Psalms 14:4

14:4 All those who behave wickedly ¹  do not understand – ² 

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to the Lord.

Psalms 53:4

53:4 All those who behave wickedly ³  do not understand ⁴  –

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to God.

Job 19:22

19:22 Why do you pursue me like God does? ⁵ 

Will you never be satiated with my flesh? ⁶ 

Job 31:31

31:31 if ⁷  the members of my household ⁸  have never said, ⁹ 

‘If only there were ¹⁰  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ¹¹  meat!’ –

[14:4]  ¹ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.

[14:4]  ² tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).

[53:4]  ³ tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8. Ps 14:4 adds כֹּל (kol, “all of”) before “workers of wickedness.”

[53:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-6).

[19:22]  ⁵ sn Strahan comments, “The whole tragedy of the book is packed into these extraordinary words.”

[19:22]  ⁶ sn The idiom of eating the pieces of someone means “slander” in Aramaic (see Dan 3:8), Arabic and Akkadian.

[31:31]  ⁷ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ⁹ sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.

[31:31]  ¹⁰ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.