Psalms 37:23

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ¹ 

Psalms 112:5

112:5 It goes well for the one ²  who generously lends money,

and conducts his business honestly. ³ 

Proverbs 2:20

2:20 So ⁴  you will walk in the way of good people, ⁵ 

and will keep on the paths of the righteous. ⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 2:26

2:26 For to the one who pleases him, ⁷  God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy,

but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing ⁸  wealth ⁹  –

only to give ¹⁰  it ¹¹  to the one who pleases God.

This ¹²  task of the wicked ¹³  is futile – like chasing the wind!

Luke 23:50

Jesus’ Burial

23:50 Now ¹⁴  there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, ¹⁵  a good and righteous man.

Acts 11:24

11:24 because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a significant number of people ¹⁶  were brought to the Lord.

[37:23]  ¹ 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.”

[112:5]  ² tn Heb “man.”

[112:5]  ³ tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”

[2:20]  ⁴ tn The conjunction לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “so; as a result”) introduces the concluding result (BDB 775 s.v. מַעַן 2; HALOT 614 s.v. מַעַן 2.c) of heeding the admonition to attain wisdom (2:1-11) and to avoid the evil men and women and their destructive ways (2:12-19).

[2:20]  ⁵ tn The noun “good” (טוֹבִים, tovim) does not function as an attributive genitive (“the good way”) because it is a plural noun and the term “way” (דֶרֶךְ, derekh) is singular. Rather it functions as a genitive of possession identifying the people who walk on this path: “the way of the good people.”

[2:20]  ⁶ tn In the light of the parallelism, the noun “righteous” (צַדִּיקִים, tsadiqim) functions as a genitive of possession rather than an attributive genitive.

[2:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “for to a man who is good before him.”

[2:26]  ⁸ sn The phrase the task of amassing wealth (Heb “the task of gathering and heaping up”) implicitly compares the work of the farmer reaping his crops and storing them up in a barn, to the work of the laborer amassing wealth as the fruit of his labor. However, rather than his storehouse being safe for the future, the sinner is deprived of it.

[2:26]  ⁹ tn The word “wealth” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:26]  ¹⁰ sn The three-fold repetition of the Hebrew word translated “give” in the first part of this verse creates irony: God “gives” the righteous the ability to prosper and to find enjoyment in his work; but to the wicked He “gives” the task of “giving” his wealth to the righteous.

[2:26]  ¹¹ tn The word “it” (an implied direct object) does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:26]  ¹² tn The antecedent of the demonstrative pronoun זֶה (zeh, “this”) is debated: (1) Some refer it to the enjoyment which Qoheleth had just commended in 2:24-26. However, this is inconsistent with the enjoyment theme found elsewhere in the book. It also ignores the fact that 2:24-26 states that such enjoyment is a good gift from God. (2) Others refer it to the term “toil” (עָמָל, ’amal) which is repeated throughout 2:18-26. However, Qoheleth affirmed that if one is righteous, he can find enjoyment in his toil, even though so much of it is ultimately futile. (3) Therefore, it seems best to refer it to the grievous “task” (עִנְיָן, ’inyan) God has given to the sinner in 2:26b. Consistent with the meaning of הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile; profitless; fruitless”), 2:26b emphasizes that the “task” of the sinner is profitless: he labors hard to amass wealth, only to see the fruit of his labor given away to someone else. The righteous man’s enjoyment of his work and the fruit of his labor under the blessing of God (2:24-26a) is not included in this.

[2:26]  ¹³ tn The phrase “task of the wicked” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:50]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:50]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “a councillor” (as a member of the Sanhedrin, see L&N 11.85). This indicates that some individuals among the leaders did respond to Jesus.

[11:24]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “a significant crowd.”