Psalms 14:2

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ¹  at the human race, ² 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ³  and seeks God. ⁴ 

Psalms 27:8

27:8 My heart tells me to pray to you, ⁵ 

and I do pray to you, O Lord. ⁶ 

Exodus 5:2

5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord ⁷  that ⁸  I should obey him ⁹  by releasing ¹⁰  Israel? I do not know the Lord, ¹¹  and I will not release Israel!”

Deuteronomy 8:14

8:14 be sure ¹²  you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery,

Job 22:17

22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’ ¹³ 

Proverbs 30:9

30:9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively ¹⁴ 

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or lest I become poor and steal

and demean ¹⁵  the name of my God.

Jeremiah 2:31

2:31 You people of this generation,

listen to what the Lord says.

“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?

Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? ¹⁶ 

Why then do you ¹⁷  say, ‘We are free to wander. ¹⁸ 

We will not come to you any more?’

Daniel 5:22-23

5:22 “But you, his son ¹⁹  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ²⁰  although you knew all this. 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ²¹  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ²²  your very breath and all your ways!

Zephaniah 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ²³  all you humble people ²⁴  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ²⁵ 

Strive to do what is right! ²⁶  Strive to be humble! ²⁷ 

Maybe you will be protected ²⁸  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

[14:2]  ¹ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

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

[14:2]  ³ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ⁴ 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.

[27:8]  ⁵ tc Heb “concerning you my heart says, ‘Seek my face.’” The verb form “seek” is plural, but this makes no sense here, for the psalmist is addressed. The verb should be emended to a singular form. The first person pronominal suffix on “face” also makes little sense, unless it is the voice of the Lord he hears. His “heart” is viewed as speaking, however, so it is better to emend the form to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”).

[27:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “your face, O Lord, I seek.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 24:6; 105:4).

[5:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh.” This is a rhetorical question, expressing doubt or indignation or simply a negative thought that Yahweh is nothing (see erotesis in E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 944-45). Pharaoh is not asking for information (cf. 1 Sam 25:5-10).

[5:2]  ⁸ tn The relative pronoun introduces the consecutive clause that depends on the interrogative clause (see GKC 318-19 §107.u).

[5:2]  ⁹ tn The imperfect tense here receives the classification of obligatory imperfect. The verb שָׁמַע (shama’) followed by “in the voice of” is idiomatic; rather than referring to simple audition – “that I should hear his voice” – it conveys the thought of listening that issues in action – “that I should obey him.”

[5:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Piel infinitive construct here has the epexegetical usage with lamed (ל); it explains the verb “obey.”

[5:2]  ¹¹ sn This absolute statement of Pharaoh is part of a motif that will develop throughout the conflict. For Pharaoh, the Lord (Yahweh) did not exist. So he said “I do not know the Lord [i.e., Yahweh].” The point of the plagues and the exodus will be “that he might know.” Pharaoh will come to know this Yahweh, but not in any pleasant way.

[8:14]  ¹² tn The words “be sure” are not in the Hebrew text; vv. 12-14 are part of the previous sentence. For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation and the words “be sure” repeated from v. 11 to indicate the connection.

[22:17]  ¹³ tn The form in the text is “to them.” The LXX and the Syriac versions have “to us.”

[30:9]  ¹⁴ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) means “to be disappointing; to deceive; to fail; to grow lean.” In the Piel stem it means “to deceive; to act deceptively; to cringe; to disappoint.” The idea of acting deceptively is illustrated in Hos 9:2 where it has the connotation of “disowning” or “refusing to acknowledge” (a meaning very close to its meaning here).

[30:9]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb literally means “to take hold of; to seize”; this produces the idea of doing violence to the reputation of God.

[2:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a land of the darkness of Yah [= thick or deep darkness].” The idea of danger is an added connotation of the word in this context.

[2:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my people.”

[2:31]  ¹⁸ tn Or more freely, “free to do as we please.” There is some debate about the meaning of this verb (רוּד, rud) because its usage is rare and its meaning is debated in the few passages where it does occur. The key to its meaning may rest in the emended text (reading וְרַדְתִּי [vÿradti] for וְיָרַדְתִּי [vÿyaradti]) in Judg 11:37 where it refers to the roaming of Jephthah’s daughter on the mountains of Israel.

[5:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

[5:22]  ²⁰ tn Aram “your heart.”

[5:23]  ²¹ tn Aram “which.”

[5:23]  ²² tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

[2:3]  ²³ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ²⁴ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ²⁵ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”