¹ tn Heb “[It is] bad, [it is] bad.” Since “bad” can be understood in some modern contexts as a descriptive adjective meaning “good,” the translation uses “worthless” instead—the real point of the prospective buyer’s exclamation.

⁵ sn This is an implied comparison (hypocatastasis), the fountain of wisdom being the person who speaks. The Greek version has “fountain of life” instead of “wisdom,” probably influenced from 10:11.

² tc The LXX reads “houses of transgressors will owe purification.” Tg. Prov 14:9 has “guilt has its home among fools,” apparently reading יָלִין (yalin, “to spend the night, dwell”) instead of יָלִיץ (yalits, “to scoff at”).

² tn Heb “did not listen to the voice of.” The picture is that of treating the teacher’s instruction as background noise instead of paying attention to it or obeying it.

¹ tc The LXX and other versions read “not” instead of “lest.” This may be an effort to make sense of the unusual syntax, or perhaps the MT has been corrupted. The general sense is the same in either case.

¹ tn In this context (note the second line) the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim), which so often refers to the regulations of God’s law elsewhere in this psalm, may refer instead to his decisions or disciplinary judgment.

² tn Heb “May they be turned back according to their shame, those who say, ‘Aha! Aha!’” Ps 40:15 has the verb “humiliated” instead of “turned back” and adds “to me” after “say.”

¹ sn Psalm 11. The psalmist rejects the advice to flee from his dangerous enemies. Instead he affirms his confidence in God’s just character and calls down judgment on evildoers.

¹ tn Here the Hebrew expression כִּי־אִם (ki ʾim, “instead,” cf. v. 2) introduces a contrast between the prosperity of the godly depicted in v. 3 and the destiny of the wicked described in v. 4.

¹ tn Here the Hebrew expression כִּי־אִם (ki ʾim, “instead”) introduces a contrast between the sinful behavior depicted in v. 1 and the godly lifestyle described in v. 2.

² tn This word עֵד (ʿed) occurs also in Gen 2:6. The suggestion has been that instead of a mist it represents an underground watercourse that wells up to water the ground.

² sn Job returns to the thought of the brevity of his life (7:6). But now the figure is the swift runner instead of the weaver’s shuttle.

⁴ tn The construction forms a double question (אִם…הֲ, ha…ʾim) but not to express mutually exclusive questions in this instance. Instead, it is used to repeat the same question in different words (see GKC 475 §150.h).

¹ tc The translation reads הוֹלֶכֶת (holekhet, “was proceeding”) rather than the MT הַהוֹלֶכֶת (haholekhet, “the one proceeding”). The MT probably reflects dittography—accidental writing of ה (hey) twice instead of once.

³ tc Instead of “I will throw away,” the parallel text in 1 Kgs 9:7 has “I will send away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.

² sn Instead of “I will send away,” the parallel text in 2 Chr 7:20 has “I will throw away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.

¹ tc Instead of עַתָּה (ʿattah, “now”) many Hebrew mss, along with the Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, have the similar sounding independent pronoun אַתָּה (ʾattah, “you”). This reading is followed in the present translation.

¹ tc Instead of the MT’s “fields of grain offerings” the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “your high places are mountains of death.” Cf. the Old Latin montes mortis (“mountains of death”).

² tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”

³ tc The MT has here the very odd form נְמִבְזָה (n^emivzah), but this is apparently due to a scribal error. The translation follows instead the Niphal participle נִבְזָה (nivzah).