Genesis 41:1-57 
Context41:1 At the end of two full years 1 Pharaoh had a dream. 2 As he was standing by the Nile, 41:2 seven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, 3 and they grazed in the reeds. 41:3 Then seven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, 4 and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river. 5 41:4 The bad-looking, thin cows ate the seven fine-looking, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
41:5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing 6 on one stalk, healthy 7 and good. 41:6 Then 8 seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:7 The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream. 9
41:8 In the morning he 10 was troubled, so he called for 11 all the diviner-priests 12 of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, 13 but no one could interpret 14 them for him. 15 41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures. 16 41:10 Pharaoh was enraged with his servants, and he put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guards – me and the chief baker. 41:11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning. 17 41:12 Now a young man, a Hebrew, a servant 18 of the captain of the guards, 19 was with us there. We told him our dreams, 20 and he interpreted the meaning of each of our respective dreams for us. 21 41:13 It happened just as he had said 22 to us – Pharaoh 23 restored me to my office, but he impaled the baker.” 24
41:14 Then Pharaoh summoned 25 Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh. 41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, 26 and there is no one who can interpret 27 it. But I have heard about you, that 28 you can interpret dreams.” 29 41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, 30 but God will speak concerning 31 the welfare of Pharaoh.” 32
41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing 33 by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 34 41:19 Then 35 seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows 36 as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven 37 fat cows. 41:21 When they had eaten them, 38 no one would have known 39 that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up. 41:22 I also saw in my dream 40 seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then 41 seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this 42 to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.” 43
41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. 44 God has revealed 45 to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 46 41:26 The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. Both dreams have the same meaning. 47 41:27 The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent 48 seven years of famine. 41:28 This is just what I told 49 Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 41:30 But seven years of famine will occur 50 after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate 51 the land. 41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered 52 because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. 53 41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh 54 because the matter has been decreed 55 by God, and God will make it happen soon. 56
41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look 57 for a wise and discerning man 58 and give him authority 59 over all the land of Egypt. 41:34 Pharaoh should do 60 this – he should appoint 61 officials 62 throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt 63 during the seven years of abundance. 41:35 They should gather all the excess food 64 during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority 65 they should store up grain so the cities will have food, 66 and they should preserve it. 67 41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” 68
41:37 This advice made sense to Pharaoh and all his officials. 69 41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, 70 one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” 71 41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning 72 as you are! 41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. 73 Only I, the king, will be greater than you. 74
41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place 75 you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” 76 41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen 77 clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. 41:43 Pharaoh 78 had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, 79 and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” 80 So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission 81 no one 82 will move his hand or his foot 83 in all the land of Egypt.” 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. 84 He also gave him Asenath 85 daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, 86 to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of 87 all the land of Egypt.
41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old 88 when he began serving 89 Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by 90 Pharaoh and was in charge of 91 all the land of Egypt. 41:47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced large, bountiful harvests. 92 41:48 Joseph 93 collected all the excess food 94 in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. 95 In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it. 41:49 Joseph stored up a vast amount of grain, like the sand of the sea, 96 until he stopped measuring it because it was impossible to measure.
41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. 97 Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. 98 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, 99 saying, 100 “Certainly 101 God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” 41:52 He named the second child Ephraim, 102 saying, 103 “Certainly 104 God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
41:53 The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. 41:54 Then the seven years of famine began, 105 just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, 106 “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
41:56 While the famine was over all the earth, 107 Joseph opened the storehouses 108 and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. 41:57 People from every country 109 came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.
Mark 11:1-33
Context11:1 Now 110 as they approached Jerusalem, 111 near Bethphage 112 and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, 113 Jesus 114 sent two of his disciples 11:2 and said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you. 115 As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. 116 Untie it and bring it here. 11:3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it 117 and will send it back here soon.’” 11:4 So 118 they went and found a colt tied at a door, outside in the street, and untied it. 11:5 Some people standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 11:6 They replied as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders 119 let them go. 11:7 Then 120 they brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks 121 on it, and he sat on it. 122 11:8 Many spread their cloaks on the road and others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 11:9 Both those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting, “Hosanna! 123 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 124 11:10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11:11 Then 125 Jesus 126 entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.
11:12 Now 127 the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 11:13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit 128 on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 11:14 He said to it, 129 “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. 130
11:15 Then 131 they came to Jerusalem. 132 Jesus 133 entered the temple area 134 and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. 135 He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 11:16 and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise 136 through the temple courts. 137 11:17 Then he began to teach 138 them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? 139 But you have turned it into a den 140 of robbers!” 141 11:18 The chief priests and the experts in the law 142 heard it and they considered how they could assassinate 143 him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching. 11:19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples 144 went out of the city.
11:20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 11:21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” 11:22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 11:23 I tell you the truth, 145 if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 11:25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will 146 also forgive you your sins.”
11:26 [[EMPTY]] 14711:27 They came again to Jerusalem. 148 While Jesus 149 was walking in the temple courts, 150 the chief priests, the experts in the law, 151 and the elders came up to him 11:28 and said, “By what authority 152 are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” 11:29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 11:30 John’s baptism – was it from heaven or from people? 153 Answer me.” 11:31 They discussed with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 11:32 But if we say, ‘From people – ’” (they feared the crowd, for they all considered John to be truly a prophet). 11:33 So 154 they answered Jesus, 155 “We don’t know.” 156 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you 157 by what authority 158 I am doing these things.”
Job 7:1-21
Context7:1 “Does not humanity have hard service 159 on earth?
Are not their days also
like the days of a hired man? 160
7:2 Like a servant 161 longing for the evening shadow, 162
and like a hired man looking 163 for his wages, 164
7:3 thus 165 I have been made to inherit 166
months of futility, 167
and nights of sorrow 168
have been appointed 169 to me.
7:4 If I lie down, I say, 170 ‘When will I arise?’,
and the night stretches on 171
and I toss and turn restlessly 172
until the day dawns.
7:5 My body 173 is clothed 174 with worms 175 and dirty scabs; 176
my skin is broken 177 and festering.
7:6 My days 178 are swifter 179 than a weaver’s shuttle 180
and they come to an end without hope. 181
7:7 Remember 182 that my life is but a breath,
that 183 my eyes will never again 184 see happiness.
7:8 The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more; 185
your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone. 186
7:9 As 187 a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, 188
so the one who goes down to the grave 189
does not come up again. 190
7:10 He returns no more to his house,
nor does his place of residence 191 know him 192 any more.
7:11 “Therefore, 193 I will not refrain my mouth; 194
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain 195 in the bitterness of my soul.
7:12 Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, 196
that you must put 197 me under guard? 198
7:13 If 199 I say, 200 “My bed will comfort me, 201
my couch will ease 202 my complaint,”
7:14 then you scare me 203 with dreams
and terrify 204 me with 205 visions,
7:15 so that I 206 would prefer 207 strangling, 208
and 209 death 210 more 211 than life. 212
7:16 I loathe 213 it; 214 I do not want to live forever;
leave me alone, 215 for my days are a vapor! 216
7:17 “What is mankind 217 that you make so much of them, 218
and that you pay attention 219 to them?
7:18 And that you visit 220 them every morning,
and try 221 them every moment? 222
7:19 Will you never 223 look away from me, 224
will you not let me alone 225
long enough to swallow my spittle?
7:20 If 226 I have sinned – what have I done to you, 227
O watcher of men? 228
Why have you set me as your target? 229
Have I become a burden to you? 230
7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression,
and take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust, 231
and you will seek me diligently, 232
but I will be gone.”
Romans 11:1-36
Context11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!” 233 11:4 But what was the divine response 234 to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people 235 who have not bent the knee to Baal.” 236
11:5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The 237 rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
to this very day.” 238
11:9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,
and make their backs bend continually.” 239
11:11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, 240 did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel 241 jealous. 11:12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration 242 bring?
11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 11:14 if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 11:16 If the first portion 243 of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. 244
11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in 245 the richness of the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! 246 They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but 247 God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; 248 otherwise you also will be cut off. 11:23 And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?
11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, 249 so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel 250 until the full number 251 of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so 252 all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
11:27 And this is my covenant with them, 253
when I take away their sins.” 254
11:28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 11:29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 11:30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 11:31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now 255 receive mercy. 11:32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. 256
11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!
11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor? 257
11:35 Or who has first given to God, 258
that God 259 needs to repay him? 260
11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.
1 tn Heb “two years, days.”
2 tn Heb “was dreaming.”
3 tn Heb “And look, he was standing by the Nile, and look, from the Nile were coming up seven cows, attractive of appearance and fat of flesh.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to see the dream through Pharaoh’s eyes.
4 tn Heb “And look, seven other cows were coming up after them from the Nile, bad of appearance and thin of flesh.”
5 tn Heb “the Nile.” This has been replaced by “the river” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “coming up.”
7 tn Heb “fat.”
8 tn Heb “And look.”
9 tn Heb “And look, a dream.”
sn Pharaoh’s two dreams, as explained in the following verses, pertained to the economy of Egypt. Because of the Nile River, the land of Egypt weathered all kinds of famines – there was usually grain in Egypt, and if there was grain and water the livestock would flourish. These two dreams, however, indicated that poverty would overtake plenty and that the blessing of the herd and the field would cease.
10 tn Heb “his spirit.”
11 tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.
12 tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.
13 tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).
14 tn “there was no interpreter.”
15 tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
16 tn Heb “sins, offenses.” He probably refers here to the offenses that landed him in prison (see 40:1).
17 tn Heb “and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed.”
18 tn Or “slave.”
19 tn Heb “a servant to the captain of the guards.” On this construction see GKC 419-20 §129.c.
20 tn The words “our dreams” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
21 tn Heb “and he interpreted for us our dreams, each according to his dream he interpreted.”
22 tn Heb “interpreted.”
23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the baker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Heb “and Pharaoh sent and called,” indicating a summons to the royal court.
26 tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”
27 tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”
28 tn Heb “saying.”
29 tn Heb “you hear a dream to interpret it,” which may mean, “you only have to hear a dream to be able to interpret it.”
30 tn Heb “not within me.”
31 tn Heb “God will answer.”
32 tn The expression שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה (shÿlom par’oh) is here rendered “the welfare of Pharaoh” because the dream will be about life in his land. Some interpret it to mean an answer of “peace” – one that will calm his heart, or give him the answer that he desires (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT).
33 tn Heb “In my dream look, I was standing.” The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here (and also in vv. 18, 19, 22, 23) invites the hearer (within the context of the narrative, Joseph; but in the broader sense the reader or hearer of the Book of Genesis) to observe the scene through Pharaoh’s eyes.
34 tn Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”
35 tn Heb “And look.”
36 tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
37 tn Heb “the seven first fat cows.”
38 tn Heb “when they went inside them.”
39 tn Heb “it was not known.”
40 tn Heb “and I saw in my dream and look.”
41 tn Heb “And look.”
42 tn The words “all this” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
43 tn Heb “and there was no one telling me.”
44 tn Heb “the dream of Pharaoh is one.”
45 tn Heb “declared.”
46 tn The active participle here indicates what is imminent.
47 tn Heb “one dream it is.”
48 tn Heb “are.” Another option is to translate, “There will be seven years of famine.”
49 tn Heb “it is the word that I spoke.”
50 tn The perfect with the vav consecutive continues the time frame of the preceding participle, which has an imminent future nuance here.
51 tn The Hebrew verb כָּלָה (kalah) in the Piel stem means “to finish, to destroy, to bring an end to.” The severity of the famine will ruin the land of Egypt.
52 tn Heb “known.”
53 tn Or “heavy.”
54 tn Heb “and concerning the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh two times.” The Niphal infinitive here is the object of the preposition; it is followed by the subjective genitive “of the dream.”
55 tn Heb “established.”
56 tn The clause combines a participle and an infinitive construct: God “is hurrying…to do it,” meaning he is going to do it soon.
57 tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
58 tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
59 tn Heb “and let him set him.”
60 tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”
61 tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
62 tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.
63 tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.
64 tn Heb “all the food.”
65 tn Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”
66 tn Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.
67 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.
68 tn Heb “and the land will not be cut off in the famine.”
69 tn Heb “and the matter was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.”
70 tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.
71 tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”
72 tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
73 tn Heb “and at your mouth (i.e., instructions) all my people will kiss.” G. J. Wenham translates this “shall kowtow to your instruction” (Genesis [WBC], 2:395). Although there is some textual support for reading “will be judged, ruled by you,” this is probably an attempt to capture the significance of this word. Wenham lists a number of references where individuals have tried to make connections with other words or expressions – such as a root meaning “order themselves” lying behind “kiss,” or an idiomatic idea of “kiss” meaning “seal the mouth,” and so “be silent and submit to.” See K. A. Kitchen, “The Term Nsq in Genesis 41:40,” ExpTim 69 (1957): 30; D. S. Sperling, “Genesis 41:40: A New Interpretation,” JANESCU 10 (1978): 113-19.
74 tn Heb “only the throne, I will be greater than you.”
75 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן (natan) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”
76 sn Joseph became the grand vizier of the land of Egypt. See W. A. Ward, “The Egyptian Office of Joseph,” JSS 5 (1960): 144-50; and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 129-31.
77 tn The Hebrew word שֵׁשׁ (shesh) is an Egyptian loanword that describes the fine linen robes that Egyptian royalty wore. The clothing signified Joseph’s rank.
78 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
79 tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”
80 tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).
81 tn Heb “apart from you.”
82 tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.
83 tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.
84 sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD3 1262).
85 sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.
86 sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.
87 tn Heb “and he passed through.”
88 tn Heb “a son of thirty years.”
89 tn Heb “when he stood before.”
90 tn Heb “went out from before.”
91 tn Heb “and he passed through all the land of Egypt”; this phrase is interpreted by JPS to mean that Joseph “emerged in charge of the whole land.”
92 tn Heb “brought forth by handfuls.”
93 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
94 tn Heb “all the food.”
95 tn Heb “of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and placed food in the cities.”
96 tn Heb “and Joseph gathered grain like the sand of the sea, multiplying much.” To emphasize the vast amount of grain he stored up, the Hebrew text modifies the verb “gathered” with an infinitive absolute and an adverb.
97 tn Heb “before the year of the famine came.”
98 tn Heb “gave birth for him.”
99 sn The name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh) describes God’s activity on behalf of Joseph, explaining in general the significance of his change of fortune. The name is a Piel participle, suggesting the meaning “he who brings about forgetfulness.” The Hebrew verb נַשַּׁנִי (nashani) may have been used instead of the normal נִשַּׁנִי (nishani) to provide a closer sound play with the name. The giving of this Hebrew name to his son shows that Joseph retained his heritage and faith; and it shows that a brighter future was in store for him.
100 tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
101 tn Or “for.”
102 sn The name Ephraim (אֶפְרַיִם, ’efrayim), a form of the Hebrew verb פָּרָה (parah), means “to bear fruit.” The theme of fruitfulness is connected with this line of the family from Rachel (30:2) on down (see Gen 49:22, Deut 33:13-17, and Hos 13:15). But there is some difficulty with the name “Ephraim” itself. It appears to be a dual, for which F. Delitzsch simply said it meant “double fruitfulness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:305). G. J. Spurrell suggested it was a diphthongal pronunciation of a name ending in -an or -am, often thought to be dual suffixes (Notes on the text of the book of Genesis, 334). Many, however, simply connect the name to the territory of Ephraim and interpret it to be “fertile land” (C. Fontinoy, “Les noms de lieux en -ayim dans la Bible,” UF 3 [1971]: 33-40). The dual would then be an old locative ending. There is no doubt that the name became attached to the land in which the tribe settled, and it is possible that is where the dual ending came from, but in this story it refers to Joseph’s God-given fruitfulness.
103 tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
104 tn Or “for.”
105 tn Heb “began to arrive.”
106 tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.
107 tn Or “over the entire land”; Heb “over all the face of the earth.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal to the next clause.
108 tc The MT reads “he opened all that was in [or “among”] them.” The translation follows the reading of the LXX and Syriac versions.
109 tn Heb “all the earth,” which refers here (by metonymy) to the people of the earth. Note that the following verb is plural in form, indicating that the inhabitants of the earth are in view.
110 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
111 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
112 sn The exact location of the village of Bethphage is not known. Most put it on the southeast side of the Mount of Olives and northwest of Bethany, about 1.5 miles (3 km) east of Jerusalem.
113 sn “Mountain” in English generally denotes a higher elevation than it often does in reference to places in Palestine. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 30 meters (100 ft) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.
114 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
115 tn Grk “the village lying before you” (BDAG 530 s.v. κατέναντι 2.b).
116 tn Grk “a colt tied there on which no one of men has ever sat.”
117 sn The custom called angaria allowed the impressment of animals for service to a significant figure.
118 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
119 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people mentioned in v. 5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
120 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
121 tn Grk “garments”; but this refers in context to their outer cloaks. The action is like 2 Kgs 9:13.
122 sn See Zech 9:9, a prophecy fulfilled here (cf. Matt 21:5; John 12:15.
123 tn The expression ῾Ωσαννά (Jwsanna, literally in Hebrew, “O Lord, save”) in the quotation from Ps 118:25-26 was probably by this time a familiar liturgical expression of praise, on the order of “Hail to the king,” although both the underlying Aramaic and Hebrew expressions meant “O Lord, save us.” The introductory ὡσαννά is followed by the words of Ps 118:25, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου (euloghmeno" Jo ercomeno" en onomati kuriou), although in the Fourth Gospel the author adds for good measure καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ (kai Jo basileu" tou Israhl). In words familiar to every Jew, the author is indicating that at this point every messianic expectation is now at the point of realization. It is clear from the words of the psalm shouted by the crowd that Jesus is being proclaimed as messianic king. See E. Lohse, TDNT 9:682-84.
sn Hosanna is an Aramaic expression that literally means, “help, I pray,” or “save, I pray.” By Jesus’ time it had become a strictly liturgical formula of praise, however, and was used as an exclamation of praise to God.
124 sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.
125 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the transition from the previous narrative.
126 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
127 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
128 tn Grk “anything.”
129 tn Grk “And answering, he said to it.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.
130 sn Mark 11:12-14. The incident of the cursing of the fig tree occurs before he enters the temple for a third time (11:27ff) and is questioned at length by the religious leaders (11:27-12:40). It appears that Mark records the incident as a portent of what is going to happen to the leadership in Jerusalem who were supposed to have borne spiritual fruit but have been found by Messiah at his coming to be barren. The fact that the nation as a whole is indicted is made explicit in chapter 13:1-37 where Jesus speaks of Jerusalem’s destruction and his second coming.
131 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
132 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
133 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
134 tn Grk “the temple.”
sn The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.
135 tn Grk “the temple.”
sn Matthew (21:12-27), Mark (here, 11:15-19), and Luke (19:45-46) record this incident of the temple cleansing at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John (2:13-16) records a cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. See the note on the word temple courts in John 2:14 for a discussion of the relationship of these accounts to one another.
136 tn Or “things.” The Greek word σκεῦος (skeuos) can refer to merchandise, property, goods, a vessel, or even generally “things” (but in the sense of some implement or tool). The idea here is almost certainly restricted to merchandise, rather than the more general “things,” although some suggest from the parallel with m. Berakhot 9.5 that Jesus was not even allowing sandals, staffs, or coin-purses to be carried through the court. The difficulty with this interpretation, however, is that it is fundamentally an appeal to Jewish oral tradition (something Jesus rarely sided with) as well as being indiscriminate toward all the worshipers.
137 tn Grk “the temple.”
138 tn The imperfect ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) is here taken ingressively.
139 sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.
140 tn Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).
141 sn A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.
142 tn Or “The chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
143 tn Grk “how they could destroy him.”
144 tn Grk “they”; the referents (Jesus and his disciples) have been specified in the translation for clarity. Without such clarification there is room for considerable confusion here, since there are two prior sets of plural referents in the context, “the chief priests and experts in the law” and “the whole crowd” (both in v. 18).
145 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
146 tn Although the Greek subjunctive mood, formally required in a subordinate clause introduced by ἵνα ({ina), is traditionally translated by an English subjunctive (e.g., “may,” so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), changes in the use of the subjunctive in English now result in most readers understanding such a statement as indicating permission (“may” = “has permission to”) or as indicating uncertainty (“may” = “might” or “may or may not”). Thus a number of more recent translations render such instances by an English future tense (“will,” so TEV, CEV, NLT, NASB 1995 update). That approach has been followed here.
147 tc A number of significant
148 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
149 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
150 tn Grk “the temple.”
151 tn Or “the chief priests, the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
152 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.
153 tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is probably used here (and in v. 32) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).
sn The question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.
154 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
155 tn Grk “answering, they said to Jesus.” The participle ἀποκριθέντες (apokriqentes) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been modified to conform to English style.
156 sn Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were – hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them (“We do not know”). The point of Mark 11:27-33 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.
157 sn Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.
158 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ. This is exactly the same phrase as in v. 28.
159 tn The word צָבָא (tsava’) is actually “army”; it can be used for the hard service of military service as well as other toil. As a military term it would include the fixed period of duty (the time) and the hard work (toil). Job here is considering the lot of all humans, not just himself.
160 tn The שָׂכִיר (sakhir) is a hired man, either a man who works for wages, or a mercenary soldier (Jer 46:21). The latter sense may be what is intended here in view of the parallelism, although the next verse seems much broader.
161 tn This term עֶבֶד (’eved) is the servant or the slave. He is compelled to work through the day, in the heat; but he longs for evening, when he can rest from the slavery.
162 tn The expression יִשְׁאַף־צֵל (yish’af tsel, “longing for the evening shadow”) could also be taken as a relative clause (without the relative pronoun): “as a servant [who] longs for the evening shadow” (see GKC 487 §155.g). In either case, the expressions in v. 2 emphasize the point of the comparison, which will be summed up in v. 3.
163 tn The two verbs in this verse stress the eager expectation and waiting. The first, שָׁאַף (sha’af), means “to long for; to desire”; and the second, קָוָה (qavah), has the idea of “to hope for; to look for; to wait.” The words would give the sense that the servant or hired man had the longing on his mind all day.
164 tn The word פֹּעַל (po’al) means “work.” But here the word should be taken as a metonymy, meaning the pay for the work that he has done (compare Jer 22:13).
165 tn “Thus” indicates a summary of vv. 1 and 2: like the soldier, the mercenary, and the slave, Job has labored through life and looks forward to death.
166 tn The form is the Hophal perfect of נָחַל (nakhal): “I have been made to inherit,” or more simply, “I have inherited.” The form occurs only here. The LXX must have confused the letters or sounds, a ו (vav) for the ן (nun), for it reads “I have endured.” As a passive the form technically has two accusatives (see GKC 388 §121.c). Job’s point is that his sufferings have been laid on him by another, and so he has inherited them.
167 tn The word is שָׁוְא (shav’, “vanity, deception, nothingness, futility”). His whole life – marked here in months to show its brevity – has been futile. E. Dhorme (Job, 98) suggests the meaning “disillusionment,” explaining that it marks the deceptive nature of mortal life. The word describes life as hollow, insubstantial.
168 tn “Sorrow” is עָמָל (’amal), used in 3:10. It denotes anxious toil, labor, troublesome effort. It may be that the verse expresses the idea that the nights are when the pains of his disease are felt the most. The months are completely wasted; the nights are agonizing.
169 tn The verb is literally “they have appointed”; the form with no expressed subject is to be interpreted as a passive (GKC 460 §144.g). It is therefore not necessary to repoint the verb to make it passive. The word means “to number; to count,” and so “to determine; to allocate.”
170 tn This is the main clause, and not part of the previous conditional clause; it is introduced by the conjunction אִם (’im) (see GKC 336 §112.gg).
171 tn The verb מָדַד (madad) normally means “to measure,” and here in the Piel it has been given the sense of “to extend.” But this is not well attested and not widely accepted. There are many conjectural emendations. Of the most plausible one might mention the view of Gray, who changes מִדַּד (middad, Piel of מָדַּד) to מִדֵּי (midde, comprising the preposition מִן [min] plus the noun דַּי [day], meaning “as often as”): “as often as evening comes.” Dhorme, following the LXX to some extent, adds the word “day” after “when/if” and replaces מִדַּד (middad) with מָתַי (matay, “when”) to read “If I lie down, I say, ‘When comes the morning?’ If I rise up, I say, ‘How long till evening?’” The LXX, however, may be based more on a recollection of Deut 28:67. One can make just as strong a case for the reading adopted here, that the night seems to drag on (so also NIV).
172 tn The Hebrew term נְדֻדִים (nÿdudim, “tossing”) refers to the restless tossing and turning of the sick man at night on his bed. The word is a hapax legomenon derived from the verb נָדַד (nadad, “to flee; to wander; to be restless”). The plural form here sums up the several parts of the actions (GKC 460 §144.f). E. Dhorme (Job, 99) argues that because it applies to both his waking hours and his sleepless nights, it may have more of the sense of wanderings of the mind. There is no doubt truth to the fact that the mind wanders in all this suffering; but there is no need to go beyond the contextually clear idea of the restlessness of the night.
173 tn Heb “my flesh.”
174 tn The implied comparison is vivid: the dirty scabs cover his entire body like a garment – so he is clothed with them.
175 sn The word for “worms” (רִמָּה, rimmah, a collective noun), is usually connected with rotten food (Exod 16:24), or the grave (Isa 14:11). Job’s disease is a malignant ulcer of some kind that causes the rotting of the flesh. One may recall that both Antiochus Epiphanes (2 Macc 9:9) and Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:23) were devoured by such worms in their diseases.
176 tn The text has “clods of dust.” The word גִּישׁ (gish, “dirty scabs”) is a hapax legomenon from גּוּשׁ (gush, “clod”). Driver suggests the word has a medical sense, like “pustules” (G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 73) or “scabs” (JB, NEB, NAB, NIV). Driver thinks “clods of dust” is wrong; he repoints “dust” to make a new verb “to cover,” cognate to Arabic, and reads “my flesh is clothed with worms, and scab covers my skin.” This refers to the dirty scabs that crusted over the sores all over his body. The LXX links this with the second half of the verse: “And my body has been covered with loathsome worms, and I waste away, scraping off clods of dirt from my eruption.”
177 tn The meaning of רָגַע (raga’) is also debated here. D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 163) does not think the word can mean “cracked” because scabs show evidence of the sores healing. But E. Dhorme (Job, 100) argues that the usage of the word shows the idea of “splitting, separating, making a break,” or the like. Here then it would mean “my skin splits” and as a result festers. This need not be a reference to the scabs, but to new places. Or it could mean that the scabbing never heals, but is always splitting open.
178 sn The first five verses described the painfulness of his malady, his life; now, in vv. 6-10 he will focus on the brevity of his life, and its extinction with death. He introduces the subject with “my days,” a metonymy for his whole life and everything done on those days. He does not mean individual days – they drag on endlessly.
179 tn The verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to be light” (40:4), and then by extension “to be swift; to be rapid” (Jer 4:13; Hab 1:8).
180 sn The shuttle is the part which runs through the meshes of the web. In Judg 16:14 it is a loom (see BDB 71 s.v. אֶרֶג), but here it must be the shuttle. Hezekiah uses the imagery of the weaver, the loom, and the shuttle for the brevity of life (see Isa 38:12). The LXX used, “My life is lighter than a word.”
181 tn The text includes a wonderful wordplay on this word. The noun is תִּקְוָה (tiqvah, “hope”). But it can also have the meaning of one of its cognate nouns, קַו (qav, “thread, cord,” as in Josh 2:18,21). He is saying that his life is coming to an end for lack of thread/for lack of hope (see further E. Dhorme, Job, 101).
182 sn Job is probably turning here to God, as is clear from v. 11 on. The NIV supplies the word “God” for clarification. It was God who breathed breath into man’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and so God is called to remember that man is but a breath.
183 tn The word “that” is supplied in the translation.
184 tn The verb with the infinitive serves as a verbal hendiadys: “return to see” means “see again.”
185 sn The meaning of the verse is that God will relent, but it will be too late. God now sees him with a hostile eye; when he looks for him, or looks upon him in friendliness, it will be too late.
186 tn This verse is omitted in the LXX and so by several commentators. But the verb שׁוּר (shur, “turn, return”) is so characteristic of Job (10 times) that the verse seems appropriate here.
187 tn The comparison is implied; “as” is therefore supplied in the translation.
188 tn The two verbs כָּלַה (kalah) and הָלַךְ (halakh) mean “to come to an end” and “to go” respectively. The picture is of the cloud that breaks up, comes to an end, is dispersed so that it is no longer a cloud; it then fades away or vanishes. This line forms a good simile for the situation of a man who comes to his end and disappears.
189 tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol) can mean “the grave,” “death,” or “Sheol” – the realm of departed spirits. In Job this is a land from which there is no return (10:21 and here). It is a place of darkness and gloom (10:21-22), a place where the dead lie hidden (14:13); as a place appointed for all no matter what their standing on earth might have been (30:23). In each case the precise meaning has to be determined. Here the grave makes the most sense, for Job is simply talking about death.
190 sn It is not correct to try to draw theological implications from this statement or the preceding verse (Rashi said Job was denying the resurrection). Job is simply stating that when people die they are gone – they do not return to this present life on earth. Most commentators and theologians believe that theological knowledge was very limited at such an early stage, so they would not think it possible for Job to have bodily resurrection in view. (See notes on ch. 14 and 19:25-27.)
191 tn M. Dahood suggests the meaning is the same as “his abode” (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography V,” Bib 48 [1967]: 421-38).
192 tn The verb means “to recognize” by seeing. “His place,” the place where he was living, is the subject of the verb. This personification is intended simply to say that the place where he lived will not have him any more. The line is very similar to Ps 103:16b – when the wind blows the flower away, its place knows it no more.
193 tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.
194 sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.
195 tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb siah and the Nouns siah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).
196 tn The word תַּנִּין (tannin) could be translated “whale” as well as the more mythological “dragon” or “monster of the deep” (see E. Dhorme, Job, 105). To the Hebrews this was part of God’s creation in Gen 1; in the pagan world it was a force to be reckoned with, and so the reference would be polemical. The sea is a symbol of the tumultuous elements of creation; in the sea were creatures that symbolized the powerful forces of chaos – Leviathan, Tannin, and Rahab. They required special attention.
197 tn The imperfect verb here receives the classification of obligatory imperfect. Job wonders if he is such a threat to God that God must do this.
198 tn The word מִשְׁמָר (mishmar) means “guard; barrier.” M. Dahood suggested “muzzle” based on Ugaritic, but that has proven to be untenable (“Mismar, ‘Muzzle,’ in Job 7:12,” JBL 80 [1961]: 270-71).
199 tn The particle כִּי (ki) could also be translated “when,” but “if” might work better to introduce the conditional clause and to parallel the earlier reasoning of Job in v. 4 (using אִם, ’im). See GKC 336-37 §112.hh.
200 tn The verb literally means “say,” but here the connotation must be “think” or “say to oneself” – “when I think my bed….”
201 sn Sleep is the recourse of the troubled and unhappy. Here “bed” is metonymical for sleep. Job expects sleep to give him the comfort that his friends have not.
202 tn The verb means “to lift up; to take away” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). When followed by the preposition בּ (bet) with the complement of the verb, the idea is “to bear a part; to take a share,” or “to share in the burden” (cf. Num 11:7). The idea then would be that the sleep would ease the complaint. It would not end the illness, but the complaining for a while.
203 tn The Piel of חָתַת (khatat) occurs only here and in Jer 51:56 (where it is doubtful). The meaning is clearly “startle, scare.” The perfect verb with the ו (vav) is fitting in the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
sn Here Job is boldly saying that it is God who is behind the horrible dreams that he is having at night.
204 tn The Piel of בָּעַת (ba’at, “terrify”) is one of the characteristic words in the book of Job; it occurs in 3:5; 9:34; 13:11, 21; 15:24; 18:11; and 33:7.
205 tn The prepositions בּ (bet) and מִן (min) interchange here; they express the instrument of causality. See N. Sarna, “The Interchange of the Prepositions bet and min in Biblical Hebrew,” JBL 78 (1959): 310-16. Emphasis on the instruments of terror in this verse is highlighted by the use of chiasm in which the prepositional phrases comprise the central elements (ab//b’a’). Verse 18 contains another example.
206 tn The word נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul.” But since Hebrew thought does not make such a distinction between body and soul, it is usually better to translate it with “person.” When a suffix is added to the word, then that pronoun would serve as the better translation, as here with “my soul” = “I” (meaning with every fiber of my being).
207 tn The verb בָּחַר (bakhar, “choose”) followed by the preposition בּ (bet) can have the sense of “prefer.”
208 tn The meaning of the term מַחֲנָק (makhanaq, “strangling”), a hapax legomenon, is clear enough; the verb חָנַק (khanaq) in the Piel means “to strangle” (Nah 2:13), and in the Niphal “to strangle oneself” (2 Sam 17:23). This word has tempted some commentators to take נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in a very restricted sense of “throat.”
209 tn The conjunction “and” is supplied in the translation. “Death” could also be taken in apposition to “strangling,” providing the outcome of the strangling.
210 tn This is one of the few words recognizable in the LXX: “You will separate life from my spirit, and yet keep my bones from death.”
211 tn The comparative min (מִן) after the verb “choose” will here have the idea of preferring something before another (see GKC 429-30 §133.b).
212 tn The word מֵעַצְמוֹתָי (me’atsmotay) means “more than my bones” (= life or being). The line is poetic; “bones” is often used in scripture metonymically for the whole living person, so there is no need here for conjectural emendation. Nevertheless, there have been several suggestions made. The simplest and most appealing for those who desire a change is the repointing to מֵעַצְּבוֹתָי (me’atsÿvotay, “my sufferings,” adopted by NAB, JB, Moffatt, Driver-Gray, E. Dhorme, H. H. Rowley, and others). Driver obtains this idea by positing a new word based on Arabic without changing the letters; it means “great” – but he has to supply the word “sufferings.”
213 tn E. Dhorme (Job, 107-8) thinks the idea of loathing or despising is problematic since there is no immediate object. He notes that the verb מָאַס (ma’as, “loathe”) is parallel to מָסַס (masas, “melt”) in the sense of “flow, drip” (Job 42:6). This would give the idea “I am fading away” or “I grow weaker,” or as Dhorme chooses, “I am pining away.”
214 tn There is no object for the verb in the text. But the most likely object would be “my life” from the last verse, especially since in this verse Job will talk about not living forever. Some have thought the object should be “death,” meaning that Job despised death more than the pains. But that is a forced meaning; besides, as H. H. Rowley points out, the word here means to despise something, to reject it. Job wanted death.
215 tn Heb “cease from me.” This construction means essentially “leave me in peace.”
216 tn This word הֶבֶל (hevel) is difficult to translate. It means “breath; puff of air; vapor” and then figuratively, “vanity.” Job is saying that his life is but a breath – it is brief and fleeting. Compare Ps 144:4 for a similar idea.
217 tn The verse is a rhetorical question; it is intended to mean that man is too little for God to be making so much over him in all this.
218 tn The Piel verb is a factitive meaning “to magnify.” The English word “magnify” might not be the best translation here, for God, according to Job, is focusing inordinately on him. It means to magnify in thought, appreciate, think highly of. God, Job argues, is making too much of mankind by devoting so much bad attention on them.
219 tn The expression “set your heart on” means “concentrate your mind on” or “pay attention to.”
220 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) is a very common one in the Bible; while it is frequently translated “visit,” the “visit” is never comparable to a social call. When God “visits” people it always means a divine intervention for blessing or cursing – but the visit always changes the destiny of the one visited. Here Job is amazed that God Almighty would be so involved in the life of mere human beings.
221 tn Now the verb “to test” is introduced and gives further explanation to the purpose of the “visit” in the parallel line (see the same parallelism in Ps 17:3). The verb בָּחַן (bakhan) has to do with passing things through the fire or the crucible to purify the metal (see Job 23:10; Zech 13:3); metaphorically it means “to examine carefully” and “to purify by testing.”
222 sn The amazing thing is the regularity of the testing. Job is at first amazed that God would visit him; but even more is he amazed that God is testing him every moment. The employment of a chiasm with the two temporal adverbial phrases as the central elements emphasizes the regularity.
223 tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”
224 tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.
225 tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”
226 tn The simple perfect verb can be used in a conditional sentence without a conditional particle present (see GKC 494 §159.h).
227 sn Job is not here saying that he has sinned; rather, he is posing the hypothetical condition – if he had sinned, what would that do to God? In other words, he has not really injured God.
228 sn In the Bible God is often described as watching over people to protect them from danger (see Deut 32:10; Ps 31:23). However, here it is a hostile sense, for God may detect sin and bring it to judgment.
229 tn This word is a hapax legomenon from the verb פָּגָע (paga’, “meet, encounter”); it would describe what is hit or struck (as nouns of this pattern can indicate the place of the action) – the target.
230 tn In the prepositional phrase עָלַי (’alay) the results of a scribal change is found (these changes were called tiqqune sopherim, “corrections of the scribes” made to avoid using improper language about God). The prepositional phrase would have been עָלֶךָ (’alekha, “to you,” as in the LXX). But it offended the Jews to think of Job’s being burdensome to God. Job’s sin could have repercussions on him, but not on God.
231 tn The LXX has, “for now I will depart to the earth.”
232 tn The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar) in the Piel has been translated “to seek early in the morning” because of the possible link with the word “dawn.” But the verb more properly means “to seek diligently” (by implication).
233 sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:10, 14.
234 tn Grk “the revelation,” “the oracle.”
235 tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it appears to be a generic usage (“people”) since when Paul speaks of a remnant of faithful Israelites (“the elect,” v. 7), he is not referring to males only. It can also be argued, however, that it refers only to adult males here (“men”), perhaps as representative of all the faithful left in Israel.
236 sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18.
237 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
238 sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.
239 sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.
240 tn Grk “that they might fall.”
241 tn Grk “them”; the referent (Israel, cf. 11:7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
242 tn Or “full inclusion”; Grk “their fullness.”
243 tn Grk “firstfruits,” a term for the first part of something that has been set aside and offered to God before the remainder can be used.
244 sn Most interpreters see Paul as making use of a long-standing metaphor of the olive tree (the root…the branches) as a symbol for Israel. See, in this regard, Jer 11:16, 19. A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul’s Technique and Theology, 121-24, cites rabbinic use of the figure of the olive tree, and goes so far as to argue that Rom 11:17-24 is a midrash on Jer 11:16-19.
245 tn Grk “became a participant of.”
246 tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”
247 tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.
248 tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”
249 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
250 tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”
251 tn Grk “fullness.”
252 tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai Joutws, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).
253 sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.
254 sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.
255 tc Some important Alexandrian and Western
256 tn Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons.
257 sn A quotation from Isa 40:13.
258 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
259 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
