Psalms 3:6

3:6 I am not afraid ¹  of the multitude of people ² 

who attack me from all directions. ³ 

Psalms 27:1-3

Psalm 27 ⁴ 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ⁵ 

I fear no one! ⁶ 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ⁷ 

27:2 When evil men attack me ⁸ 

to devour my flesh, ⁹ 

when my adversaries and enemies attack me, ¹⁰ 

they stumble and fall. ¹¹ 

27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,

I do not fear. ¹² 

Even when war is imminent, ¹³ 

I remain confident. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 46:2

46:2 For this reason we do not fear ¹⁵  when the earth shakes, ¹⁶ 

and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, ¹⁷ 

Psalms 112:7

112:7 He does not fear bad news.

He ¹⁸  is confident; he trusts ¹⁹  in the Lord.

Job 5:19-27

5:19 He will deliver you ²⁰  from six calamities;

yes, in seven ²¹  no evil will touch you.

5:20 In time of famine ²²  he will redeem you from death,

and in time of war from the power of the sword. ²³ 

5:21 You will be protected ²⁴  from malicious gossip, ²⁵ 

and will not be afraid of the destruction ²⁶  when it comes.

5:22 You will laugh at destruction and famine ²⁷ 

and need not ²⁸  be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

5:23 For you will have a pact with the stones ²⁹  of the field,

and the wild animals ³⁰  will be at peace ³¹  with you.

5:24 And ³²  you will know ³³  that your home ³⁴ 

will be secure, ³⁵ 

and when you inspect ³⁶  your domains,

you will not be missing ³⁷  anything.

5:25 You will also know that your children ³⁸  will be numerous,

and your descendants ³⁹  like the grass of the earth.

5:26 You will come to your grave in a full age, ⁴⁰ 

As stacks of grain are harvested in their season.

5:27 Look, we have investigated this, so it is true.

Hear it, ⁴¹  and apply it for your own ⁴²  good.” ⁴³ 

Proverbs 28:1

28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, ⁴⁴ 

but the righteous person is as confident ⁴⁵  as a lion.

Isaiah 43:2

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ⁴⁶  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ⁴⁷  you.

Matthew 8:26

8:26 But ⁴⁸  he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked ⁴⁹  the winds and the sea, ⁵⁰  and it was dead calm.

Hebrews 13:6

13:6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and ⁵¹  I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” ⁵² 

[3:6]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s continuing attitude as he faces the crisis at hand.

[3:6]  ² tn Or perhaps “troops.” The Hebrew noun עָם (’am) sometimes refers to a military contingent or army.

[3:6]  ³ tn Heb “who all around take a stand against me.”

[27:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

[27:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).

[27:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “draw near to me.”

[27:2]  ⁹ sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).

[27:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.

[27:2]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”

[27:3]  ¹² tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”

[27:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”

[27:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”

[46:2]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect is taken in a generalizing sense (cf. NEB) because the situation described in vv. 2-3 is understood as symbolizing typical world conditions. In this case the imperfect draws attention to the typical nature of the response. The covenant community characteristically responds with confidence, not fear. Another option is to take the situation described as purely hypothetical. In this case one might translate, “We will not fear, even though the earth should shake” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[46:2]  ¹⁶ tn The Hiphil infinitival form is normally taken to mean “when [the earth] is altered,” being derived from מוּר (mur, “to change”). In this case the Hiphil would be intransitive, as in Ps 15:4. HALOT 560 s.v. II מור emends the form to a Niphal and derives it from a homonymic root מוּר attested in Arabic with the meaning “shake.”

[46:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “heart of the seas.” The plural may be used for emphasis, pointing to the deepest sea. Note that the next verse uses a singular pronoun (“its waters,” “its swelling”) in referring back to the plural noun.

[112:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).

[112:7]  ¹⁹ tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3.

[5:19]  ²⁰ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect of נָצַל (natsal, “deliver”). These verbs might have been treated as habitual imperfects if it were not for the use of the numerical images – “six calamities…in seven.” So the nuance is specific future instead.

[5:19]  ²¹ tn The use of a numerical ladder as we have here – “six // seven” is frequent in wisdom literature to show completeness. See Prov 6:16; Amos 1:3, Mic 5:5. A number that seems to be sufficient for the point is increased by one, as if to say there is always one more. By using this Eliphaz simply means “in all troubles” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 56).

[5:20]  ²² sn Targum Job here sees an allusion to the famine of Egypt and the war with Amalek.

[5:20]  ²³ tn Heb “from the hand of the sword.” This is idiomatic for “the power of the sword.” The expression is also metonymical, meaning from the effect of the sword, which is death.

[5:21]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew verb essentially means “you will be hidden.” In the Niphal the verb means “to be hidden, to be in a hiding place,” and protected (Ps 31:20).

[5:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from the lash [i.e., whip] of the tongue.” Sir 26:9 and 51:2 show usages of these kinds of expressions: “the lash of the tongue” or “the blow of the tongue.” The expression indicates that a malicious gossip is more painful than a blow.

[5:21]  ²⁶ tn The word here is שׁוֹד (shod); it means “destruction,” but some commentators conjecture alternate readings: שׁוֹאָה (sho’ah, “desolation”); or שֵׁד (shed, “demon”). One argument for maintaining שׁוֹד (shod) is that it fits the assonance within the verse שׁוֹד…לָשׁוֹן…שׁוֹט (shot…lashon…shod).

[5:22]  ²⁷ tc The repetition of “destruction” and “famine” here has prompted some scholars to delete the whole verse. Others try to emend the text. The LXX renders them as “the unrighteous and the lawless.” But there is no difficulty in having the repetition of the words as found in the MT.

[5:22]  ²⁸ tn The negated jussive is used here to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen (GKC 322 §109.e).

[5:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your covenant is with the stones of the field.” The line has been variously interpreted and translated. It is omitted in the LXX. It seems to mean there is a deep sympathy between man and nature. Some think it means that the boundaries will not be violated by enemies; Rashi thought it represented some species of beings, like genii of the field, and so read אֲדֹנֵי (’adone, “lords”) for אַבְנֵי (’avne, “stones”). Ball takes the word as בְּנֵי (bÿne, “sons”), as in “sons of the field,” to get the idea that the reference is to the beasts. E. Dhorme (Job, 71) rejects these ideas as too contrived; he says to have a pact with the stones of the field simply means the stones will not come and spoil the ground, making it less fertile.

[5:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the beasts of the field.”

[5:23]  ³¹ tn This is the only occurrence of the Hophal of the verb שָׁלֵם (shalem, “to make or have peace” with someone). Compare Isa 11:6-9 and Ps 91:13. The verb form is the perfect; here it is the perfect consecutive following a noun clause (see GKC 494 §159.g).

[5:24]  ³² sn Verses 19-23 described the immunity from evil and trouble that Job would enjoy – if he were restored to peace with God. Now, v. 24 describes the safety and peace of the homestead and his possessions if he were right with God.

[5:24]  ³³ tn The verb is again the perfect, but in sequence to the previous structure so that it is rendered as a future. This would be the case if Job were right with God.

[5:24]  ³⁴ tn Heb “tent.”

[5:24]  ³⁵ tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) means “peace; safety; security; wholeness.” The same use appears in 1 Sam 25:6; 2 Sam 20:9.

[5:24]  ³⁶ tn The verb is פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”). The idea here is “to gather together; to look over; to investigate,” or possibly even “to number” as it is used in the book of Numbers. The verb is the perfect with the vav consecutive; it may be subordinated to the imperfect verb that follows to form a temporal clause.

[5:24]  ³⁷ tn The verb is usually rendered “to sin”; but in this context the more specific primary meaning of “to miss the mark” or “to fail to find something.” Neither Job’s tent nor his possessions will be lost.

[5:25]  ³⁸ tn Heb “your seed.”

[5:25]  ³⁹ tn The word means “your shoots” and is parallel to “your seed” in the first colon. It refers here (as in Isa 34:1 and 42:5) to the produce of the earth. Some commentators suggest that Eliphaz seems to have forgotten or was insensitive to Job’s loss of his children; H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 57) says his conventional theology is untouched by human feeling.

[5:26]  ⁴⁰ tn The word translated “in a full age” has been given an array of meanings: “health; integrity”; “like a new blade of corn”; “in your strength [or vigor].” The numerical value of the letters in the word בְכֶלָח (bÿkhelakh, “in old age”) was 2, 20, 30, and 8, or 60. This led some of the commentators to say that at 60 one would enter the ripe old age (E. Dhorme, Job, 73).

[5:27]  ⁴¹ tn To make a better parallelism, some commentators have replaced the imperative with another finite verb, “we have found it.”

[5:27]  ⁴² tn The preposition with the suffix (referred to as the ethical dative) strengthens the imperative. An emphatic personal pronoun also precedes the imperative. The resulting force would be something like “and you had better apply it for your own good!”

[5:27]  ⁴³ sn With this the speech by Eliphaz comes to a close. His two mistakes with it are: (1) that the tone was too cold and (2) the argument did not fit Job’s case (see further, A. B. Davidson, Job, 42).

[28:1]  ⁴⁴ sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.

[28:1]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”

[43:2]  ⁴⁶ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[8:26]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:26]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[8:26]  ⁵⁰ sn Who has authority over the seas and winds is discussed in the OT: Ps 104:3; 135:7; 107:23-30. When Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea he was making a statement about who he was.

[13:6]  ⁵¹ tc Some important mss (א* C* P 0285^vid 33 1175 1739 pc lat) lack καί (kai), but because the omission conforms to the wording of Ps 118:6 (117:6 LXX), it is suspect.

[13:6]  ⁵² sn A quotation from Ps 118:6.