Psalms 11:4

11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; ¹ 

the Lord’s throne is in heaven. ² 

His eyes ³  watch; ⁴ 

his eyes ⁵  examine ⁶  all people. ⁷ 

Psalms 14:2

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ⁸  at the human race, ⁹ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹⁰  and seeks God. ¹¹ 

Psalms 102:19

102:19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above; ¹² 

from heaven the Lord will look toward earth, ¹³ 

Genesis 6:12

6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ¹⁴  it was ruined, ¹⁵  for all living creatures ¹⁶  on the earth were sinful. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 6:2

6:2 the sons of God ¹⁸  saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.

Genesis 16:9

16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit ¹⁹  to her authority.

Job 28:24

28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth

and observes everything under the heavens.

Proverbs 15:3

15:3 The eyes of the Lord ²⁰  are in every place,

keeping watch ²¹  on those who are evil and those who are good.

Lamentations 3:50

3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven

and sees what has happened. ²² 

[11:4]  ¹ tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The Lord’s heavenly temple is in view here (see Mic 1:2-4).

[11:4]  ² sn The Lord’s throne is in heaven. The psalmist is confident that the Lord reigns as sovereign king, “keeps an eye on” all people, and responds in a just manner to the godly and wicked.

[11:4]  ³ sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.

[11:4]  ⁴ tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the Lord’s characteristic activity.

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “eyelids.”

[11:4]  ⁶ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “test the sons of men.”

[14:2]  ⁸ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ¹¹ sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[102:19]  ¹² tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”

[102:19]  ¹³ tn The perfect verbal forms in v. 19 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 18.

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”

[6:12]  ¹⁵ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “flesh.” Since moral corruption is in view here, most modern western interpreters understand the referent to be humankind. However, the phrase “all flesh” is used consistently of humankind and the animals in Gen 6-9 (6:17, 19; 7:15-16, 21; 8:17; 9:11, 15-17), suggesting that the author intends to picture all living creatures, humankind and animals, as guilty of moral failure. This would explain why the animals, not just humankind, are victims of the ensuing divine judgment. The OT sometimes views animals as morally culpable (Gen 9:5; Exod 21:28-29; Jonah 3:7-8). The OT also teaches that a person’s sin can contaminate others (people and animals) in the sinful person’s sphere (see the story of Achan, especially Josh 7:10). So the animals could be viewed here as morally contaminated because of their association with sinful humankind.

[6:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “had corrupted its way.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “way” refers to the collective “all flesh.” The construction “corrupt one’s way” occurs only here (though Ezek 16:47 uses the Hiphil in an intransitive sense with the preposition בְּ [bet, “in”] followed by “ways”). The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) means “to ruin, to destroy, to corrupt,” often as here in a moral/ethical sense. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to behavior or moral character, a sense that it frequently carries (see BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a).

[6:2]  ¹⁸ sn The Hebrew phrase translated “sons of God” (בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים, bÿne-ha’elohim) occurs only here (Gen 6:2, 4) and in Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. There are three major interpretations of the phrase here. (1) In the Book of Job the phrase clearly refers to angelic beings. In Gen 6 the “sons of God” are distinct from “humankind,” suggesting they were not human. This is consistent with the use of the phrase in Job. Since the passage speaks of these beings cohabiting with women, they must have taken physical form or possessed the bodies of men. An early Jewish tradition preserved in 1 En. 6-7 elaborates on this angelic revolt and even names the ringleaders. (2) Not all scholars accept the angelic interpretation of the “sons of God,” however. Some argue that the “sons of God” were members of Seth’s line, traced back to God through Adam in Gen 5, while the “daughters of humankind” were descendants of Cain. But, as noted above, the text distinguishes the “sons of God” from humankind (which would include the Sethites as well as the Cainites) and suggests that the “daughters of humankind” are human women in general, not just Cainites. (3) Others identify the “sons of God” as powerful tyrants, perhaps demon-possessed, who viewed themselves as divine and, following the example of Lamech (see Gen 4:19), practiced polygamy. But usage of the phrase “sons of God” in Job militates against this view. For literature on the subject see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:135.

[16:9]  ¹⁹ tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.

[15:3]  ²⁰ sn The proverb uses anthropomorphic language to describe God’s exacting and evaluating knowledge of all people.

[15:3]  ²¹ tn The form צֹפוֹת (tsofot, “watching”) is a feminine plural participle agreeing with “eyes.” God’s watching eyes comfort good people but convict evil.

[3:50]  ²² tn The phrase “what has happened” is added in the translation for smoother English style and readability.