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1 Samuel 13
New English Translation

Saul Fails the Lord

13 Saul was [thirty][a] years old when he began to reign; he ruled over Israel for [forty][b] years. 2 Saul selected for himself 3,000 men from Israel. Of these 2,000 were with Saul at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel; the remaining 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.[c] He sent all the rest of the people back home.[d]

3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost[e] that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted[f] all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!” 4 All Israel heard this message,[g] “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive[h] to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join[i] Saul at Gilgal.

5 Meanwhile the Philistines gathered to battle with Israel. Then they went up against Israel[j] with 3,000 chariots,[k] 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds,[l] and cisterns. 7 Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River[m] to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. 8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel.[n] But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul.[o]

9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. 10 Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him.[p]

11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me,[q] and that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, 12 I thought,[r] ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated[s] to offer the burnt offering.”

13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed[t] the commandment that the Lord your God gave[u] you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has sought out[v] for himself a man who is loyal to him,[w] and the Lord has appointed[x] him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”

15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal[y] to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.[z] Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about 600 men. 16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash.[aa] 17 Raiding bands went out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One band turned toward the road leading to Ophrah by the land of Shual; 18 another band turned toward the road leading to Beth Horon; and yet another band turned toward the road leading to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboyim in the direction of the desert.

19 A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.” 20 So all Israel had to go down to the Philistines in order to get their plowshares, cutting instruments, axes, and sickles[ab] sharpened. 21 They charged[ac] two-thirds of a shekel[ad] to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments, and one-third of a shekel[ae] to sharpen picks and axes, and to set ox goads. 22 So on the day of the battle no sword or spear was to be found in the hand of anyone in the army that was with Saul and Jonathan. No one but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Jonathan Ignites a Battle

23 A garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 13:1 tc The MT does not have “thirty.” A number appears to have dropped out of the Hebrew text here, since as it stands the MT (literally, “a son of a year”) must mean that Saul was only one year old when he began to reign! The KJV, attempting to resolve this, reads “Saul reigned one year,” but that is not the normal meaning of the Hebrew text represented by the MT. Although most LXX mss lack the entire verse, some Greek mss have “thirty years” here (while others have “one year” like the MT). The Syriac Peshitta has Saul’s age as twenty-one. But this seems impossible to harmonize with the implied age of Saul’s son Jonathan in the following verse. Taking into account the fact that in v. 2 Jonathan was old enough to be a military leader, some scholars prefer to supply in v. 1 the number forty (cf. ASV, NASB). The present translation (“thirty”) is a possible but admittedly uncertain proposal based on a few Greek mss and followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT). Other English versions simply supply ellipsis marks for the missing number (e.g., NAB, NRSV).
  2. 1 Samuel 13:1 tc The MT has “two years” here. If this number is to be accepted as correct, the meaning apparently would be that after a lapse of two years at the beginning of Saul’s reign, he then went about the task of consolidating an army as described in what follows (cf. KJV, ASV, CEV). But if the statement in v. 1 is intended to be a comprehensive report on the length of Saul’s reign, the number is too small. According to Acts 13:21 Saul reigned for forty years. Some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT), taking this forty to be a round number, add it to the “two years” of the MT and translate the number here as “forty-two years.” While this is an acceptable option, the present translation instead replaces the MT’s “two” with the figure “forty.” Admittedly the textual evidence for this decision is weak, but the same can be said of any attempt to restore sense to this difficult text (note the ellipsis marks at this point in NAB, NRSV). The Syriac Peshitta lacks this part of v. 1.
  3. 1 Samuel 13:2 tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
  4. 1 Samuel 13:2 tn Heb “each one to his tents.”
  5. 1 Samuel 13:3 tn Or perhaps “struck down the Philistine official.” See the note at 1 Sam 10:5. Cf. TEV “killed the Philistine commander.”
  6. 1 Samuel 13:3 tn Heb “blew the ram’s horn in.”
  7. 1 Samuel 13:4 tn The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  8. 1 Samuel 13:4 tn Heb “stinks.” The figurative language indicates that Israel had become repulsive to the Philistines.
  9. 1 Samuel 13:4 tn Heb “were summoned after.”
  10. 1 Samuel 13:5 tc The MT omits “they went up against Israel” in a case of homoioteleuton, but these words are preserved in LXX.
  11. 1 Samuel 13:5 tc The translation follows the Lucianic Greek rescension and the Syriac. Many English versions follow the MT (e.g., KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV) reading “30,000” here. One expects there to be more horsemen than chariots, cf. 2 Kgs 13:7; 2 Chr 12:3.
  12. 1 Samuel 13:6 tn Or perhaps “vaults.” This rare term also occurs in Judg 9:46, 49. Cf. KJV “high places”; ASV “coverts”; NAB “caverns”; NASB “cellars”; NIV, NCV, TEV “pits”; NRSV, NLT “tombs.”
  13. 1 Samuel 13:7 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  14. 1 Samuel 13:8 tn This apparently refers to the instructions given by Samuel in 1 Sam 10:8. If so, several years had passed. On the relationship between chs. 10 and 13, see V. P. Long, The Art of Biblical History (FCI), 201-23.
  15. 1 Samuel 13:8 tn Heb “dispersed from upon him”; NAB, NRSV “began to slip away.”
  16. 1 Samuel 13:10 tn Heb “to bless him.”
  17. 1 Samuel 13:11 tn Heb “dispersed from upon me.”
  18. 1 Samuel 13:12 tn Heb “said.”
  19. 1 Samuel 13:12 tn Or “I forced myself” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV); NAB “So in my anxiety I offered”; NIV “I felt compelled.”
  20. 1 Samuel 13:13 tn Or “kept.”
  21. 1 Samuel 13:13 tn Heb “commanded.”
  22. 1 Samuel 13:14 tn This verb form, as well as the one that follows (“appointed”), indicates completed action from the standpoint of the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that the Lord had already conducted his search and made his choice, however. The forms may be used for rhetorical effect to emphasize the certainty of the action. The divine search for a new king is as good as done, emphasizing that the days of Saul’s dynasty are numbered.
  23. 1 Samuel 13:14 tn Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.
  24. 1 Samuel 13:14 tn Heb “commanded.”
  25. 1 Samuel 13:15 tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal….”
  26. 1 Samuel 13:15 tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).
  27. 1 Samuel 13:16 tn The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses in v. 16 indicates synchronic action.
  28. 1 Samuel 13:20 tc The translation follows the LXX (“their sickle”) here, rather than the MT “plowshares,” which is due to dittography from the word earlier in the verse.
  29. 1 Samuel 13:21 tn Heb “the price was.” The meaning of the Hebrew word פְּצִירָה (petsirah) is uncertain. This is the only place it occurs in the OT. Some propose the meaning “sharpening,” but “price” is a more likely meaning if the following term refers to a weight (see the following note on the word “shekel”). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 238.
  30. 1 Samuel 13:21 tn This word, which appears only here in the OT, probably refers to a stone weight. Stones marked פִּים (pim) have been found in excavations of Palestinian sites. The average weight of such stones is 0.268 ounces, which is equivalent to about two-thirds of a shekel. This probably refers to the price charged by the Philistines for the services listed. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 238; DNWSI 2:910; and G. I. Davies, Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions, 259.
  31. 1 Samuel 13:21 tc Heb “and for a third, a pick.” The Hebrew text suffers from haplography at this point. The translation follows the textual reconstruction offered by P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 235.
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Job 30
New English Translation

Job’s Present Misery

30 “But now they mock me, those who are younger[a] than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much[b]
to put with my sheep dogs.[c]
2 Moreover, the strength of their[d] hands—
what use was it to me?
Those whose strength[e] had perished,
3 gaunt[f] with want and hunger,
they would roam[g] the parched land,
by night a desolate waste.[h]
4 By the brush[i] they would gather[j] herbs from the salt marshes,[k]
and the root of the broom tree was their food.
5 They were banished from the community[l]—
people[m] shouted at them
as they would shout at thieves[n]—
6 so that they had to live[o]
in the dry stream beds,[p]
in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
7 They brayed[q] like animals among the bushes
and were huddled together[r] under the nettles.
8 Sons of senseless and nameless people,[s]
they were driven out of the land with whips.[t]

Job’s Indignities

9 “And now I have become their taunt song;
I have become a byword[u] among them.
10 They detest me and maintain their distance;[v]
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because God has untied[w] my tent cord and afflicted me,
people throw off all restraint in my presence.[x]
12 On my right the young rabble[y] rise up;
they drive me from place to place,[z]
and build up siege ramps[aa] against me.[ab]
13 They destroy[ac] my path;
they succeed in destroying me[ad]
without anyone assisting[ae] them.
14 They come in as through a wide breach;
amid the crash[af] they come rolling in.[ag]
15 Terrors are turned loose[ah] on me;
they drive away[ai] my honor like the wind,
and as a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

Job’s Despondency

16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me;[aj]
days of suffering take hold of me.
17 Night pierces[ak] my bones;[al]
my gnawing pains[am] never cease.
18 With great power God[an] grasps my clothing;[ao]
he binds me like the collar[ap] of my tunic.
19 He has flung me into the mud,
and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.
20 I cry out to you,[aq] but you do not answer me;
I stand up,[ar] and you only look at me.[as]
21 You have become cruel to me;[at]
with the strength of your hand you attack me.[au]
22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it;[av]
you toss me about[aw] in the storm.[ax]
23 I know that you are bringing[ay] me to death,
to the meeting place for all the living.

The Contrast With the Past

24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand
against a broken man[az]
when he cries for help in his distress.[ba]
25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate?[bb]
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;
when I expected light, then darkness came.
27 My heart[bc] is in turmoil[bd] unceasingly;[be]
the days of my affliction confront me.
28 I go about blackened,[bf] but not by the sun;
in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.[bg]
30 My skin has turned dark on me;[bh]
my body[bi] is hot with fever.[bj]
31 My harp is used for[bk] mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:1 tn Heb “smaller than I for days.”
  2. Job 30:1 tn Heb “who I disdained their fathers to set…,” meaning “whose fathers I disdained to set.” The relative clause modifies the young fellows who mock; it explains that Job did not think highly enough of them to put them with the dogs. The next verse will explain why.
  3. Job 30:1 sn Job is mocked by young fellows who come from low extraction. They mocked their elders and their betters. The scorn is strong here—dogs were despised as scavengers.
  4. Job 30:2 tn The reference is to the fathers of the scorners, who are here regarded as weak and worthless.
  5. Job 30:2 tn The word כֶּלַח (kelakh) only occurs in Job 5:26, but the Arabic cognate gives this meaning “strength.” Others suggest כָּלַח (kalakh, “old age”), כֹּל־חַיִל (kol khayil, “all vigor”), כֹּל־לֵחַ (kol leakh, “all freshness”), and the like. But there is no reason for such emendation.
  6. Job 30:3 tn This word, גַּלְמוּד (galmud), describes something as lowly, desolate, bare, gaunt like a rock.
  7. Job 30:3 tn The verb עָקַר (ʿaqar) appears only here (and possibly in Job 30:17). Several translations render this as “they gnaw the dry ground” (NASB, ESV, NRSV), but it is not typical to gnaw on dirt. Suggested emendations include adding יְרַק (yeraq from yereq, “vegetation, greenery of”) or עִקָּרֵי (ʿiqqare from ʿiqqar, “roots of [the parched land]”), either of which could be a food to gnaw on. They propose to restore a word with letters so similar to the verb that it may have been omitted in copying due to haplography. But the verb in Aramaic can also mean “to roam” (KJV “fleeing into the wilderness;” NIV “they roamed”), making an emendation unnecessary (see J. Hartley, The Book of Job [NICOT], 396).
  8. Job 30:3 tn The MT has “last night desolate and waste.” The word אֶמֶשׁ (ʾemesh, “last night” or “yesterday”) is strange here. Among the proposals for אֶמֶשׁ (ʾemesh), Duhm suggested יְמַשְּׁשׁוּ (yemasheshu, “they grope”), which would require darkness; Pope renders “by night,” instead of “yesterday,” which evades the difficulty; and Fohrer suggested with more reason אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “a desolate and waste land”). R. Gordis (Job, 331) suggests יָמִישׁוּ / יָמֻשׁוּ (yamishu/yamushu, “they wander off”).
  9. Job 30:4 tn Or “the leaves of bushes” (ESV), a possibility dating back to Saadia and discussed by G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray (Job [ICC], 2:209) in their philological notes.
  10. Job 30:4 tn Here too the form is the participle with the article.
  11. Job 30:4 tn Heb “gather mallow,” a plant which grows in salt marshes.
  12. Job 30:5 tn The word גֵּו (gev) is an Aramaic term meaning “midst,” indicating “midst [of society].” But there is also a Phoenician word that means “community” (DISO 48).
  13. Job 30:5 tn The form simply is the plural verb, but it means those who drove them from society.
  14. Job 30:5 tn The text merely says “as thieves,” but it obviously compares the poor to the thieves.
  15. Job 30:6 tn This use of the infinitive construct expresses that they were compelled to do something (see GKC 348-49 §114.h, k).
  16. Job 30:6 tn The adjectives followed by a partitive genitive take on the emphasis of a superlative: “in the most horrible of valleys” (see GKC 431 §133.h).
  17. Job 30:7 tn The verb נָהַק (nahaq) means “to bray.” It has cognates in Arabic, Aramaic, and Ugaritic, so there is no need for emendation here. It is the sign of an animal’s hunger. In the translation the words “like animals” are supplied to clarify the metaphor for the modern reader.
  18. Job 30:7 tn The Pual of the verb סָפַח (safakh, “to join”) also brings out the passivity of these people—“they were huddled together” (E. Dhorme, Job, 434).
  19. Job 30:8 tn The “sons of the senseless” (נָבָל, naval) means they were mentally and morally base and defective; and “sons of no-name” means without honor and respect, worthless (because not named).
  20. Job 30:8 tn Heb “they were whipped from the land” (cf. ESV) or “they were cast out from the land” (HALOT 697 s.v. נכא). J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 397) follows Gordis suggests that the meaning is “brought lower than the ground.”
  21. Job 30:9 tn The idea is that Job has become proverbial, people think of misfortune and sin when they think of him. The statement uses the ordinary word for “word” (מִלָּה, millah), but in this context it means more: “proverb; byword.”
  22. Job 30:10 tn Heb “they are far from me.”
  23. Job 30:11 tn The verb פָּתַח (patakh) means “to untie [or undo]” a rope or bonds. In this verse יִתְרוֹ (yitro, the Kethib, LXX, and Vulgate) would mean “his rope” (see יֶתֶר [yeter] in Judg 16:7-9). The Qere would be יִתְרִי (yitri, “my rope [or cord]”), meaning “me.” The word could mean “rope,” “cord,” or “bowstring.” If the reading “my cord” is accepted, the cord would be something like “my tent cord” (as in Job 29:20), more than K&D 12:147 “cord of life.” This has been followed in the present translation. If it were “my bowstring,” it would give the sense of disablement. If “his cord” is taken, it would signify that the restraint that God had in afflicting Job was loosened—nothing was held back.
  24. Job 30:11 sn People throw off all restraint in my presence means that when people saw how God afflicted Job, robbing him of his influence and power, then they turned on him with unrestrained insolence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 193).
  25. Job 30:12 tn This Hebrew word occurs only here. The word פִּרְחַח (pirkhakh, “young rabble”) is a quadriliteral, from פָּרַח (parakh, “to bud”) The derivative אֶפְרֹחַ (ʾefroakh) in the Bible refers to a young bird. In Arabic farhun means both “young bird” and “base man.” Perhaps “young rabble” is the best meaning here (see R. Gordis, Job, 333).
  26. Job 30:12 tn Heb “they cast off my feet” or “they send my feet away.” Many delete the line as troubling and superfluous. E. Dhorme (Job, 438) forces the lines to say “they draw my feet into a net.”
  27. Job 30:12 tn Heb “paths of their destruction” or “their destructive paths.”
  28. Job 30:12 sn See Job 19:12.
  29. Job 30:13 tn This verb נָתְסוּ (natesu) is found nowhere else. It is probably a variant of the verb in Job 19:10. R. Gordis (Job, 333-34) notes the Arabic noun natsun (“thorns”), suggesting a denominative idea “they have placed thorns in my path.” Most take it to mean they ruin the way of escape.
  30. Job 30:13 tc The MT has “they further my misfortune.” The line is difficult, with slight textual problems. The verb יֹעִילוּ (yoʿilu) means “to profit,” and so “to succeed” or “to set forward.” Good sense can be made from the MT as it stands, and many suggested changes are suspect.
  31. Job 30:13 tn The sense of “restraining” for “helping” was proposed by Dillmann and supported by G. R. Driver (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).
  32. Job 30:14 tn The MT has “under the crash,” with the idea that they rush in while the stones are falling around them (which is continuing the figure of the military attack). G. R. Driver took the expression to mean in a temporal sense “at the moment of the crash” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163-64). Guillaume, drawing from Arabic, has “where the gap is made.”
  33. Job 30:14 tn The verb, the Hitpalpel of גָּלַל (galal), means “they roll themselves.” This could mean “they roll themselves under the ruins” (Dhorme), “they roll on like a storm” (Gordis), or “they roll on” as in waves of enemy attackers (see H. H. Rowley). This particular verb form is found only here (but see Amos 5:24).
  34. Job 30:15 tn The passive singular verb (Hophal) is used with a plural subject (see GKC 388 §121.b).
  35. Job 30:15 tc This translation assumes that “terrors” (in the plural) is the subject. Others emend the text in accordance with the LXX, which has, “my hope is gone like the wind.”
  36. Job 30:16 tn This line can either mean that Job is wasting away (i.e., his life is being poured out), or it can mean that he is grieving. The second half of the verse gives the subordinate clause of condition for this.
  37. Job 30:17 tn The subject of the verb “pierces” can be the night (personified), or it could be God (understood), leaving “night” to be an adverbial accusative of time—“at night he pierces.”
  38. Job 30:17 tc The MT concludes this half-verse with “upon me.” That phrase is not in the LXX, and so many commentators delete it as making the line too long.
  39. Job 30:17 tn Heb “my gnawers,” which is open to several interpretations. The NASB and NIV take it as “gnawing pains”; cf. NRSV “the pain that gnaws me.” Some suggest worms in the sores (7:5). The LXX has “my nerves,” a view accepted by many commentators.
  40. Job 30:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  41. Job 30:18 tc This whole verse is difficult. The first problem is that this verb in the MT means “is disguised [or disfigured],” indicating that Job’s clothes hang loose on him. But many take the view that the verb is a phonetic variant of חָבַשׁ (khavash, “to bind; to seize”) and that the Hitpael form is a conflation of the third and second person because of the interchange between them in the passage (R. Gordis, Job, 335). The commentaries list a number of conjectural emendations, but the image in the verse is probably that God seizes Job by the garment and throws him down.
  42. Job 30:18 tn The phrase “like the collar” is difficult, primarily because their tunics did not have collars. A translation of “neck” would suit better. Some change the preposition to ב (bet), getting a translation “by the neck of my tunic.”
  43. Job 30:20 sn The implication from the sentence is that this is a cry to God for help. The sudden change from third person (v. 19) to second person (v. 20) is indicative of the intense emotion of the sufferer.
  44. Job 30:20 sn The verb is simple, but the interpretation difficult. In this verse it probably means he stands up in prayer (Jer 15:1), but it could mean that he makes his case to God. Others suggest a more figurative sense, like the English expression “stand pat,” meaning “remain silent” (see Job 29:8).
  45. Job 30:20 tn If the idea of prayer is meant, then a pejorative sense to the verb is required. Some supply a negative and translate “you do not pay heed to me.” This is supported by one Hebrew ms and the Vulgate. The Syriac has the whole colon read with God as the subject, “you stand and look at me.”
  46. Job 30:21 tn The idiom uses the Niphal verb “you are turned” with “to cruelty.” See Job 41:20b, as well as Isa 63:10.
  47. Job 30:21 tc The LXX reads this verb as “you scourged/whipped me.” But there is no reason to adopt this change.
  48. Job 30:22 sn Here Job changes the metaphor again, to the driving storm. God has sent his storms, and Job is blown away.
  49. Job 30:22 tn The verb means “to melt.” The imagery would suggest softening the ground with the showers (see Ps 65:10 [11]). The translation “toss…about” comes from the Arabic cognate that is used for the surging of the sea.
  50. Job 30:22 tc The Qere is תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah, “counsel”), which makes no sense here. The Kethib is a variant orthography for תְּשֻׁאָה (teshuʾah, “storm”).
  51. Job 30:23 tn The imperfect verb would be a progressive imperfect, it is future, but it is also already underway.
  52. Job 30:24 tc Here is another very difficult verse, as the differences among commentaries and translations attest. The MT has “surely not against a ruinous heap will he [God] put forth his [God’s] hand.” But A. B. Davidson takes Job as the subject, reading “does not one stretch out his hand in his fall?” The RSV suggests a man walking in the ruins and using his hand for support. Dillmann changed it to “drowning man” to say “does not a drowning man stretch out his hand?” Beer has “have I not given a helping hand to the poor?” Dhorme has, “I did not strike the poor man with my hand.” Kissane follows this but retains the verb form, “one does not strike the poor man with his hand.”
  53. Job 30:24 tc The second colon is also difficult; it reads, “if in his destruction to them he cries.” E. Dhorme (Job, 425-26) explains how he thinks “to them” came about, and he restores “to me.” This is the major difficulty in the line, and Dhorme’s suggestion is the simplest resolution.
  54. Job 30:25 tn Heb “for the hard of day.”
  55. Job 30:27 tn Heb “my loins,” “my bowels” (archaic), “my innermost being.” The last option is reflected in the translation; some translations take the inner turmoil to be literal (NIV “The churning inside me never stops”).
  56. Job 30:27 tn Heb “boils.”
  57. Job 30:27 tn The last clause reads “and they [it] are not quiet” or “do not cease.” The clause then serves adverbially for the sentence—“unceasingly.”
  58. Job 30:28 tn The construction uses the word קֹדֵר (qoder) followed by the Piel perfect of הָלַךְ (halakh, “I go about”). The adjective “blackened” refers to Job’s skin that has been marred by the disease. Adjectives are often used before verbs to describe some bodily condition (see GKC 374-75 §118.n).
  59. Job 30:29 sn The point of this figure is that Job’s cries of lament are like the howls and screeches of these animals, not that he lives with them. In Job 39:13 the female ostrich is called “the wailer.”
  60. Job 30:30 tn The MT has “become dark from upon me,” prompting some editions to supply the verb “falls from me” (RSV, NRSV), or “peels” (NIV).
  61. Job 30:30 tn The word “my bones” may be taken as a metonymy of subject, the bony framework indicating the whole body.
  62. Job 30:30 tn The word חֹרֶב (khorev) also means “heat.” The heat in this line is not that of the sun, but obviously a fever.
  63. Job 30:31 tn The verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) followed by the preposition ל (lamed) means “to serve the purpose of” (see Gen 1:14ff., 17:7, etc.).
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Job 29
Job 31
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Revelation 7
New English Translation

The Sealing of the 144,000

7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then[a] I saw another angel ascending from the east,[b] who had[c] the seal[d] of the living God. He[e] shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission[f] to damage the earth and the sea:[g] 3 “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants[h] of our God.” 4 Now[i] I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal,[j] 144,000, sealed from all[k] the tribes of the people of Israel:[l]

5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,
6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,
7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

9 After these things I looked, and here was[m] an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe,[n] people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,

“Salvation belongs to our God,[o] who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

11 And all the angels stood[p] there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground[q] before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,

“Amen! Praise and glory,
and wisdom and thanksgiving,
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

13 Then[r] one of the elders asked[s] me, “These dressed in long white robes—who are they and where have they come from?” 14 So[t] I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.”[u] Then[v] he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They[w] have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve[x] him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them.[y] 16 They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat,[z] 17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[aa]

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:2 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  2. Revelation 7:2 tn Grk “from the rising of the sun.” BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατολή 2.a takes this as a geographical direction: “ἀπὸ ἀ. ἡλίου…from the east Rv 7:2; 16:12…simply ἀπὸ ἀ.…21:13.”
  3. Revelation 7:2 tn Grk “having,” but v. 3 makes it clear that the angel’s purpose is to seal others with the seal he carries.
  4. Revelation 7:2 tn Or “signet” (L&N 6.54).
  5. Revelation 7:2 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  6. Revelation 7:2 tn The word “permission” is implied; Grk “to whom it was given to them to damage the earth.”
  7. Revelation 7:2 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
  8. Revelation 7:3 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
  9. Revelation 7:4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.
  10. Revelation 7:4 tn Grk “who were sealed.”
  11. Revelation 7:4 tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.
  12. Revelation 7:4 tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.
  13. Revelation 7:9 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
  14. Revelation 7:9 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
  15. Revelation 7:10 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
  16. Revelation 7:11 tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.
  17. Revelation 7:11 tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
  18. Revelation 7:13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  19. Revelation 7:13 tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.
  20. Revelation 7:14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.
  21. Revelation 7:14 tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.
  22. Revelation 7:14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  23. Revelation 7:14 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  24. Revelation 7:15 tn Or “worship.” The word here is λατρεύω (latreuō).
  25. Revelation 7:15 tn Grk “will spread his tent over them,” normally an idiom for taking up residence with someone, but when combined with the preposition ἐπί (epi, “over”) the idea is one of extending protection or shelter (BDAG 929 s.v. σκηνόω).
  26. Revelation 7:16 tn An allusion to Isa 49:10. The phrase “burning heat” is one word in Greek (καῦμα, kauma) that refers to a burning, intensely-felt heat. See BDAG 536 s.v.
  27. Revelation 7:17 sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.
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New English Translation (NET)

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