Discovery BoxPsalms 10:11-13
Context“God overlooks it;
he does not pay attention;
he never notices.” 2
O God, strike him down! 4
Do not forget the oppressed!
10:13 Why does the wicked man reject God? 5
He says to himself, 6 “You 7 will not hold me accountable.” 8
Psalms 94:7
Context94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 9
Job 22:12-14
Context22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven? 10
And see 11 the lofty stars, 12 how high they are!
22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness? 13
22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, 14
as he goes back and forth
in the vault 15 of heaven.’ 16
Isaiah 29:15
Context29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, 17
who do their work in secret and boast, 18
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” 19
Jeremiah 23:24
Context23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 20
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 21
the Lord asks. 22
[10:11] 1 tn Heb “he says in his heart.” See v. 6.
[10:11] 2 tn Heb “God forgets, he hides his face, he never sees.”
[10:12] 3 sn Rise up, O
[10:12] 4 tn Heb “lift up your hand.” Usually the expression “lifting the hand” refers to praying (Pss 28:2; 134:2) or making an oath (Ps 106:26), but here it probably refers to “striking a blow” (see 2 Sam 18:28; 20:21). Note v. 15, where the psalmist asks the
[10:13] 5 tn The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s outrage that the wicked would have the audacity to disdain God.
[10:13] 6 tn Heb “he says in his heart” (see vv. 6, 11). Another option is to understand an ellipsis of the interrogative particle here (cf. the preceding line), “Why does he say in his heart?”
[10:13] 7 tn Here the wicked man addresses God directly.
[10:13] 8 tn Heb “you will not seek.” The verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as generalizing about what is typical and translate, “you do not hold [people] accountable.”
[94:7] 9 tn Heb “does not understand.”
[22:12] 10 tn This reading preserves the text as it is. The nouns “high” and “heavens” would then be taken as adverbial accusatives of place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).
[22:12] 11 tn The parallel passage in Isa 40:26-27, as well as the context here, shows that the imperative is to be retained here. The LXX has “he sees.”
[22:12] 12 tn Heb “head of the stars.”
[22:13] 13 sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).
[22:14] 14 tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”
[22:14] 15 sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.
[22:14] 16 sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.
[29:15] 17 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.
[29:15] 18 tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”
[29:15] 19 tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.
[23:24] 20 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:24] 21 tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
