Psalms 92:5-6

92:5 How great are your works, O Lord!

Your plans are very intricate! ¹ 

92:6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this;

the fool does not understand this. ² 

Proverbs 15:24

15:24 The path of life is upward ³  for the wise person, ⁴ 

to ⁵  keep him from going downward to Sheol. ⁶ 

Proverbs 24:1

24:1 Do not envy evil people, ⁷ 

do not desire ⁸  to be with them;

Isaiah 5:12

5:12 They have stringed instruments, ⁹  tambourines, flutes,

and wine at their parties.

So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,

they do not perceive what he is bringing about. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 26:11

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ¹¹ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ¹² 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ¹³ 

Isaiah 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ¹⁴  we have made an agreement. ¹⁵ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ¹⁶ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 42:25

42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,

along with the devastation ¹⁸  of war.

Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; ¹⁹ 

it burned against them, but they did notice. ²⁰ 

Hosea 14:9

Concluding Exhortation

14:9 Who is wise?

Let him discern ²¹  these things!

Who is discerning?

Let him understand them!

For the ways of the Lord are right;

the godly walk in them,

but in them the rebellious stumble.

[92:5]  ¹ tn Heb “very deep [are] your thoughts.” God’s “thoughts” refer here to his moral design of the world, as outlined in vv. 6-15.

[92:6]  ² tn Heb “the brutish man does not know, and the fool does not understand this.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 49:10; 73:22; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).

[15:24]  ³ tn There is disagreement over the meaning of the term translated “upward.” The verse is usually taken to mean that “upward” is a reference to physical life and well-being (cf. NCV), and “going down to Sheol” is a reference to physical death, that is, the grave, because the concept of immortality is said not to appear in the book of Proverbs. The proverb then would mean that the wise live long and healthy lives. But W. McKane argues (correctly) that “upwards” in contrast to Sheol, does not fit the ways of describing the worldly pattern of conduct and that it is only intelligible if taken as a reference to immortality (Proverbs [OTL], 480). The translations “upwards” and “downwards” are not found in the LXX. This has led some commentators to speculate that these terms were not found in the original, but were added later, after the idea of immortality became prominent. However, this is mere speculation.

[15:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “to the wise [man],” because the form is masculine.

[15:24]  ⁵ tn The term לְמַעַן (lema’an, “in order to”) introduces a purpose clause; the path leads upward in order to turn the wise away from Sheol.

[15:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “to turn from Sheol downward”; cf. NAB “the nether world below.”

[24:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.

[24:1]  ⁸ tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.

[5:12]  ⁹ tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the work of the Lord they do not look at, and the work of his hands they do not see.” God’s “work” can sometimes be his creative deeds, but in this context it is the judgment that he is planning to bring upon his people (cf. vv. 19, 26; 10:12; 28:21).

[26:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ¹² tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[28:15]  ¹⁴ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ¹⁵ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ¹⁷ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[42:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”

[42:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around, but he did not know.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.

[42:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and it burned against him, but he did not set [it] upon [the] heart.”

[14:9]  ²¹ tn The shortened form of the prefix-conjugation verb וְיָבֵן (vÿyaven) indicates that it is a jussive rather than an imperfect. When a jussive comes from a superior to an inferior, it may connote exhortation and instruction or advice and counsel. For the functions of the jussive, see IBHS 568-70 §34.3.