Psalms 44:20-21

44:20 If we had rejected our God, ¹ 

and spread out our hands in prayer to another god, ² 

44:21 would not God discover it,

for he knows ³  one’s thoughts? ⁴ 

Psalms 98:8

98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands!

Let the mountains sing in unison

Psalms 139:3

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; ⁵ 

you are aware of everything I do. ⁶ 

Job 34:21

34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual,

he observes all a person’s ⁷  steps.

Proverbs 5:21

5:21 For the ways of a person ⁸  are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord ⁹  weighs ¹⁰  all that person’s ¹¹  paths.

Jeremiah 23:24

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ¹² 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ¹³ 

the Lord asks. ¹⁴ 

Hebrews 4:13

4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ¹⁵  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Revelation 2:23

2:23 Furthermore, I will strike her followers ¹⁶  with a deadly disease, ¹⁷  and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay ¹⁸  each one of you ¹⁹  what your deeds deserve. ²⁰ 

[44:20]  ¹ tn Heb “If we had forgotten the name of our God.” To “forget the name” here refers to rejecting the Lord’s authority (see Jer 23:27) and abandoning him as an object of prayer and worship (see the next line).

[44:20]  ² tn Heb “and spread out your hands to another god.” Spreading out the hands was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). In its most fundamental sense זר (“another; foreign; strange”) refers to something that is outside one’s circle, often making association with it inappropriate. A “strange” god is an alien deity, an “outside god” (see L. A. Snijders, TDOT 4:54-55).

[44:21]  ³ tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.

[44:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.

[139:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).

[139:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “all my ways.”

[34:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (a person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “man.”

[5:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ¹⁰ tn BDB 814 s.v. פָּלַס 2 suggests that the participle מְפַּלֵּס (mÿpalles) means “to make level [or, straight].” As one’s ways are in front of the eyes of the Lord, they become straight or right. It could be translated “weighs” since it is a denominative from the noun for “balance, scale”; the Lord weighs or examines the actions.

[5:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all his”; the referent (the person mentioned in the first half of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ¹³ tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[4:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.

[2:23]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[2:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”

[2:23]  ¹⁹ sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.

[2:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”