon and reverses the clauses to clarify that.

[3:21]  ² tn Or: “purpose,” “power of devising.”

[3:22]  ³ tn Heb “and.” The vav probably denotes purpose/result.

[3:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “they will be.”

[3:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.

[3:22]  ⁶ tn The phrase “to adorn” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[3:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “grace for your neck.” See note on 1:9.

[3:23]  ⁸ tn The noun דַּרְכֶּךָ (darkekha, “your way”) functions as an adverbial accusative of location: “on your way.”

[3:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “your foot.” The term רַגְלְךָ (raglÿkha, “your foot”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= foot) for the whole person (= you).

[3:23]  ¹⁰ sn The verb נָגַף (ragaf, “to strike; to smite”) sometimes means “to stumble” against a stone (e.g., Ps 91:12). Here the object (“stone”) is implied (BDB 619 s.v.). This is a figure (hypocatastasis) comparing stumbling on a stone in the path to making serious mistakes in life that bring harm.

[3:24]  ¹¹ tn The particle אִם (’im, “if”) here functions in its rare temporal sense (“when”) followed by an imperfect tense (e.g., Num 36:4; BDB 50 s.v. 1.b.4.b).

[3:24]  ¹² tn Heb “terror.” The verb פָּחַד (pakhad, “terror”) describes emotion that is stronger than mere fear – it is dread.

[3:24]  ¹³ tn The construction of vav consecutive + perfect tense followed by vav (ו) consecutive + perfect tense depicts a temporal clause. The temporal nuance is also suggested by the parallelism of the preceding colon.

[3:24]  ¹⁴ tn The verb עָרְבָה (’orvah) is from III עָרַב (“to be sweet; to be pleasing; to be pleasant”; BDB 787 s.v. III עָרַב). It should not be confused with the other five homonymic roots that are also spelled עָרַב (’arav; see BDB 786-88).

[33:3]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “peoples.” The apparent plural form is probably a misunderstood singular (perhaps with a pronominal suffix) with enclitic mem (ם). See HALOT 838 s.v. עַם B.2.

[33:3]  ¹⁶ tc Heb “his holy ones.” The third person masculine singular suffix of the Hebrew MT is problematic in light of the second person masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדֶךָ (bÿyadekha, “your hands”). The LXX versions by Lucian and Origen read, therefore, “the holy ones.” The LXX version by Theodotion and the Vulgate, however, presuppose third masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדָיו (bÿyadayv, “his hands”), and thus retain “his holy ones.” The efforts to bring pronominal harmony into the line is commendable but unnecessary given the Hebrew tendency to be untroubled by such grammatical inconsistencies. However, the translation harmonizes the first pronoun with the second so that the referent (the Lord) is clear.

[33:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hands.” For the problem of the pronoun see note on the term “holy ones” earlier in this verse.

[33:3]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term תֻּכּוּ (tuku, probably Pual perfect of תָּכָה, takhah) is otherwise unknown. The present translation is based on the reference to feet and, apparently, receiving instruction in God’s words (cf. KJV, ASV). Other options are as follows: NIV “At your feet they all bow down” (cf. NCV, CEV); NLT “They follow in your steps” (cf. NAB, NASB); NRSV “they marched at your heels.”

[33:3]  ¹⁹ tn The singular verbal form in the Hebrew text (lit. “he lifts up”) is understood in a distributive manner, focusing on the action of each individual within the group.

[33:26]  ²⁰ sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.

[33:26]  ²¹ tn Or “(who) rides (on) the heavens” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). This title depicts Israel’s God as sovereign over the elements of the storm (cf. Ps 68:33). The use of the phrase here may be polemical; Moses may be asserting that Israel’s God, not Baal (called the “rider of the clouds” in the Ugaritic myths), is the true divine king (cf. v. 5) who controls the elements of the storm, grants agricultural prosperity, and delivers his people from their enemies. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 151 (1994): 275.

[33:27]  ²² tn Heb “and from under, arms of perpetuity.” The words “you” and “his” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Some have perceived this line to be problematic and have offered alternative translations that differ significantly from the present translation: “He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy” (NAB); “He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old” (NRSV). These are based on alternate meanings or conjectural emendations rather than textual variants in the mss and versions.

[33:28]  ²³ tn Heb “all alone.” The idea is that such vital resources as water will some day no longer need protection because God will provide security.

[33:28]  ²⁴ tn Or “skies.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[33:28]  ²⁵ tn Or perhaps “drizzle, showers.” See note at Deut 32:2.

[2:9]  ²⁶ sn Ar was a Moabite city on the Arnon River east of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned elsewhere in the “Book of the Wars of Yahweh” (Num 21:15; cf. 21:28; Isa 15:1). Here it is synonymous with the whole land of Moab.

[2:9]  ²⁷ sn The descendants of Lot. Following the destruction of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, as God’s judgment, Lot fathered two sons by his two daughters, namely, Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:30-38). Thus, these descendants of Lot in and around Ar were the Moabites.

[37:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

[37:24]  ²⁹ tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ³¹ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[37:28]  ³² tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ³³ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ³⁴ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ³⁵ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ³⁶ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[37:31]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the law of his God [is] in his heart.” The “heart” is here the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[37:31]  ³⁸ tn Heb “his.” The pronoun has been translated as plural to agree with the representative or typical “godly” in v. 30.

[66:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the one who places our soul in life.”

[32:40]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ⁴¹ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ⁴² tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ⁴³ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[32:41]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).

[32:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the eleventh year of…” See 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 21:1; 30:1 for this same formula.

[1:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the womb.” The words “your mother’s” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “I knew you.” The parallelism here with “set you apart” and “appointed you” make clear that Jeremiah is speaking of his foreordination to be a prophet. For this same nuance of the Hebrew verb see Gen 18:19; Amos 3:2.

[1:24]  ⁴⁸ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”

[1:24]  ⁵⁰ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ⁵¹ tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”