3:34 Although 1 he is scornful to arrogant scoffers, 2
yet 3 he shows favor to the humble. 4
29:19 A servant 5 cannot be corrected 6 by words,
for although 7 he understands, there is no answer. 8
1 tn The particle אִם (’im, “though”) introduces a concessive clause: “though….”
2 tn Heb “he mocks those who mock.” The repetition of the root לִיץ (lits, “to scorn; to mock”) connotes poetic justice; the punishment fits the crime. Scoffers are characterized by arrogant pride (e.g., Prov 21:24), as the antithetical parallelism with “the humble” here emphasizes.
3 tn The prefixed vav (ו) introduces the apodosis to the concessive clause: “Though … yet …”
4 tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically (AB:BA): “he scorns / arrogant scoffers // but to the humble / he gives grace.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.
5 sn Servants could not be corrected by mere words; they had to be treated like children for they were frequently unresponsive. This, of course, would apply to certain kinds of servants. The Greek version translated this as “a stubborn servant.”
6 tn The Niphal imperfect here is best rendered as a potential imperfect – “cannot be corrected.” The second line of the verse clarifies that even though the servant understands the words, he does not respond. It will take more.
7 tn Heb “for he understands, but there is no answer.” The concessive idea (“although”) is taken from the juxtaposition of the two parts.
8 sn To say “there is no answer” means that this servant does not obey – he has to be trained in a different way.