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Proverbs 21:1
New English Translation
Proverbs 21:1
New English Translation
21 The king’s heart[a] is in the hand[b] of the Lord like channels of water;[c]
he turns it wherever he wants.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 21:1 sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.
- Proverbs 21:1 sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.
- Proverbs 21:1 tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison—“like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”sn The farmer channels irrigation ditches where he wants them, where they will do the most good; so does the Lord with the king. No king is supreme; the Lord rules.
Exodus 9:16
New English Translation
Exodus 9:16
New English Translation
16 But[a] for this purpose I have caused you to stand:[b] to show you[c] my strength, and so that my name may be declared[d] in all the earth.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 9:16 tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”
- Exodus 9:16 tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (heʿemadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (ʿamad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense—“you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.
- Exodus 9:16 tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (harʾotekha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.
- Exodus 9:16 tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.
Psalm 22:28
New English Translation
Psalm 22:28
New English Translation
28 For the Lord is king[a]
and rules over the nations.
Footnotes
- Psalm 22:28 tn Heb “for to the Lord [is] dominion.”
Jeremiah 18:7-10
New English Translation
Jeremiah 18:7-10
New English Translation
7 There are times, Jeremiah,[a] when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom.[b] 8 But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong,[c] I will cancel the destruction[d] I intended to do to it. 9 And there are times when I promise to build up and establish[e] a nation or kingdom. 10 But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jeremiah 18:7 tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text, but it is implicit from the introduction in v. 5 that he is being addressed. It is important to see how the rhetoric of this passage is structured. The words of vv. 7-10 lead up to the conclusion “So now” in v. 11, which in turn leads to the conclusion “Therefore” in v. 13. The tense of the verb in v. 12 is very important. It is a vav consecutive perfect indicating the future (cf. GKC 333 §112.p, r); their response is predictable. The words of vv. 7-10 are addressed to Jeremiah (v. 5) in fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to speak to him (v. 2). They furnish the basis for the Lord’s words of conditional threat to a people who show no promise of responding positively (vv. 11-12). Verse 6 then must be seen as another example of the figure of apostrophe (the turning aside from description about someone to addressing them directly; cf., e.g., Ps 6:8-9 (6:9-10 HT). Earlier examples of this figure have been seen in 6:20; 9:4; 11:13; 12:13; and 15:6.
- Jeremiah 18:7 tn Heb “One moment I may speak about a nation or kingdom to…” So also in v. 9. The translation is structured this way to avoid an awkward English construction and to reflect the difference in disposition. The constructions are, however, the same.
- Jeremiah 18:8 tn Heb “turns from its wickedness.”
- Jeremiah 18:8 tn There is a good deal of debate about how the word translated here “revoke” should be translated. There is a good deal of reluctance to translate it “change my mind” because some see that as contradicting Num 23:19 and thus prefer “relent.” However, the English word “relent” suggests the softening of an attitude but not necessarily the change of course. It is clear that in many cases (including here) an actual change of course is in view (see, e.g., Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9; Jer 26:19; Exod 13:17; 32:14). Several of these passages deal with “conditional” prophecies, where a change in behavior of the people or the mediation of a prophet involves the change in course of the threatened punishment (or the promised benefit). “Revoke” or “forgo” may be the best way to render this in contemporary English idiom.sn There is a wordplay here involving the word “evil” (רָעָה, raʿah), which refers to both the crime and the punishment. This same play is carried further in Jonah 3:10-4:1, where Jonah becomes very displeased (Heb “it was very evil to Jonah with great evil”) when God forgoes bringing disaster (evil) on Nineveh because they have repented of their wickedness (evil).
- Jeremiah 18:9 sn Heb “plant.” The terms “uproot,” “tear down,” “destroy,” “build,” and “plant” are the two sides of the ministry Jeremiah was called to fulfill (cf. Jer 1:10).
Daniel 4:35
New English Translation
Daniel 4:35
New English Translation
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing.[a]
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps[b] his hand
and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
Footnotes
- Daniel 4:35 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kelaʾ), with many medieval Hebrew mss, rather than כְּלָה (kelah) of BHS.
- Daniel 4:35 tn Aram “strikes against.”
New English Translation (NET)
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