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Leviticus 3-4
New English Translation

Peace-Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

3 “‘Now if his offering is a peace-offering sacrifice,[a] if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female.[b] 2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar’s sides.[c] 3 Then the one presenting the offering[d] must present a gift to the Lord from the peace-offering sacrifice: He must remove the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that surrounds the entrails,[e] 4 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys).[f] 5 Then the sons of Aaron must offer it up in smoke on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the wood in the fire as a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.[g]

Animal from the Flock

6 “‘If his offering for a peace-offering sacrifice to the Lord is from the flock, he must present a flawless male or female.[h] 7 If he presents a sheep as his offering, he must present it before the Lord. 8 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash[i] its blood against the altar’s sides. 9 Then he must present a gift to the Lord from the peace-offering sacrifice: He must remove all the fatty tail up to the end of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, and all the fat on the entrails,[j] 10 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys).[k] 11 Then the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar as a food gift to the Lord.[l]

12 “‘If his offering is a goat he must present it before the Lord, 13 lay his hand on its head, and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood against the altar’s sides. 14 Then he must present from it his offering as a gift to the Lord: the fat which covers the entrails and all the fat on the entrails,[m] 15 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys).[n] 16 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar as a food gift for a soothing aroma—all the fat belongs to the Lord. 17 This is[o] a perpetual statute throughout your generations[p] in all the places where you live: You must never eat any fat or any blood.’”[q]

Sin-Offering Regulations

4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:[r] 2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a person sins by straying unintentionally[s] from any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and violates any[t] one of them[u]—

For the Priest

3 “‘If the high priest[v] sins so that the people are guilty,[w] on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the Lord[x] for a sin offering.[y] 4 He must bring the bull to the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord, lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slaughter the bull before the Lord. 5 Then that high priest must take some of the blood[z] of the bull and bring it to the Meeting Tent. 6 The priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle[aa] some of it[ab] seven times before the Lord toward[ac] the front of the special curtain[ad] of the sanctuary. 7 The priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the bull’s blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

8 “‘Then he must take up all the fat from the sin offering bull:[ae] the fat covering the entrails[af] and all the fat surrounding the entrails,[ag] 9 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys)[ah] 10 —just as it is taken from the ox of the peace-offering sacrifice[ai]—and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the hide of the bull, all its flesh along with its head and its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12 all the rest of the bull[aj]—he must bring outside the camp[ak] to a ceremonially clean place,[al] to the fatty-ash pile,[am] and he must burn[an] it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty-ash pile.

For the Whole Congregation

13 “‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally[ao] and the matter is not noticed by[ap] the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated,[aq] so they become guilty, 14 the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering when the sin they have committed[ar] becomes known. They must bring it before the Meeting Tent, 15 the elders of the congregation must lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and someone must slaughter[as] the bull before the Lord. 16 Then the high priest[at] must bring some of the blood of the bull to the Meeting Tent, 17 and that priest must dip his finger in the blood[au] and sprinkle[av] some of the blood seven times[aw] before the Lord toward the front of the curtain.[ax] 18 He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar[ay] which is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

19 “‘Then the priest[az] must take all its fat[ba] and offer the fat[bb] up in smoke on the altar. 20 He must do with the rest of the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; this is what he must do with it.[bc] So the priest will make atonement[bd] on their behalf and they will be forgiven.[be] 21 He[bf] must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp[bg] and burn it just as he burned the first bull—it is the sin offering of the assembly.

For the Leader

22 “‘Whenever[bh] a leader, by straying unintentionally,[bi] sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated,[bj] and he pleads guilty, 23 or his sin that he committed[bk] is made known to him,[bl] he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering.[bm] 24 He must lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter[bn] it in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord—it is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 Then the priest[bo] must offer all of its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat of the peace-offering sacrifice. So the priest will make atonement[bp] on his behalf for[bq] his sin and he will be forgiven.[br]

For the Common Person

27 “‘If an ordinary individual[bs] sins by straying unintentionally[bt] when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated,[bu] and he pleads guilty, 28 or his sin that he committed[bv] is made known to him,[bw] he must bring a flawless female goat[bx] as his offering for the sin[by] that he committed. 29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter[bz] the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 30 Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace-offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement[ca] on his behalf and he will be forgiven.[cb]

32 “‘But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female. 33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 Then the one who brought the offering[cc] must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace-offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts for the Lord. So the priest will make atonement[cd] on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven.[ce]

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 3:1 sn The peace-offering sacrifice primarily enacted and practiced communion between God and man (and between the people of God). This was illustrated by the fact that the fat parts of the animal were consumed on the altar of the Lord but the meat was consumed by the worshipers in a meal before God. This is the only kind of offering in which common worshipers partook of the meat of the animal. When there was a series of offerings that included a peace offering (see, e.g., Lev 9:8-21, sin offerings, burnt offerings, and afterward the peace offerings in vv. 18-21), the peace offering was always offered last because it expressed the fact that all was well between God and his worshiper(s). There were various kinds of peace offerings, depending on the worship intended on the specific occasion. The “thank offering” expressed thanksgiving (e.g., Lev 7:11-15; 22:29-30), the “votive offering” fulfilled a vow (e.g., Lev 7:16-18; 22:21-25), and the “freewill offering” was offered as an expression of devotion and praise to God (e.g., Lev 7:16-18; 22:21-25). The so-called “ordination offering” was also a kind of peace offering that was used to consecrate the priests at their ordination (e.g., Exod 29:19-34; Lev 7:37; 8:22-32). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:1066-73 and 4:135-43.
  2. Leviticus 3:1 tn Heb “if a male if a female, perfect he shall present it before the Lord.” The “or” in the present translation (and most other English versions) is not present in the Hebrew text here, but see v. 6 below.
  3. Leviticus 3:2 tn See the remarks on Lev 1:3-5 above for some of the details of translation here.
  4. Leviticus 3:3 tn Heb “Then he”; the referent (the person presenting the offering) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. the note on Lev 1:5).
  5. Leviticus 3:3 tn Heb “and all the fat on the entrails.” The fat layer that covers the entrails as a whole (i.e., “that covers the entrails”) is different from the fat that surrounds and adheres to the various organs (“on the entrails,” i.e., surrounding them; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:205-7).
  6. Leviticus 3:4 tn Heb “and the protruding lobe on the liver on the kidneys he shall remove it.” Cf. NRSV “the appendage of the liver”; NIV “the covering of the liver” (KJV “the caul above the liver”).
  7. Leviticus 3:5 tn Or “on the fire—[it is] a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord” (see Lev 1:13b, 17b, and the note on 1:9b).
  8. Leviticus 3:6 tn Heb “a male or female without defect he shall present it”; cf. NLT “must have no physical defects.”
  9. Leviticus 3:8 tn See the note on this term at 1:5.
  10. Leviticus 3:9 sn See the note on this phrase in 3:3.
  11. Leviticus 3:10 tn Heb “and the protruding lobe on the liver on the kidneys he shall remove it.”
  12. Leviticus 3:11 tn Heb “food, a gift to the Lord.”
  13. Leviticus 3:14 sn See the note on this phrase in 3:3.
  14. Leviticus 3:15 tn Heb “and the protruding lobe on the liver on the kidneys he shall remove it.”
  15. Leviticus 3:17 tn The words “This is” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied due to requirements of English style.
  16. Leviticus 3:17 tn Heb “for your generations”; NAB “for your descendants”; NLT “for you and all your descendants.”
  17. Leviticus 3:17 tn Heb “all fat and all blood you must not eat.”
  18. Leviticus 4:1 sn The quotation introduced here extends from Lev 4:2 through 5:13, and encompasses all the sin offering regulations. Compare the notes on Lev 1:1 above, and 5:14 and 6:1 [5:20 HT] below.
  19. Leviticus 4:2 tn Heb “And a person, when he sins in straying.” The English translation of “by straying” (בִּשְׁגָגָה [bishgagah] literally, “in going astray; in making an error”) varies greatly, but almost all suggest that this term refers to sins that were committed by mistake or done not knowing that the particular act was sinful (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:228-29). See, e.g., LXX “involuntarily”; Tg. Onq. “by neglect”; KJV “through ignorance”; ASV, RSV, NJPS “unwittingly”; NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “unintentionally”; NAB, NEB “inadvertently”; NCV “by accident.” However, we know from Num 15:27-31 that committing a sin “by straying” is the opposite of committing a sin “defiantly” (i.e., בְּיַד רָמָה [beyad ramah] “with a raised hand,” v. 30). In the latter case the person, as it were, raises his fist in presumptuous defiance against the Lord. Thus, he “blasphemes” the Lord and has “despised” his word, for which he should be “cut off from among his people” (Num 15:30-31). One could not bring an offering for such a sin. The expression here in Lev 4:2 combines “by straying” with the preposition “from” which fits naturally with “straying” (i.e., “straying from” the Lord’s commandments). For sins committed “by straying” from the commandments (Lev 4 throughout) or other types of transgressions (Lev 5:1-6) there was indeed forgiveness available through the sin offering. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:94-95.
  20. Leviticus 4:2 tn This is an emphatic use of the preposition מִן (min; see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 56-57, §325).
  21. Leviticus 4:2 tn The “when” clause (כִּי, ki) breaks off here before its resolution, thus creating an open-ended introduction to the following subsections, which are introduced by “if” (אִם [ʾim] vv. 3, 13, 27, 32). Also, the last part of the verse reads literally, “which must not be done and does from one from them.”
  22. Leviticus 4:3 tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
  23. Leviticus 4:3 tn Heb “to the guilt of the people”; NRSV “thus bringing guilt on the people.”
  24. Leviticus 4:3 tn Heb “and he shall offer on his sin which he sinned, a bull, a son of the herd, flawless.”
  25. Leviticus 4:3 sn The word for “sin offering” (sometimes translated “purification offering”) is the same as the word for “sin” earlier in the verse. One can tell which rendering is intended only by the context. The primary purpose of the “sin offering” (חַטָּאת, khattaʾt) was to “purge” (כִּפֶּר, kipper, “to make atonement,” see 4:20, 26, 31, 35, and the notes on Lev 1:4 and esp. Lev 16:20, 33) the sanctuary or its furniture in order to cleanse it from any impurities and/or (re)consecrate it for holy purposes (see, e.g., Lev 8:15; 16:19). By making this atonement the impurities of the person or community were cleansed and the people became clean. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:93-103.
  26. Leviticus 4:5 tn Heb “from the blood of the bull” (and similarly throughout this chapter).
  27. Leviticus 4:6 tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vehizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb meaning “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).
  28. Leviticus 4:6 tn Heb “of the blood.” The relative pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.
  29. Leviticus 4:6 tn The particle here translated “toward” usually serves as a direct object indicator or a preposition meaning “with.” With the verb of motion it probably means “toward,” “in the direction of” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:234; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 60); cf. NAB, CEV.
  30. Leviticus 4:6 tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB) or “curtain” (e.g., NIV, NRSV). It seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place and so could be understood as a veil-canopy (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).
  31. Leviticus 4:8 tn Heb “all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall take up from it.”
  32. Leviticus 4:8 tc The MT has here the preposition עַל (ʿal, “on, upon” [i.e., “which covers on the entrails,” as awkward in Hebrew as it is in English]), but Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Targums read אֶת (ʾet), which is what would be expected (i.e., “which covers the entrails”; cf. Lev 3:3, 9, 14). It may have been mistakenly inserted here under the influence of “on (עַל) the entrails” at the end of the verse.
  33. Leviticus 4:8 tn Heb “and all the fat on the entrails.” The fat layer that covers the entrails as a whole (i.e., “that covers the entrails”) is different from the fat that surrounds and adheres to the various organs (“on the entrails,” i.e., surrounding them; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:205-7).
  34. Leviticus 4:9 tn Heb “and the protruding lobe on the liver on the kidneys he shall remove it.”
  35. Leviticus 4:10 tn Heb “taken up from”; KJV, ASV “taken off from”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “removed.” See the notes on Lev 3:3-4 above (cf. also 3:9-10, 14-15).
  36. Leviticus 4:12 tn All of v. 11 is a so-called casus pendens (also known as an extraposition or a nominative absolute), which means that it anticipates the next verse, being the full description of “all (the rest of) the bull” (lit. “all the bull”) at the beginning of v. 12 (actually after the first verb of the verse; see the next note below).
  37. Leviticus 4:12 tn Heb “And he (the offerer) shall bring out all the bull to from outside to the camp to a clean place.”
  38. Leviticus 4:12 tn Heb “a clean place,” but referring to a place that is ceremonially clean. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  39. Leviticus 4:12 tn Heb “the pouring out [place] of fatty-ash.”
  40. Leviticus 4:12 tn Heb “burn with fire.” This expression is somewhat redundant in English, so the translation collocates “fire” with “wood,” thus “a wood fire.”
  41. Leviticus 4:13 tn Heb “strays”; KJV “sin through ignorance.” The verb “strays” here is the verbal form of the noun in the expression “by straying” (see the note on Lev 4:2 above).
  42. Leviticus 4:13 tn Heb “is concealed from the eyes of”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “escapes the notice of.”
  43. Leviticus 4:13 tn Heb “and they do one from all the commandments of the Lord which must not be done” (cf. v. 2).
  44. Leviticus 4:14 tn Heb “and the sin which they committed on it becomes known”; KJV “which they have sinned against it.” The Hebrew עָלֶיהָ (ʿaleha, “on it”) probably refers back to “one of the commandments” in v. 13 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:243).
  45. Leviticus 4:15 tn Heb “and he shall slaughter.” The singular verb seems to refer to an individual who represents the whole congregation, perhaps one of the elders referred to at the beginning of the verse, or the officiating priest (cf. v. 21). The LXX and Syriac make the verb plural, referring to “the elders of the congregation.”
  46. Leviticus 4:16 tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV).
  47. Leviticus 4:17 tn The words “in the blood” are not repeated in the Hebrew text at this point, but must be supplied in the English translation for clarity.
  48. Leviticus 4:17 tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vehizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb translated “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).
  49. Leviticus 4:17 tc The MT reads literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger from the blood and sprinkle seven times.” This is awkward. Compare v. 6, which has literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle from the blood seven times.” The MT appears to be a case of scribal haplography (i.e., assuming v. 6 to be the correct form, in v. 17 the scribe skipped from “his finger” to “from the blood,” thus missing “in the blood”) and metathesis (i.e., this also resulted in a text where “from the blood” stands before “sprinkle” rather than after it; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 47).
  50. Leviticus 4:17 tn See the note on v. 6 above.
  51. Leviticus 4:18 sn See v. 7, where this altar is identified as the altar of fragrant incense.
  52. Leviticus 4:19 tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Based on the parallel statement in 4:10 and 4:31, it is the priest who performs this action rather than the person who brought the offering.
  53. Leviticus 4:19 tn Heb “take up all its fat from it”; NASB “shall remove all its fat from it.”sn See the full discussion of the fat regulations in Lev 4:8-9 above.
  54. Leviticus 4:19 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fat) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Only the fat is meant here, since the “rest” of the bull is mentioned in v. 21.
  55. Leviticus 4:20 sn Cf. Lev 4:11-12 above for the disposition of “the [rest of] the bull.”
  56. Leviticus 4:20 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
  57. Leviticus 4:20 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to them” or “it shall be forgiven to them.”
  58. Leviticus 4:21 sn See the note on the word “slaughter” in v. 15.
  59. Leviticus 4:21 tn Heb “And he shall bring out the bull to from outside to the camp.”
  60. Leviticus 4:22 tn This section begins with the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”
  61. Leviticus 4:22 tn See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”
  62. Leviticus 4:22 tn Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be done”; cf. NRSV “ought not to be done”; NIV “does what is forbidden in any of the commands.”
  63. Leviticus 4:23 tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”
  64. Leviticus 4:23 tn Lev 4:22b-23a is difficult. The present translation suggests that there are two possible legal situations envisioned, separated by the Hebrew אוֹ (ʾo, “or”) at the beginning of v. 23. Lev 4:22b refers to any case in which the leader readily admits his guilt (i.e., “pleads guilty”), whereas v. 23a refers to cases where the leader is convicted of his guilt by legal action (“his sin…is made known to him”). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:95-96; Lev 4:27-28; and esp. the notes on Lev 5:1 below.
  65. Leviticus 4:23 tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”
  66. Leviticus 4:24 tn The LXX has a plural form here and also for the same verb later in the verse. See the note on Lev 1:5a.
  67. Leviticus 4:26 tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Based on the parallel statements in 4:10 and 4:31, it is the priest who performs this action rather than the person who brought the offering.
  68. Leviticus 4:26 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
  69. Leviticus 4:26 tn Heb “from.” In this phrase the preposition מִן (min) may be referring to the reason or cause (“on account of, because of”; GKC 383 §119.z). As J. E. Hartley (Leviticus [WBC], 47) points out, “from” may refer to the removal of the sin, but is an awkward expression. Hartley also suggests that the phrasing might be “an elliptical expression for יְכַפֵּר עַל לְטַהֵר אֶת־מִן, (yekhapper ʿal… letaher ʾet… min) ‘he will make expiation for…to cleanse…from…,’ as in 16:30.”
  70. Leviticus 4:26 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
  71. Leviticus 4:27 tn Heb “an individual from the people of the land”; cf. NASB “anyone of the common people” (KJV, ASV both similar); NAB “a private person.”
  72. Leviticus 4:27 tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”
  73. Leviticus 4:27 tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”
  74. Leviticus 4:28 tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned is made known to him”; cf. NCV “when that person learns about his sin.”
  75. Leviticus 4:28 tn Lev 4:27b-28a is essentially the same as 4:22b-23a (see the notes there).
  76. Leviticus 4:28 tn Heb “a she-goat of goats, a female without defect”; NAB “an unblemished she-goat.”
  77. Leviticus 4:28 tn Heb “on his sin.”
  78. Leviticus 4:29 tc The LXX has a plural form here (see v. 24 above and the note on Lev 1:5a).
  79. Leviticus 4:31 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
  80. Leviticus 4:31 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
  81. Leviticus 4:35 tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here “he” refers to the offerer rather than the priest (contrast the clauses before and after).
  82. Leviticus 4:35 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
  83. Leviticus 4:35 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
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Mark 2:18-3:30
New English Translation

The Superiority of the New

18 Now[a] John’s[b] disciples and the Pharisees[c] were fasting.[d] So[e] they came to Jesus[f] and said, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?” 19 Jesus[g] said to them, “The wedding guests[h] cannot fast while the bridegroom[i] is with them, can they?[j] As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast. 20 But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them,[k] and at that time[l] they will fast. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins;[m] otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be destroyed. Instead new wine is poured into new wineskins.”[n]

Lord of the Sabbath

23 Jesus[o] was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat[p] as they made their way. 24 So[q] the Pharisees[r] said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?” 25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry— 26 how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest[s] and ate the sacred bread,[t] which is against the law[u] for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?”[v] 27 Then[w] he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people,[x] not people for the Sabbath. 28 For this reason the Son of Man is lord[y] even of the Sabbath.”

Healing a Withered Hand

3 Then[z] Jesus[aa] entered the synagogue[ab] again, and a man was there who had a withered[ac] hand. 2 They watched[ad] Jesus[ae] closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath,[af] so that they could accuse him. 3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.”[ag] 4 Then[ah] he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent. 5 After looking around[ai] at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts,[aj] he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.[ak] 6 So[al] the Pharisees[am] went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians,[an] as to how they could assassinate[ao] him.

Crowds by the Sea

7 Then[ap] Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him.[aq] And from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan River,[ar] and around Tyre and Sidon[as] a great multitude came to him when they heard about the things he had done. 9 Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat[at] ready for him so the crowd[au] would not press toward him. 10 For he had healed many, so that all who were afflicted with diseases pressed toward him in order to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits[av] saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But[aw] he sternly ordered them not to make him known.[ax]

Appointing the Twelve Apostles

13 Now[ay] Jesus went up the mountain[az] and called for those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He[ba] appointed twelve[bb] so that they would be with him and he could send them to preach 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 [bc] To Simon[bd] he gave the name Peter; 17 to James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee,[be] he gave the name Boanerges (that is, “sons of thunder”); 18 and Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,[bf] Matthew, Thomas,[bg] James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus,[bh] Simon the Zealot,[bi] 19 and Judas Iscariot,[bj] who betrayed him.[bk]

Jesus and Beelzebul

20 Now[bl] Jesus[bm] went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat. 21 When his family[bn] heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 The experts in the law[bo] who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,”[bp] and, “By the ruler[bq] of demons he casts out demons!” 23 So[br] he called them and spoke to them in parables:[bs] “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If[bt] a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come. 27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s[bu] house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.[bv] 28 I tell you the truth,[bw] people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter.[bx] 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin”[by] 30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”[bz]).

Footnotes

  1. Mark 2:18 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
  2. Mark 2:18 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
  3. Mark 2:18 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
  4. Mark 2:18 sn John’s disciples and the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num 29:7-11). The zealous fasted twice a week on Monday and Thursday.
  5. Mark 2:18 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate that in the narrative this question happened as a result of the fasting of John’s disciples and the Pharisees.
  6. Mark 2:18 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  7. Mark 2:19 tn Grk “And Jesus.”
  8. Mark 2:19 tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically, friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).
  9. Mark 2:19 sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5).
  10. Mark 2:19 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mē) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “can they?”).
  11. Mark 2:20 sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 8:27ff. (cf. 8:31; 9:31; 10:33).
  12. Mark 2:20 tn Grk “then on that day.”
  13. Mark 2:22 sn Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.
  14. Mark 2:22 sn The meaning of the saying new wine is poured into new skins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. It could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism, but involved the inauguration and consummation of the kingdom of God.
  15. Mark 2:23 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. Mark 2:23 tn Or “heads of grain.” While the generic term στάχυς (stachus) can refer to the cluster of seeds at the top of grain such as barley or wheat, in the NT the term is restricted to wheat (L&N 3.40; BDAG 941 s.v. 1). KJV “corn” is the result of British English, in which “corn” refers to the main cereal crop of a district, wheat in England and oats in Scotland (British English uses “maize” to refer to American corn).
  17. Mark 2:24 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
  18. Mark 2:24 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
  19. Mark 2:26 tn A decision about the proper translation of this Greek phrase (ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως, epi Abiathar archiereōs) is very difficult for a number of reasons. The most natural translation of the phrase is “when Abiathar was high priest,” but this is problematic because Abiathar was not the high priest when David entered the temple and ate the sacred bread; Ahimelech is the priest mentioned in 1 Sam 21:1-7. Three main solutions have been suggested to resolve this difficulty. (1) There are alternate readings in various manuscripts, but these are not likely to be original: D W 271 it sys and a few others omit ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως, no doubt in conformity to the parallels in Matt 12:4 and Luke 6:4; A C Θ Π Σ Φ 074 ƒ13 and many others add τοῦ before ἀρχιερέως, giving the meaning “in the days of Abiathar the high priest,” suggesting a more general time frame. Neither reading has significant external support and both most likely are motivated by the difficulty of the original reading. (2) Many scholars have hypothesized that one of the three individuals who would have been involved in the transmission of the statement (Jesus who uttered it originally, Mark who wrote it down in the Gospel, or Peter who served as Mark’s source) was either wrong about Abiathar or intentionally loose with the biblical data in order to make a point. (3) It is possible that what is currently understood to be the most natural reading of the text is in fact not correct. (a) There are very few biblical parallels to this grammatical construction (ἐπί + genitive proper noun, followed by an anarthrous common noun), so it is possible that an extensive search for this construction in nonbiblical literature would prove that the meaning does involve a wide time frame. If this is so, “in the days of Abiathar the high priest” would be a viable option. (b) It is also possible that this phrasing serves as a loose way to cite a scripture passage. There is a parallel to this construction in Mark 12:26: “Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush?” Here the final phrase is simply ἐπὶ τοῦ βάτου (epi tou batou), but the obvious function of the phrase is to point to a specific passage within the larger section of scripture. Deciding upon a translation here is difficult. The translation above has followed the current consensus on the most natural and probable meaning of the phrase ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως: “when Abiathar was high priest.” It should be recognized, however, that this translation is tentative because the current state of knowledge about the meaning of this grammatical construction is incomplete, and any decision about the meaning of this text is open to future revision.
  20. Mark 2:26 tn Grk “the bread of presentation.” sn The sacred bread refers to the “bread of presentation,” “showbread,” or “bread of the Presence,” twelve loaves prepared weekly for the tabernacle and later, the temple. See Exod 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Lev 24:5-9. Each loaf was made from 3 quarts (3.5 liters; Heb “two-tenths of an ephah”) of fine flour. The loaves were placed on a table in the holy place of the tabernacle, on the north side opposite the lampstand (Exod 26:35). It was the duty of the priest each Sabbath to place fresh bread on the table; the loaves from the previous week were then given to Aaron and his descendants, who ate them in the holy place, because they were considered sacred (Lev 24:9). See also Matt 12:1-8, Luke 6:1-5.
  21. Mark 2:26 sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was against the law is one of analogy: “If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.” Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.
  22. Mark 2:26 sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.
  23. Mark 2:27 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  24. Mark 2:27 tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used twice in this verse in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”
  25. Mark 2:28 tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text.sn A second point in Jesus’ defense of his disciples’ actions was that his authority as Son of Man also allowed it, since as Son of Man he was lord of the Sabbath.
  26. Mark 3:1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  27. Mark 3:1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  28. Mark 3:1 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.
  29. Mark 3:1 sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.
  30. Mark 3:2 sn The term translated watched…closely is emotive, since it carries negative connotations. It means they were watching him out of the corner of their eye or spying on him.
  31. Mark 3:2 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  32. Mark 3:2 sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).
  33. Mark 3:3 tn Grk “Stand up in the middle.”sn Most likely synagogues were arranged with benches along the walls and open space in the center for seating on the floor.
  34. Mark 3:4 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  35. Mark 3:5 tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (periblepsamenos) has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around…he said”).
  36. Mark 3:5 tn This term is a collective singular in the Greek text.
  37. Mark 3:5 sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.
  38. Mark 3:6 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
  39. Mark 3:6 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
  40. Mark 3:6 tn Grk inserts “against him” after “Herodians.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.sn The Herodians are mentioned in the NT only once in Matt (22:16 = Mark 12:13) and twice in Mark (3:6; 12:13; some mss also read “Herodians” instead of “Herod” in Mark 8:15). It is generally assumed that as a group the Herodians were Jewish supporters of the Herodian dynasty (or of Herod Antipas in particular). In every instance they are linked with the Pharisees. This probably reflects agreement regarding political objectives (nationalism as opposed to submission to the yoke of Roman oppression) rather than philosophy or religious beliefs.
  41. Mark 3:6 tn Grk “destroy.”
  42. Mark 3:7 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  43. Mark 3:7 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
  44. Mark 3:8 tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).
  45. Mark 3:8 sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.
  46. Mark 3:9 sn See the note at Mark 1:19 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
  47. Mark 3:9 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  48. Mark 3:11 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
  49. Mark 3:12 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
  50. Mark 3:12 sn Jesus did not permit the demons to make him known because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (14:61-62).
  51. Mark 3:13 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
  52. Mark 3:13 tn Or “up a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to horos).sn The expression up the mountain here may be idiomatic or generic, much like the English “he went to the hospital” (cf. 15:29), or even intentionally reminiscent of Exod 24:12 (LXX), since the genre of the Sermon on the Mount seems to be that of a new Moses giving a new law.
  53. Mark 3:14 tn Grk “And he.”
  54. Mark 3:14 tc The phrase “whom he named apostles” is lacking in the majority of mss (A C2 D L ƒ1 33 565 579 1241 1424 M latt sy; SBL). Several primary Alexandrian and other key witnesses (א B C* W Δ Θ ƒ13 28 co) include the phrase, rendering the external evidence strongly in favor of this reading. It is possible that the Alexandrian witnesses have inserted these words to bring the text in line with Luke 6:13 (TCGNT 69), but against this is the internal evidence of Mark’s style: Mark tends toward gratuitous redundancy. However, significant Western and Byzantine mss along with other authorities lack the clause, which is against the Byzantine tendencies. The key issue, however, is that both the wording of the clause and its location in the verse varies significantly among the witnesses, which suggests that it was indeed borrowed from the Lukan parallel. The NA28 puts the words in brackets indicating doubts about their authenticity.
  55. Mark 3:16 tc The phrase “he appointed twelve” at the beginning of v. 16 is lacking in the majority of mss (A C2 D L Θ ƒ1 33 700 1241 1424 M lat sy bo), including several key witnesses. Some significant authorities include the phrase (א B C* Δ 565 579 pc). The omission may have been caused by haplography in combination with homoioarcton: The first word of the clause in question is καί (kai), and the first word after the clause in question is also καί. And the first two letters of the second word, in each instance, are επ (ep). Early scribes may have jumped accidentally from the first καί to the second, omitting the intervening material. Metzger suggests that “the clause seems to be needed in order to pick up the thread of ver. 14 after the parenthesis ἵνα…δαιμόνια” (TCGNT 69). This seems to be a stretch. Further, the external evidence in favor of the words is not as compelling as it could be (the addition of “whom he named apostles” in 3:14 actually has stronger evidence, yet we considered it spurious). A decision is difficult but the shorter reading is preferred. NA28 puts the words in brackets.
  56. Mark 3:16 sn In the various lists of the twelve, Simon (that is, Peter) is always mentioned first (see also Matt 10:1-4; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13) and the first four are always the same, though not in the same order after Peter.
  57. Mark 3:17 tn Grk “to James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James.”
  58. Mark 3:18 sn Bartholomew (meaning “son of Tolmai” in Aramaic) could be another name for Nathanael mentioned in John 1:45.
  59. Mark 3:18 sn This is the “doubting Thomas” of John 20:24-29.
  60. Mark 3:18 tc This disciple is called Λεββαῖον (Lebbaion, “Lebbaeus”) in D it; see the discussion of the parallel text in Matt 10:3 where conflation occurs among other witnesses as well.
  61. Mark 3:18 tn Grk “the Cananean,” but according to both BDAG 507 s.v. Καναναῖος and L&N 11.88, this term has no relation at all to the geographical terms for Cana or Canaan, but is derived from the Aramaic term for “enthusiast, zealot” (see Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), possibly because of an earlier affiliation with the party of the Zealots. He may not have been technically a member of the particular Jewish nationalistic party known as “Zealots” (since according to some scholars this party had not been organized at that time), but simply someone who was zealous for Jewish independence from Rome, in which case the term would refer to his temperament.
  62. Mark 3:19 sn There is some debate about what the name Iscariot means. It probably alludes to a region in Judea and thus might make Judas the only non-Galilean in the group. Several explanations for the name Iscariot have been proposed, but it is probably transliterated Hebrew with the meaning “man of Kerioth” (there are at least two villages that had that name). For further discussion see D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 1:546; also D. A. Carson, John, 304.
  63. Mark 3:19 tn Grk “who even betrayed him.”
  64. Mark 3:20 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
  65. Mark 3:20 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  66. Mark 3:21 tc Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (hoi par’ autou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou hoi grammateis kai hoi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary.tn On the meaning “family” for οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (hoi par’ autou), see BDAG 756-57 s.v. παρά A.3.b.β.ב.sn The incident involving the religious leaders accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil (3:22-30) is sandwiched between Mark’s mention of Jesus’ family coming to restrain him (the Greek word for restrain here is also used to mean arrest; see Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46, 49, 51) because they thought he was out of his mind (3:21). It is probably Mark’s intention in this structure to show that Jesus’ family is to be regarded as not altogether unlike the experts in the law [scribes] in their perception of the true identity of Jesus; they are incorrect in their understanding of him as well. The tone is obviously one of sadness and the emphasis on Jesus’ true family in vv. 31-35 serves to underscore the comparison between his relatives and the scribes on the one hand, and those who truly obey God on the other.
  67. Mark 3:22 tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
  68. Mark 3:22 tn Grk “He has Beelzebul.”sn Beelzebul is another name for Satan. So some people, particularly here the experts in the law, recognized Jesus’ work as supernatural, but called it diabolical.
  69. Mark 3:22 tn Or “prince.”
  70. Mark 3:23 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
  71. Mark 3:23 sn Jesus spoke two parables to demonstrate the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. The first parable (vv. 23-26) teaches that if Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. The second parable (v. 27) about tying up a strong man proves that Jesus does not need to align himself with the devil because Jesus is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (1:12-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 3:29-30). For an explanation of what a parable is, see the note on parables in 4:2.
  72. Mark 3:24 sn The three conditional statements in vv. 24-26 express the logical result of the assumption that Jesus heals by Satan’s power, expressed by the religious leaders. The point is clear: If the leaders are correct, then Satan’s kingdom will not stand, so the suggestion makes no sense. Satan would not seek to heal.
  73. Mark 3:27 sn The strong man here pictures Satan.
  74. Mark 3:27 sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.
  75. Mark 3:28 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
  76. Mark 3:28 tn Grk “all the sins and blasphemies they may speak will be forgiven the sons of men.”
  77. Mark 3:29 sn Is guilty of an eternal sin. This passage has troubled many people, who have wondered whether or not they have committed this eternal sin. Three things must be kept in mind: (1) the nature of the sin is to ascribe what is the obvious work of the Holy Spirit (e.g., releasing people from Satan’s power) to Satan himself; (2) it is not simply a momentary doubt or sinful attitude, but is indeed a settled condition which opposes the Spirit’s work, as typified by the religious leaders who opposed Jesus; and (3) a person who is concerned about it has probably never committed this sin, for those who commit it here (i.e., the religious leaders) are not in the least concerned about Jesus’ warning. On this last point see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:645-46.
  78. Mark 3:30 sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.
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Psalm 90-94
New English Translation

Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90[a]

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90 O Lord, you have been our protector[b] through all generations.
2 Even before the mountains came into existence,[c]
or you brought the world into being,[d]
you were the eternal God.[e]
3 You make mankind return[f] to the dust,[g]
and say, “Return, O people.”
4 Yes,[h] in your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.[i]
5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.”[j]
In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up:
6 In the morning it glistens[k] and sprouts up;
at evening time it withers[l] and dries up.
7 Yes,[m] we are consumed by your anger;
we are terrified by your wrath.
8 You are aware of our sins;[n]
you even know about our hidden sins.[o]
9 Yes,[p] throughout all our days we experience your raging fury;[q]
the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh.[r]
10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years,[s]
or eighty, if one is especially strong.[t]
But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression.[u]
Yes,[v] they pass quickly[w] and we fly away.[x]
11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger?[y]
Your raging fury causes people to fear you.[z]
12 So teach us to consider our mortality,[aa]
so that we might live wisely.[ab]
13 Turn back toward us, O Lord.
How long must this suffering last?[ac]
Have pity on your servants.[ad]
14 Satisfy us in the morning[ae] with your loyal love.
Then we will shout for joy and be happy[af] all our days.
15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,
in proportion to the years we have experienced[ag] trouble.
16 May your servants see your work.[ah]
May their sons see your majesty.[ai]
17 May our Sovereign God extend his favor to us.[aj]
Make our endeavors successful.
Yes, make them successful.[ak]

Psalm 91[al]

91 As for you, the one who lives[am] in the shelter of the Most High,[an]
and resides in the protective shadow[ao] of the Sovereign One[ap]—
2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,
my God in whom I trust—
3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter[aq]
and from the destructive plague.
4 He will shelter you[ar] with his wings;[as]
you will find safety under his wings.
His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall.[at]
5 You need not fear the terrors of the night,[au]
the arrow that flies by day,
6 the plague that stalks in the darkness,
or the disease that ravages at noon.[av]
7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,
and a multitude on your right side,
it[aw] will not reach you.
8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes—
you will see the wicked paid back.[ax]
9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,
my shelter, the Most High.
10 No harm will overtake[ay] you;
no illness[az] will come near your home.[ba]
11 For he will order his angels[bb]
to protect you in all you do.[bc]
12 They will lift you up in their hands,
so you will not slip and fall on a stone.[bd]
13 You will subdue[be] a lion and a snake;[bf]
you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
14 The Lord says,[bg]
“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;
I will protect him[bh] because he is loyal to me.[bi]
15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him honor.
16 I will satisfy him with long life,[bj]
and will let him see my salvation.”

Psalm 92[bk]

A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day.

92 It is fitting[bl] to thank the Lord,
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High.[bm]
2 It is fitting[bn] to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
and your faithfulness during the night,
3 to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,
to the accompaniment of the meditative tone of the harp.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work.
I will sing for joy because of what you have done.[bo]
5 How great are your works, O Lord!
Your plans are very intricate![bp]
6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this;
the fool does not understand this.[bq]
7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,
and all the evildoers glisten,[br]
it is so that they may be annihilated.[bs]
8 But you, O Lord, reign[bt] forever.
9 Indeed,[bu] look at your enemies, O Lord.
Indeed,[bv] look at how your enemies perish.
All the evildoers are scattered.
10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox.[bw]
I am covered[bx] with fresh oil.
11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me;[by]
I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me.[bz]
12 The godly[ca] grow like a palm tree;
they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon.[cb]
13 Planted in the Lord’s house,
they grow in the courts of our God.
14 They bear fruit even when they are old;
they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.[cc]
15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my Protector,
is just and never unfair.[cd]

Psalm 93[ce]

93 The Lord reigns.
He is robed in majesty.
The Lord is robed;
he wears strength around his waist.[cf]
Indeed, the world is established; it cannot be moved.
2 Your throne has been secure from ancient times;
you have always been king.[cg]
3 The waves[ch] roar, O Lord,
the waves roar,
the waves roar and crash.[ci]
4 Above the sound of the surging water,[cj]
and the mighty waves of the sea,
the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.[ck]
5 The rules you set down[cl] are completely reliable.[cm]
Holiness[cn] aptly adorns your house, O Lord, forever.[co]

Psalm 94[cp]

94 O Lord, the God who avenges!
O God who avenges, reveal your splendor.[cq]
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth.
Pay back the proud.
3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked celebrate?[cr]
4 They spew out threats[cs] and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast.[ct]
5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you.[cu]
6 They kill the widow and the resident foreigner,
and they murder the fatherless.[cv]
7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.”[cw]
8 Take notice of this,[cx] you ignorant people.[cy]
You fools, when will you ever understand?
9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see?[cz]
10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?
He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!
11 The Lord knows that peoples’ thoughts
are morally bankrupt.[da]
12 How blessed is the one[db] whom you instruct, O Lord,
the one whom you teach from your law,
13 in order to protect him from times of trouble,[dc]
until the wicked are destroyed.[dd]
14 Certainly[de] the Lord does not forsake his people;
he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him.[df]
15 For justice will prevail,[dg]
and all the morally upright[dh] will be vindicated.[di]
16 Who will rise up to defend me[dj] against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?[dk]
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.[dl]
18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me,[dm]
your soothing touch makes me happy.[dn]
20 Cruel rulers[do] are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws.[dp]
21 They conspire against[dq] the blameless,[dr]
and condemn to death the innocent.[ds]
22 But the Lord will protect me,[dt]
and my God will shelter me.[du]
23 He will pay them back for their sin.[dv]
He will destroy them because of[dw] their evil;
the Lord our God will destroy them.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 90:1 sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.
  2. Psalm 90:1 tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.
  3. Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “were born.”
  4. Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a Polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.
  5. Psalm 90:2 tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of אֵל (ʾel, “God”) the LXX reads אַל (ʾal, “not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb תָּשֵׁב (tashev) a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking תָּשֵׁב as a jussive is problematic in light of the following wayyiqtol form וַתֹּאמֶר (vatoʾmer, “and you said/say”), unless one reads the form as a simple vav plus imperfect as indicated by Aquila and Jerome.
  6. Psalm 90:3 tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.
  7. Psalm 90:3 tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (dakaʾ) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.
  8. Psalm 90:4 tn Or “for.”
  9. Psalm 90:4 sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”
  10. Psalm 90:5 tn Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb זָרַם (zaram) has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root זרם in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life].” The term שֵׁנָה (shenah, “sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5-6).
  11. Psalm 90:6 tn Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.
  12. Psalm 90:6 tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final ל [lamed] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.
  13. Psalm 90:7 tn Or “for.”
  14. Psalm 90:8 tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”
  15. Psalm 90:8 tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.
  16. Psalm 90:9 tn Or “for.”
  17. Psalm 90:9 tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”
  18. Psalm 90:9 tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”
  19. Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”
  20. Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”
  21. Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רָהַב (rahav, “to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).
  22. Psalm 90:10 tn or “for.”
  23. Psalm 90:10 tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.
  24. Psalm 90:10 sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).
  25. Psalm 90:11 tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”
  26. Psalm 90:11 tc Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךָ (ukheyirʾatekha, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yirʾatekha, “your fear”), removing the כ (kaf) as dittography of the kaf ending the previous word. In this case the psalmist asserts “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.
  27. Psalm 90:12 tn Heb “to number our days,” that is, to be aware of how few they really are.
  28. Psalm 90:12 tn Heb “and we will bring a heart of wisdom.” After the imperative of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates purpose/result. The Hebrew term “heart” here refers to the center of one’s thoughts, volition, and moral character.
  29. Psalm 90:13 tn Heb “Return, O Lord. How long?”
  30. Psalm 90:13 tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (ʿal) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.
  31. Psalm 90:14 sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).
  32. Psalm 90:14 tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.
  33. Psalm 90:15 tn Heb “have seen.”
  34. Psalm 90:16 tn Heb “may your work be revealed to your servants.” In this context (note v. 17) the verb form יֵרָאֶה (yeraʾeh) is best understood as an unshortened jussive (see Gen 1:9; Isa 47:3).
  35. Psalm 90:16 tn Heb “and your majesty to their sons.” The verb “be revealed” is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
  36. Psalm 90:17 tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (noʿam, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).
  37. Psalm 90:17 tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”
  38. Psalm 91:1 sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.
  39. Psalm 91:1 tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”
  40. Psalm 91:1 sn The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
  41. Psalm 91:1 sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).
  42. Psalm 91:1 sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the Sovereign God of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.
  43. Psalm 91:3 tn The word refers specifically to a fowler (or hunter of birds).
  44. Psalm 91:4 tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).
  45. Psalm 91:4 tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final י (yod) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod at the beginning of the next word).
  46. Psalm 91:4 tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”
  47. Psalm 91:5 tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).
  48. Psalm 91:6 sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.
  49. Psalm 91:7 tn Apparently the deadly disease mentioned in v. 6b is the understood subject here.
  50. Psalm 91:8 tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”
  51. Psalm 91:10 tn Or “confront.”
  52. Psalm 91:10 tn For this sense of the Hebrew term נגע see Ps 38:11.
  53. Psalm 91:10 tn Heb “your tent.”
  54. Psalm 91:11 tn Heb “for his angels he will command concerning you.”
  55. Psalm 91:11 tn Heb “in all your ways.”
  56. Psalm 91:12 tn Heb “so your foot will not strike a stone.”
  57. Psalm 91:13 tn Heb “walk upon.”
  58. Psalm 91:13 tn Or perhaps “cobra” (see Ps 58:4).
  59. Psalm 91:14 tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the words which follow are the Lord’s oracle of assurance.
  60. Psalm 91:14 tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).
  61. Psalm 91:14 tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).
  62. Psalm 91:16 tn Heb “length of days.”
  63. Psalm 92:1 sn Psalm 92. The psalmist praises God because he defeats the wicked and vindicates his loyal followers.
  64. Psalm 92:1 tn Or “good.”
  65. Psalm 92:1 sn The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
  66. Psalm 92:2 tn The words “it is fitting” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Verses 1-3 are actually one long sentence in the Hebrew text, but this has been divided up into two shorter sentences in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
  67. Psalm 92:4 tn Heb “the works of your hands.”
  68. Psalm 92:5 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.
  69. Psalm 92:6 tn Heb “the brutish man does not know, and the fool does not understand this.” The adjective בַּעַר (baʿar, “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).
  70. Psalm 92:7 tn Or “flourish.”
  71. Psalm 92:7 tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”sn God allows the wicked to prosper temporarily so that he might reveal his justice. When the wicked are annihilated, God demonstrates that wickedness does not pay off.
  72. Psalm 92:8 tn Heb “[are elevated] on high.”
  73. Psalm 92:9 tn Or “for.”
  74. Psalm 92:9 tn Or “for.”
  75. Psalm 92:10 sn The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “to exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; Lam 2:17).
  76. Psalm 92:10 tn The Hebrew verb בָּלַל (balal) usually has the nuance “to mix.” Here it seems to mean “to smear” or “to anoint.” Some emend the form to בַּלֹּתַנִי (ballotani; a second person form of the verb with a first person suffix) and read, “you anoint me.”
  77. Psalm 92:11 tn Heb “my eye gazes upon my walls.” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2. The form שׁוּרָי shuray, “my walls”) should be emended to שׁוֹרְרָי (shoreray, “my foes” or perhaps “those who rebel against me” or “those who malign me”). See HALOT 1454 s.v. שׁוֹרֵר and also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
  78. Psalm 92:11 tn Heb “those who rise up against me, evil [foes], my ears hear.”
  79. Psalm 92:12 tn The singular is used in a representative sense, with the typical godly person being in view.
  80. Psalm 92:12 sn The cedars of the Lebanon forest were well-known in ancient Israel for their immense size.
  81. Psalm 92:14 tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”
  82. Psalm 92:15 tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the Lord, my rocky summit, and there is no injustice in him.”
  83. Psalm 93:1 sn Psalm 93. The psalmist affirms that the Lord is the king of the universe who preserves order and suppresses the destructive forces in the world.
  84. Psalm 93:1 sn Strength is compared here to a belt that one wears for support. The Lord’s power undergirds his rule.
  85. Psalm 93:2 tn Heb “from antiquity [are] you.” As the context suggests, this refers specifically to God’s royal position, not his personal existence.
  86. Psalm 93:3 tn The Hebrew noun translated “waves” often refers to rivers or streams, but here it appears to refer to the surging waves of the sea (see v. 4, Ps 24:2).
  87. Psalm 93:3 tn Heb “the waves lift up, O Lord, the waves lift up their voice, the waves lift up their crashing.”
  88. Psalm 93:4 tn Heb “mighty waters.”sn The surging waters here symbolizes the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy the order he has established in the world (see Pss 18:17; 29:3; 32:6; 77:20; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). But the Lord is depicted as elevated above and sovereign over these raging waters.
  89. Psalm 93:4 tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”
  90. Psalm 93:5 tn Traditionally “your testimonies.” The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (ʿedut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law. See Ps 19:7.
  91. Psalm 93:5 sn The rules you set down. God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.
  92. Psalm 93:5 sn Holiness refers here to God’s royal transcendence (see vv. 1-4), as well as his moral authority and perfection (see v. 5a).
  93. Psalm 93:5 tn Heb “for your house holiness is fitting, O Lord, for length of days.”
  94. Psalm 94:1 sn Psalm 94. The psalmist asks God to judge the wicked and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
  95. Psalm 94:1 tn Heb “shine forth” (see Pss 50:2; 80:1).
  96. Psalm 94:3 tn Or “exult.”
  97. Psalm 94:4 tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”
  98. Psalm 94:4 tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (ʾamar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).
  99. Psalm 94:5 tn Or “your inheritance.”
  100. Psalm 94:6 tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 82:3; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).
  101. Psalm 94:7 tn Heb “does not understand.”
  102. Psalm 94:8 tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.
  103. Psalm 94:8 tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”
  104. Psalm 94:9 tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”
  105. Psalm 94:11 tn Heb “the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are emptiness.” The psalmist thinks specifically of the “thoughts” expressed in v. 7.
  106. Psalm 94:12 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in v. 2.
  107. Psalm 94:13 tn Heb “to give him rest from the days of trouble.”
  108. Psalm 94:13 tn Heb “until a pit is dug for the wicked.”
  109. Psalm 94:14 tn Or “for.”
  110. Psalm 94:14 tn Or “his inheritance.”
  111. Psalm 94:15 tn Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”
  112. Psalm 94:15 tn Heb “all the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 97:11).
  113. Psalm 94:15 tn Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”
  114. Psalm 94:16 tn Heb “for me.”
  115. Psalm 94:16 sn Who will stand up for me…? The questions anticipate the answer, “No one except God” (see v. 17).
  116. Psalm 94:17 tn Heb “If the Lord [were] not my help, quickly my life would have dwelt in silence.” The psalmist, perhaps speaking as the nation’s representative, recalls God’s past intervention. For other examples of conditional sentences with the term לוּלֵי (lule, “if not”) in the protasis and a perfect verbal form in the apodosis, see Pss 119:92 and 124:2-5.
  117. Psalm 94:19 tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”
  118. Psalm 94:19 tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”
  119. Psalm 94:20 tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.
  120. Psalm 94:20 tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.
  121. Psalm 94:21 tn Or “attack.”
  122. Psalm 94:21 tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”
  123. Psalm 94:21 tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”
  124. Psalm 94:22 tn Heb “and the Lord has become my elevated place.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.
  125. Psalm 94:22 tn Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”
  126. Psalm 94:23 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.
  127. Psalm 94:23 tn Or “in.”
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Psalm 95
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Proverbs 17
New English Translation

17 Better is a dry crust of bread[a] where there is quietness[b]
than a house full of feasting with strife.[c]
2 A servant who acts wisely[d] will rule
over[e] an heir[f] who behaves shamefully,[g]
and will share the inheritance along with the relatives.[h]
3 The crucible[i] is for refining[j] silver and the furnace[k] is for gold,
likewise[l] the Lord tests[m] hearts.
4 One who acts wickedly[n] pays attention to evil counsel;[o]
a liar listens[p] to a malicious tongue.[q]
5 The one who mocks the poor[r] has insulted[s] his Creator;
whoever rejoices over disaster will not go unpunished.
6 Grandchildren[t] are like[u] a crown[v] to the elderly,
and the glory[w] of children is their parents.[x]
7 Excessive[y] speech[z] is not becoming for a fool;[aa]
how much less are lies[ab] for a ruler![ac]
8 A bribe works like[ad] a charm[ae] for the one who offers it;[af]
in whatever he does[ag] he succeeds.[ah]
9 The one who forgives[ai] an offense seeks[aj] love,
but whoever repeats a matter separates close friends.[ak]
10 A rebuke makes a greater impression on[al] a discerning person
than a hundred blows on a fool.[am]
11 An evil person seeks only rebellion,[an]
and so[ao] a cruel messenger[ap] will be sent against him.
12 It is better for a person to meet[aq] a mother bear being robbed of her cubs,
than[ar] to encounter[as] a fool in his folly.[at]
13 As for the one who repays[au] evil for good,
evil will not leave[av] his house.[aw]
14 Starting a quarrel[ax] is like letting out water;[ay]
abandon strife before it breaks out![az]
15 The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent[ba]—
both of them are an abomination to the Lord.[bb]
16 What’s the point[bc] of a fool having money[bd] in hand
to buy wisdom, when his head is empty?[be]
17 A friend[bf] loves at all times,
and a relative[bg] is born to help in adversity.[bh]
18 The one who lacks sense[bi] strikes hands in pledge,[bj]
and puts up financial security[bk] for his neighbor.[bl]
19 The one who loves a quarrel loves transgression;[bm]
whoever builds his gate high seeks destruction.[bn]
20 The one who has a perverse heart[bo] does not find good,[bp]
and the one who is deceitful in speech[bq] falls into trouble.
21 Whoever brings a fool[br] into the world[bs] does so[bt] to his grief,
and the father of a fool has no joy.[bu]
22 A cheerful heart[bv] brings good healing,[bw]
but a crushed spirit[bx] dries up the bones.[by]
23 A wicked person receives a bribe secretly[bz]
to pervert[ca] the ways of justice.
24 Wisdom is directly in front of[cb] the discerning person,
but the eyes of a fool run[cc] to the ends of the earth.[cd]
25 A foolish child is a grief[ce] to his father,
and bitterness to the mother who bore him.[cf]
26 It is terrible[cg] to punish[ch] a righteous person,
and to flog[ci] honorable men is wrong.[cj]
27 The truly wise person[ck] restrains[cl] his words,
and the one who stays calm[cm] is discerning.
28 Even a fool who remains silent is considered[cn] wise,
and the one who holds his tongue is deemed discerning.[co]

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:1 tn The phrase “a dry piece of bread” is like bread without butter, a morsel of bread not dipped in vinegar mix (e.g., Ruth 2:14). It represents here a simple, humble meal.
  2. Proverbs 17:1 tn Heb “and quietness in it”; the construction functions as a circumstantial clause: “in which there is quietness” or “with quietness.”sn The Hebrew word means “quietness” or “ease.” It represents a place where there can be carefree ease because of the sense of peace and security. The Greek rendering suggests that those translators read it as “peace.” Even if the fare is poor, this kind of setting is to be preferred.
  3. Proverbs 17:1 tn The house is described as being full of “sacrifices of strife” (זִבְחֵי־רִיב, zivkhe riv). The use of “sacrifices” suggests a connection with the temple (as in 7:14) in which the people may have made their sacrifices and had a large amount meat left over. It is also possible that the reference is simply to a sumptuous meal (Deut 12:15; Isa 34:6; Ezek 39:17). It would be rare for Israelites to eat meat apart from festivals, however. In the construction the genitive could be classified as a genitive of effect, the feast in general “bringing about strife,” or it could simply be an attributive genitive, “a feast characterized by strife.” Abundance often brings deterioration of moral and ethical standards as well as an increase in envy and strife.
  4. Proverbs 17:2 sn The setting is in the ancient world where a servant rarely advanced beyond his or her station in life. But there are notable exceptions (e.g., Gen 15:3 where the possibility is mentioned, 1 Chr 2:35 where it changed through marriage, and 2 Sam 16:1-4; 19:24-30, with the story of Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth). This proverb focuses on a servant who is wise, one who uses all his abilities effectively—a Joseph figure.
  5. Proverbs 17:2 sn The parallelism indicates that “ruling over” and “sharing in the inheritance” means that the disgraceful son will be disinherited.
  6. Proverbs 17:2 tn Heb “son.”
  7. Proverbs 17:2 tn The form מֵבִישׁ (mevish) is a Hiphil participle, modifying בֵּן (ben). This original heir would then be one who caused shame or disgrace to the family, probably by showing a complete lack of wisdom in the choices he made.
  8. Proverbs 17:2 tn Heb “in the midst of the brothers”; NIV “as one of the brothers.”
  9. Proverbs 17:3 sn The noun מַצְרֵף (matsref) means “a place or instrument for refining” (cf. ASV, NASB “the refining pot”). The related verb, which means “to melt, refine, smelt,” is used in scripture literally for refining and figuratively for the Lord’s purifying and cleansing and testing people.
  10. Proverbs 17:3 tn The term “refining” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
  11. Proverbs 17:3 sn The term כּוּר (kur) describes a “furnace” or “smelting pot.” It can be used figuratively for the beneficial side of affliction (Isa 48:10).
  12. Proverbs 17:3 tn Heb “and.” Most English versions treat this as an adversative (“but”).
  13. Proverbs 17:3 sn The participle בֹּחֵן (bokhen, “tests”) in this emblematic parallelism takes on the connotations of the crucible and the furnace. When the Lord “tests” human hearts, the test, whatever form it takes, is designed to improve the value of the one being tested. Evil and folly will be removed when such testing takes place.
  14. Proverbs 17:4 tn The Hiphil participle מֵרַע (meraʿ) indicates one who is a doer of evil. The line affirms that a person of this nature will eagerly listen to evil talk—it is part of his nature.
  15. Proverbs 17:4 tn Heb “to the lip of evil”; ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV “wicked lips.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause for speech (what is said); the term “evil” is an attributive genitive. The same will be true in the parallel line where the expression “to the tongue of destruction” (NASB “a destructive tongue”) means things that are said that destroy others.
  16. Proverbs 17:4 tc The verb מֵזִין (mezin) would a Hiphil participle from זון (zwn, “to feed”). The suggested emendation is מַאֲזִין (maʿazin), derive it from the denominative verb אזן (ʾzn, “to give ear, listen”). Two Hebrew mss have this variant.
  17. Proverbs 17:4 sn Wicked, self-serving people find destructive speech appealing. They should be rebuked and not tolerated (Lev 19:17).
  18. Proverbs 17:5 tn Or “A mocker of the poor.”sn The parallelism helps define the subject matter: The one who “mocks the poor” (NAB, NASB, NIV) is the one who “rejoices [NIV gloats] over disaster,” where the disaster resulted in the poverty of others. The topic of the parable is the person who mocks others by making fun of their misfortune.
  19. Proverbs 17:5 sn The Hebrew word translated “insults” (חֵרֵף, kheref) means “reproach; taunt” (as with a cutting taunt); it describes words that show contempt for or insult God. The idea of reproaching the Creator may be mistaking and blaming God’s providential control of the world (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 337). W. G. Plaut, however, suggests that mocking the poor means holding up their poverty as a personal failure and thus offending their dignity and their divine nature (Proverbs, 187). Cf. Prov 14:31.
  20. Proverbs 17:6 tn Heb “children of children [sons of sons].”
  21. Proverbs 17:6 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
  22. Proverbs 17:6 sn The metaphor signifies that grandchildren are like a crown, that is, they are the “crowning glory” of life. The proverb comes from a culture that places great importance on the family in society and that values its heritage.
  23. Proverbs 17:6 tn The noun תִּפְאָרָת (tifʾarat) means “beauty; glory” (BDB 802 s.v.). In this passage “glory” seems to be identified with “glorying; boasting”; so a rendering that children are proud of their parents would be in order. Thus, “glory of children” would be a subjective genitive, the glorying that children do.”
  24. Proverbs 17:6 tc The LXX has inserted: “To the faithful belongs the whole world of wealth, but to the unfaithful not an obulus.” It was apparently some popular sentiment at the time.tn Heb “their fathers.”
  25. Proverbs 17:7 tn The word יֶתֶר (yeter) could be rendered either “arrogant” (cf. NIV) or “excellent” (cf. KJV, NASB; NLT “eloquent”) because the basic idea of the word is “remainder; excess,” from the verb “be left over.” It describes “lofty” speech (arrogant or excellent) that is not suited for the fool. The Greek version, using pista, seems to support the idea of “excellent,” and makes a contrast: “words that are excellent do not fit a fool.” The idea of arrogance (NIV) fits if it is taken in the sense of lofty, heightened, or excessive language.
  26. Proverbs 17:7 tn “a lip of excess.” The term “lip” is a metonymy for what is said.
  27. Proverbs 17:7 sn The “fool” proper, described by the term נָבָל (naval), occurs only here, in v. 21, and in 30:22 in the book. It describes someone who is godless and immoral in an overbearing way (e.g., 1 Sam 25:25; Ps 14:1). A fool should restrain his words lest his foolishness spew out.
  28. Proverbs 17:7 tn Heb “speech of falsehood”; NRSV “false speech.”
  29. Proverbs 17:7 sn This “ruler” (KJV, NASB “prince”; NAB “noble”) is a gentleman with a code of honor, to whom truthfulness is second nature (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 507). The word describes one as “inclined, generous, noble” (BDB 622 s.v. נָדִיב). It is cognate to the word for the “free will offering.” So for such a noble person lies are not suited. The argument is from the lesser to the greater—if fools shouldn’t speak lofty things, then honorable people should not lie (or, lofty people should not speak base things).
  30. Proverbs 17:8 tn The phrase “works like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.
  31. Proverbs 17:8 tn Heb “a stone of favors”; NAB, NRSV “a magic stone.” The term שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”) could be simply translated as “a gift,” but the second half of the verse says that the one who offers it is successful. At best it could be a gift that opens doors; at worst it is a bribe. The word שֹׁחַד is never used of a disinterested gift, so there is always something of the bribe in it (e.g., Ps 15:5; Isa 1:23). Here it is “a stone that brings favor,” the genitive being the effect or the result of the gift. In other words, it has magical properties and “works like a charm.”
  32. Proverbs 17:8 tn Heb “in the eyes of its owner.”
  33. Proverbs 17:8 tn Heb “in all that he turns”; NASB, NIV “wherever he turns.”
  34. Proverbs 17:8 sn As C. H. Toy points out, the sage is merely affirming a point without making a comment—those who use bribery meet with widespread success (Proverbs [ICC], 341). This does not amount to an endorsement of bribery.
  35. Proverbs 17:9 tn Heb “covers” (so NASB); NIV “covers over.” How people respond to the faults of others reveals whether or not they have love. The contrast is between one who “covers” (forgives, cf. NCV, NRSV) the fault of a friend and one who repeats news about it. The former promotes love because he cares about the person; the latter divides friends.
  36. Proverbs 17:9 sn The participle מְבַקֵּשׁ (mevaqqesh) means “seeks” in the sense of seeking to secure or procure or promote love. There can be no friendship without such understanding and discretion.
  37. Proverbs 17:9 sn W. G. Plaut notes that harping on the past has destroyed many friendships and marriages (Proverbs, 188). W. McKane observes that this line refers to the person who breaks up friendships by his scandalous gossip, even if it is done with a kind of zeal for the welfare of the community, for it will destroy love and trust (Proverbs [OTL], 508-9).
  38. Proverbs 17:10 tn Heb “goes in deeper” (cf. NASB, NRSV). The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) “to go down; to descend” with the preposition ב (bet) means “to descend into; to make an impression on” someone.
  39. Proverbs 17:10 tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive of נָכָה (nakhah) with the comparative מִן, min. The word “fool” then would be an objective genitive—more than blows to/on a fool.
  40. Proverbs 17:11 tc The LXX reads ἀντιλογίας (antilogias, “contention”), which usually stands for the Hebrew words מְרִיבָה (merivah), מִדְיָן (midyan), or רִיב (riv). These words all refer to “strife, contention, disputing” and are all somewhat graphically similar to each other and the word מְרִי (meri, “rebellion”). Since the next Hebrew word starts with yod and bet, (יְבַקֵּשׁ, yevaqqesh) it is possible that something dropped out between the two yods and the text originally read מְרִיבָה יְבַקֵּשׁ or מִדְיָן יְבַקֵּשׁ.sn The proverb is set up in a cause and effect relationship. The cause is that evil people seek rebellion. The term מְרִי (meri) means “rebellion.” It is related to the verb מָרָה (marah, “to be contentious, to be rebellious, to be refractory”). BDB 598 s.v. מְרִי translates the line “a rebellious man seeketh only evil” (so NASB).
  41. Proverbs 17:11 tn The parallelism seems to be formal, with the idea simply continuing to the second line; the conjunction is therefore translated to reflect this. However, the proverb could be interpreted as antithetical just as easily.
  42. Proverbs 17:11 sn Those bent on rebellion will meet with retribution. The messenger could very well be a merciless messenger from the king, but the expression could also figuratively describe something God sends—storms, pestilence, or any other misfortune.
  43. Proverbs 17:12 tn Heb “Let a man meet” (so NASB); NLT “It is safer to meet.” The infinitive absolute פָּגוֹשׁ (pagosh, “to meet”) functions as a jussive of advice. The bear meeting a man is less dangerous than a fool in his folly. It could be worded as a “better” saying, but that formula is not found here.
  44. Proverbs 17:12 tn The second colon begins with וְאַל (veʾal), “and not.” This negative usually appears with volitives, so the fuller expression of the parallel line would be “and let not a fool in his folly [meet someone].”
  45. Proverbs 17:12 tn The words “to meet” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied by the parallelism and are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  46. Proverbs 17:12 sn The human, who is supposed to be rational and intelligent, in such folly becomes more dangerous than the beast that in this case acts with good reason. As R. L. Alden comments, “Consider meeting a fool with a knife, or gun, or even behind the wheel of a car” (Proverbs, 134). See also E. Loewenstamm, “Remarks on Proverbs 17:12 and 20:27, ” VT 37 (1967): 221-24. For a slightly different nuance cf. TEV “some fool busy with a stupid project.”
  47. Proverbs 17:13 tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).
  48. Proverbs 17:13 tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.
  49. Proverbs 17:13 sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.
  50. Proverbs 17:14 tn Heb “the beginning of a quarrel”; TEV, CEV “The start of an argument.”
  51. Proverbs 17:14 tn Heb “Someone who releases water is the beginning of a quarrel.” The Hebrew order typically places the subject, “beginning,” second. This phrase is a metaphor, but most English versions have made it a simile (supplying “like” or “as”). R. N. Whybray makes it the subject of the clause: “stealing water starts a quarrel” (Proverbs [CBC], 100). But this treats the participle as an infinitive and there is no indication that the verb means “to steal,” for which there are clearer words. Keil and Delitzsch interpret it personally “one who breaks through a water-dam… opens a sluice” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament 6, 362). “Opening such a sluice lets loose more than one can predict, control or retreive” (Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 125).tc The LXX has “Giving authority to words is the beginning of strife.” This would make it a warning against thoughtless talk.
  52. Proverbs 17:14 tn Or “Forsake [it] before strife breaks out.” The Masoretic tradition takes “strife” as the object of the imperative verb, but it could also be a subjective genitive following the infinitive “to break out.” The verb גָּלַע (galaʿ) occurs only in the Hitpael, meaning “to quarrel; to break out.”
  53. Proverbs 17:15 tn Heb “he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous” (so NASB). The first colon uses two Hiphil participles, מַצְדִּיק (matsdiq) and מַרְשִׁיעַ (marshiaʿ). The first means “to declare righteous” (a declarative Hiphil), and the second means “to make wicked [or, guilty]” or “to condemn” (i.e., “to declare guilty”). To declare someone righteous who is a guilty criminal, or to condemn someone who is innocent, are both abominations for the Righteous Judge of the whole earth.
  54. Proverbs 17:15 tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.”
  55. Proverbs 17:16 tn Heb “why is this that…?” The combination of לָמָּה (lammah, “for what?, why?”) and זֶּה (zeh, “this”) does not simply seek a reason, but can add an incredulous tone to the question. Cf. Gen 25:32; Exod 2:20; 5:22; 17:3; Num 11:20; 1 Sam 17:28; 20:8; 26:18. Colloqially this might be expressed as “Why in the world…?” or “Why ever would…?”
  56. Proverbs 17:16 tn Heb “that there is a price in the hand of a fool.” This is not the common word for money, which would simply be “silver.” The word מְחִיר (mekhir) means “price, cost, value, hire, wages” (see HALOT 569 s.v. and Concise DCH 214 s.v.).
  57. Proverbs 17:16 tn Heb “and a mind of nothing.” The word לֵב (lev) can refer to the mind and so represent thinking or refer to the heart and represent feeling or will. This can extend to refer to inclination, determination, reason, or common sense (see HALOT 514 s.v.). The construction is circumstantial “when the לֵב is empty/absent.” Due to the range of meaning of לֵב, it could have several nuances. It could focus on thought, “when [or since] he is empty-headed” or “brainless,” as if to say, “why does he have money to buy a wisdom program when he doesn’t have the hardware to run it on?” Cf. NASB “he has no sense” (TEV “no common sense”) and NRSV “have no mind [to learn].” It could focus on the will, “when he has no motivation” or “is not of a mind [to use it].” Cf. NLT “has no heart for wisdom” and NIV “has no desire.” It could also be a comment on the rhetorical question, “it is an empty-headed [thing to do],” perhaps a way to assert that it is senseless to try to buy wisdom.sn W. McKane envisions a situation where the fool comes to a sage with a fee in hand, supposing that he can acquire a career as a sage, and this gives rise to the biting comment here: Why does the fool have money in his hands? To buy wisdom when he has no brains? (Proverbs [OTL], 505). According R. Murphy, “The price for acquiring wisdom is only metaphorical; the fool does not have the ‘heart,’ i.e., the sense or desire to pursue the goal. See also v 24. According to 26:7 the fool is not able to implement a proverb, even though he ‘mouths’ it” (Proverbs [WBC], 130).
  58. Proverbs 17:17 sn The verse uses synonymous parallelism, so “friend” and “relative” are equated. Others, however, will take the verse with antithetical parallelism: W. G. Plaut argues that friendship is a spiritual relationship whereas a brother’s ties are based on a blood relationship—often adversity is the only thing that brings brothers together (Proverbs, 189).
  59. Proverbs 17:17 tn Heb “a brother.”
  60. Proverbs 17:17 tn Heb “is born for adversity.” This is not referring to sibling rivalry but to the loyalty a brother shows during times of calamity. This is not to say that a brother only shows loyalty when there is trouble, nor that he always does in these times (e.g., 18:19, 24; 19:7; 27:10). The true friend is the same as a brotherly relation—in times of greatest need the loyal love is displayed.
  61. Proverbs 17:18 tn Heb “lacking of mind.” The term לֵב (lev, “mind, heart”) refers by metonymy to thinking, and by extension to discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. KJV, ASV “a man void of understanding”; NIV “a man lacking in judgment.”
  62. Proverbs 17:18 tn The phrase “in pledge” is supplied for the sake of clarification.
  63. Proverbs 17:18 tn The line uses the participle עֹרֵב (ʿorev) with its cognate accusative עֲרֻבָּה (ʿarubbah), “who pledges a pledge.”
  64. Proverbs 17:18 sn It is foolish to pledge security for someone’s loans (e.g., Prov 6:1-5).
  65. Proverbs 17:19 tn Heb “the one who loves transgression the one who loves a quarrel.” There is some ambiguity in the first line. The meaning would not differ greatly if either were taken as the subject, but the parallelism suggests that the proverb is about a quarrelsome and arrogant person who loves sin and invites destruction.
  66. Proverbs 17:19 tn Some have taken this second line literally and interpreted it to mean he has built a pretentious house. Probably it is meant to be figurative: The gate is the mouth (the figure would be hypocatastasis) and so to make it high is to say lofty things—he brags too much (e.g., 1 Sam 2:3; Prov 18:12; 29:23); cf. NCV, TEV, NLT. C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 348) wishes to emend פִּתְחוֹ (pitkho, “his gate”) to פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”), but that is unnecessary since the idea can be obtained by interpretation.
  67. Proverbs 17:20 tn The verse parallels two descriptions of the wicked person: “crooked/perverse of heart” (genitive of specification), and “turned away in his tongue” (deceitful). The first phrase describes twisted intentions. The second, using the Niphal participle (“one turned away”) with “tongue,” the metonymy of cause, describes one who has turned away from speaking truth. Cf. NLT “the twisted tongue tumbles into trouble.”
  68. Proverbs 17:20 tn The phrase “does not find good” is a figure (tapeinosis) meaning, “will experience calamity.” The wicked person can expect trouble ahead.
  69. Proverbs 17:20 tn Heb “tongue”; NIV “whose tongue is deceitful.”
  70. Proverbs 17:21 sn Here the Hebrew terms כְּסִיל (kesil) and נָבָל (naval) are paired. The first one, which occurs about fifty times in the book, refers to a dullard, whether it be in spiritual, intellectual, or moral matters. The second word, rare in the book, primarily focuses on religious folly—it refers to the practical atheist, the one who lives as if there is no God.
  71. Proverbs 17:21 tn The form simply means “bears” or “gives birth to,” but since it is masculine it could be rendered “fathers” (cf. NASB “he who begets a fool”; NIV “To have a fool for a son”). The form for “fool” is masculine, but the proverb is not limited only to male children (cf. NCV “It is sad to have a foolish child”).
  72. Proverbs 17:21 tn The phrase “does so” is supplied for the sake of clarification.
  73. Proverbs 17:21 sn Parents of fools, who had hoped for children who would be a credit to the family, find only bitter disappointment (cf. TEV “nothing but sadness and sorrow”).
  74. Proverbs 17:22 sn Heb “a heart of rejoicing”; KJV “a merry heart”; NAB, NASB “a joyful heart.” This attributive genitive refers to the mind or psyche. A happy and healthy outlook on life brings healing.
  75. Proverbs 17:22 tc The word “healing” is a hapax legomenon; some have suggested changes, such as to Arabic jihatu (“face”) or to גְּוִיָּה (geviyyah, “body”) as in the Syriac and Tg. Prov 17:22, but the MT makes sense as it is and should be retained. tn Heb “it causes good a healing.” This means it promotes healing.
  76. Proverbs 17:22 sn The “crushed spirit” refers to one who is depressed (cf. NAB “a depressed spirit”). “Crushed” is figurative (an implied comparison) for the idea that one’s psyche or will to go on is beaten down by circumstances.
  77. Proverbs 17:22 sn The “bones” figuratively represent the whole body encased in a boney framework (metonymy of subject). “Fat bones” in scripture means a healthy body (3:8; 15:30; 16:24), but “dried up” bones signify unhealthiness and lifelessness (cf. Ezek 37:1-4).
  78. Proverbs 17:23 sn The fact that the “gift” is given secretly (Heb “from the bosom” [מֵחֵיק, mekheq]; so NASB) indicates that it was not proper. Cf. NRSV “a concealed bribe”; TEV, CEV, NLT “secret bribes.”
  79. Proverbs 17:23 tn The form לְהַטּוֹת (lehattot) is the Hiphil infinitive construct of נָטָה (natah), meaning “to thrust away,” i.e., to “pervert.” This purpose clause clarifies that the receiving of the “gift” is for evil intent.
  80. Proverbs 17:24 tn The verse begins with אֶת־פְּנֵי מֵבִין (ʾet pene mevin), “before the discerning” or “the face of the discerning.” The particle אֶת here is simply drawing emphasis to the predicate (IBHS 182-83 §10.3.2b). Cf. NIV “A discerning man keeps wisdom in view.”
  81. Proverbs 17:24 tn The term “run” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of clarification.
  82. Proverbs 17:24 sn To say that “the eyes of the fool run to the ends of the earth” means that he has no power to concentrate and cannot focus his attention on anything. The language is hyperbolic. Cf. NCV “the mind of a fool wanders everywhere.”
  83. Proverbs 17:25 sn The Hebrew noun means “vexation, anger, grief.”
  84. Proverbs 17:25 tn Heb “to the one who bore him.” Because the participle is feminine singular in Hebrew, this has been translated as “the mother who bore him.”sn The proverb is similar to v. 21, 10:1, and 15:20.
  85. Proverbs 17:26 tn Heb “not good.” This is an example of tapeinosis—an understatement that implies the worst-case scenario: “it is terrible.”
  86. Proverbs 17:26 tn The verb עָנַשׁ (ʿanash), here a Qal infinitive construct, properly means “to fine” (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) but is taken here to mean “to punish” in general. The infinitive functions as the subject of the clause.
  87. Proverbs 17:26 tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike; to smite”). It may well refer to public beatings, so “flog” is used in the translation, since “strike” could refer to an individual’s action and “beat” could be taken to refer to competition.
  88. Proverbs 17:26 tn Heb “[is] against uprightness.” The expression may be rendered “contrary to what is right.”sn The two lines could be synonymous parallelism, but the second part is being used to show how wrong the first act would be—punishing the righteous makes about as much sense as beating an official of the court for doing what is just.
  89. Proverbs 17:27 tn Heb “the one knowing knowledge.” The cognate accusative underscores the meaning of the participle—this is a truly knowledgeable person.
  90. Proverbs 17:27 sn The participle חוֹשֵׂךְ (khosekh) means “withholds; restrains; refrains; spares; holds in check,” etc. One who has knowledge speaks carefully.
  91. Proverbs 17:27 tn Heb “cool of spirit.” This genitive of specification describes one who is “calm” (so NCV, TEV, CEV) or “even-tempered” (so NIV, NLT); he is composed.
  92. Proverbs 17:28 tn The imperfect tense here denotes possibility: One who holds his tongue [may be considered] discerning.
  93. Proverbs 17:28 tn The Niphal participle is used in the declarative/estimative sense with stative verbs: “to be discerning” (Qal) becomes “to be declared discerning” (Niphal). The proverb is teaching that silence is one evidence of wisdom, and that even a fool can thereby appear wise. D. Kidner says that a fool who takes this advice is no longer a complete fool (Proverbs [TOTC], 127). He does not, of course, become wise—he just hides his folly.
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