Psalms 33:13-14

33:13 The Lord watches ¹  from heaven;

he sees all people. ² 

33:14 From the place where he lives he looks carefully

at all the earth’s inhabitants.

Psalms 102:19-20

102:19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above; ³ 

from heaven the Lord will look toward earth, ⁴ 

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ⁵ 

Genesis 6:12

6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ⁶  it was ruined, ⁷  for all living creatures ⁸  on the earth were sinful. ⁹ 

Genesis 11:5

11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people ¹⁰  had started ¹¹  building.

Genesis 18:21

18:21 that I must go down ¹²  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ¹³  If not, ¹⁴  I want to know.”

Isaiah 63:15

63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,

from your holy, majestic palace!

Where are your zeal ¹⁵  and power?

Do not hold back your tender compassion! ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 64:1

64:1 (63:19b) ¹⁷  If only you would tear apart the sky ¹⁸  and come down!

The mountains would tremble ¹⁹  before you!

Lamentations 3:50

3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven

and sees what has happened. ²⁰ 

[33:13]  ¹ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal forms in v. 13 state general facts.

[33:13]  ² tn Heb “all the sons of men.”

[102:19]  ³ tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”

[102:19]  ⁴ 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.

[102:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

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

[6:12]  ⁷ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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).

[11:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.

[11:5]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.

[18:21]  ¹² tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ¹⁴ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[63:15]  ¹⁵ tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.

[63:15]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.

[64:1]  ¹⁷ sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[64:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[64:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.

[3:50]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “what has happened” is added in the translation for smoother English style and readability.