¹ tn Heb “light,” but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

¹ sn As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 216) observes, in this section Job argues that respected tradition “must not be accepted uncritically.”

¹ tn The two imperfect verbs in this section are used to stress regrets for something which did not happen (see GKC 317 §107.n).

² tn The word אוּלָם (ʾulam) is a strong adversative “but.” This forms the contrast with what has been said previously and so marks a new section.

¹ sn The previous chapters (1-2) were prose narrative, this chapter, however, commences the poetic section of the book (chs. 3-41) containing the cycles of speeches.

¹ tc The Old Greek translation has here a lengthy section consisting of twenty-three verses that are not found in the MT.

¹ sn The rift valley is a large geographic feature extending from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here only a section of the Jordan Valley is in view.

¹ sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34).

¹ sn Here we have a short section (10:1-10) dealing with the regulations for blowing trumpets in times of war or in times of peace.

¹ sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.

² sn For a discussion of this whole section, see K. A. Kitchen, “From the Brickfields of Egypt,” TynBul 27 (1976): 137-47.

² tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence.

¹ tn In the protasis (“if” section) of this conditional clause, the imperfect verbal form has a customary nuance—whatever he would say worked to Jacob’s benefit.

¹ sn This section (2:4-11) is unified and bracketed by the repetition of the verb גָּדַל (gadal, “to increase”) which occurs at the beginning (2:4) and end (2:9), and by the repetition of the root עשה (noun: “works” and verb: “to do, make, acquire”) which occurs throughout the section (2:4, 5, 6, 8, 11).

¹ tn Heb “As for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, by doing all which I commanded you, [and] you keep my rules and my regulations.” Verse 4 is actually a lengthy protasis (“if” section) of a conditional sentence, the apodosis (“then” section) of which appears in v. 5.

¹ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed verb with vav consecutive with a past tense, “you gave me.” Several prefixed verbal forms with vav consecutive also appear in vv. 38-44. The present translation understands this section as a description of what generally happened when the author charged into battle, but another option is to understand the section as narrative and translate accordingly.

¹ sn Mention of the staff makes an appropriate ending to the section, for God’s power (represented by the staff) will work through Moses. The applicable point that this whole section is making could be worded this way: The servants of God who sense their inadequacy must demonstrate the power of God as their sufficiency.

¹ sn Eph 1:3-14 comprises one long sentence in Greek, with three major sections. Each section ends with a note of praise for God (vv. 6, 12, 14), focusing on a different member of the Trinity. After an opening summary of all the saints’ spiritual blessings (v. 3), the first section (vv. 4-6) offers up praise that the Father has chosen us in eternity past; the second section (vv. 7-12) offers up praise that the Son has redeemed us in the historical past (i.e., at the cross); the third section (vv. 13-14) offers up praise that the Holy Spirit has sealed us in our personal past, at the point of conversion.

¹ tn The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1-8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9-16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17-24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.

⁴ tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, b^ene) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10—Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10—Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.