Amsal 16:19

16:19 It is better to be lowly in spirit ¹  with the afflicted

than to share the spoils ²  with the proud.

Keluaran 3:11

3:11 Moses said ³  to God, ⁴  “Who am I, that I should go ⁵  to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Keluaran 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ⁶  was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert ⁷  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ⁸ 

1 Samuel 9:20-22

9:20 Don’t be concerned ⁹  about the donkeys that you lost three days ago, for they have been found. Whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you, and all your father’s family?” ¹⁰ 

9:21 Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and is not my family clan the smallest of all the tribes of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me in this way?”

9:22 Then Samuel brought ¹¹  Saul and his servant into the room and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. There were about thirty people present.

1 Samuel 15:17

15:17 Samuel said, “Is it not true that when you were insignificant in your own eyes, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord chose ¹²  you as king over Israel.

1 Samuel 18:18-23

18:18 David said to Saul, “Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father ¹³  in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 18:19 When the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she instead was given in marriage to Adriel, who was from Meholah.

18:20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about this, it ¹⁴  pleased him. 18:21 Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare to him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Today is the second time for you to become my son-in-law.” ¹⁵ 

18:22 Then Saul instructed his servants, “Tell David secretly, ‘The king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.” 18:23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately ¹⁶  to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”

1 Samuel 18:2

18:2 Saul retained David ¹⁷  on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house.

1 Samuel 7:8-17

7:8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep ¹⁸  crying out to the Lord our ¹⁹  God so that he may save us ²⁰  from the hand of the Philistines!” 7:9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb ²¹  and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.

7:10 As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel. ²²  But on that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by ²³  Israel. 7:11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.

7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. ²⁴  He named it Ebenezer, ²⁵  saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.” 7:13 So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

7:14 The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath. Israel also delivered their territory from the control ²⁶  of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7:15 So Samuel led ²⁷  Israel all the days of his life. 7:16 Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, ²⁸  Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places. 7:17 Then he would return to Ramah, because his home was there. He also judged ²⁹  Israel there and built an altar to the Lord there.

Mazmur 131:1

Psalm 131 ³⁰ 

A song of ascents, ³¹  by David.

131:1 O Lord, my heart is not proud,

nor do I have a haughty look. ³² 

I do not have great aspirations,

or concern myself with things that are beyond me. ³³ 

Yeremia 1:6-10

1:6 I answered, “Oh, Lord God, ³⁴  I really ³⁵  do not know how to speak well enough for that, ³⁶  for I am too young.” ³⁷  1:7 The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go ³⁸  to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, ³⁹  for I will be with you to protect ⁴⁰  you,” says the Lord. 1:9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. ⁴¹  1:10 Know for certain that ⁴²  I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be ⁴³  uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.” ⁴⁴ 

Amos 7:12-15

7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! ⁴⁵  Run away to the land of Judah! Earn your living ⁴⁶  and prophesy there! 7:13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel ⁴⁷  any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” ⁴⁸ 

7:14 Amos replied ⁴⁹  to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. ⁵⁰  No, ⁵¹  I was a herdsman who also took care of ⁵²  sycamore fig trees. ⁵³  7:15 Then the Lord took me from tending ⁵⁴  flocks and gave me this commission, ⁵⁵  ‘Go! Prophesy to my people Israel!’

[16:19]  ¹ tn Heb “low of spirit”; KJV “of an humble spirit.” This expression describes the person who is humble and submissive before the Lord and therefore inoffensive. It is always necessary to have a humble spirit, whether there is wealth or not.

[16:19]  ² tn Heb “than to divide plunder.” The word “plunder” implies that the wealth taken by the proud was taken violently and wrongfully – spoils are usually taken in warfare. R. N. Whybray translates it with “loot” (Proverbs [CBC], 95). The proud are in rebellion against God, overbearing and oppressive. One should never share the “loot” with them.

[3:11]  ³ tn Heb “And Moses said.”

[3:11]  ⁴ sn When he was younger, Moses was confident and impulsive, but now that he is older the greatness of the task makes him unsure. The remainder of this chapter and the next chapter record the four difficulties of Moses and how the Lord answers them (11-12, 13-22; then 4:1-9; and finally 4:10-17).

[3:11]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense אֵלֵךְ (’elekh) carries the modal nuance of obligatory imperfect, i.e., “that I should go.” Moses at this point is overwhelmed with the task of representing God, and with his personal insufficiency, and so in honest humility questions the choice.

[3:1]  ⁶ sn The vav (ו) disjunctive with the name “Moses” introduces a new and important starting point. The Lord’s dealing with Moses will fill the next two chapters.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Or “west of the desert,” taking אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”) as the opposite of עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿne, “on the face of, east of”; cf. Gen 16:12; 25:18).

[3:1]  ⁸ sn “Horeb” is another name for Mount Sinai. There is a good deal of foreshadowing in this verse, for later Moses would shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.

[9:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “do not fix your heart.”

[9:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the house of your father.”

[9:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “took and brought.”

[15:17]  ¹² tn Heb “anointed.”

[18:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “Who are my relatives, the clan of my father?” The term חַי (khay), traditionally understood as “my life,” is here a rare word meaning “family, kinfolk” (see HALOT 309 s.v. III חַי). The phrase “clan of my father” may be a scribal gloss explaining the referent of this rare word.

[18:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the matter.”

[18:21]  ¹⁵ tc The final sentence of v. 21 is absent in most LXX mss.

[18:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

[18:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “don’t stop.”

[7:8]  ¹⁹ tc The LXX reads “your God” rather than the MT’s “our God.”

[7:8]  ²⁰ tn After the negated jussive, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[7:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “a lamb of milk”; NAB “an unweaned lamb”; NIV “a suckling lamb”; NCV “a baby lamb.”

[7:10]  ²² tn Heb “approached for battle against Israel.”

[7:10]  ²³ tn Heb “before.”

[7:12]  ²⁴ tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”

[7:12]  ²⁵ sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.

[7:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “hand.”

[7:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “judged” (also in v. 17).

[7:16]  ²⁸ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:17]  ²⁹ tn Or perhaps “settled disputes for” (cf. NLT “would hear cases there”; NRSV “administered justice there”).

[131:1]  ³⁰ sn Psalm 131. The psalmist affirms his humble dependence on the Lord and urges Israel to place its trust in God.

[131:1]  ³¹ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[131:1]  ³² tn Heb “and my eyes are not lifted up.”

[131:1]  ³³ tn Heb “I do not walk in great things, and in things too marvelous for me.”

[1:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.”

[1:6]  sn The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for “God” for the proper name Yahweh in this compound name. See the study note on v. 2 for the substitution of “Lord” in a similar kind of situation.

[1:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Behold, I do not know how to speak.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, commonly rendered “behold”) often introduces a speech and calls special attention to a specific word or the statement as a whole (see IBHS 675-78 §40.2.1).

[1:6]  ³⁶ tn The words “well enough for that” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity. Jeremiah is not claiming an absolute inability to speak.

[1:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “I am a boy/youth.” The Hebrew word can refer to an infant (Exod 2:6), a young boy (1 Sam 2:11), a teenager (Gen 21:12), or a young man (2 Sam 18:5). The translation is deliberately ambiguous since it is unclear how old Jeremiah was when he was called to begin prophesying.

[1:7]  ³⁸ tn Or “For you must go and say.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is likely adversative here after a negative statement (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e). The Lord is probably not giving a rationale for the denial of Jeremiah’s objection but redirecting his focus, i.e., “do not say…but go…and say.”

[1:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “rescue.”

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” This is an example of the Hebrew “scheduling” perfect or the “prophetic” perfect where a future event is viewed as so certain it is spoken of as past. The Hebrew particle rendered here “assuredly” (Heb הִנֵּה, hinneh) underlines the certitude of the promise for the future. See the translator’s note on v. 6.

[1:9]  sn The passage is reminiscent of Deut 18:18 which refers to the Lord’s promise of future revelation through a line of prophets who, like Moses, would speak God’s word.

[1:10]  ⁴² tn Heb “See!” The Hebrew imperative of the verb used here (רָאָה, ra’ah) functions the same as the particle in v. 9. See the translator’s note there.

[1:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “I appoint you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot….” The phrase refers to the Lord giving Jeremiah authority as a prophet to declare what he, the Lord, will do; it does not mean that Jeremiah himself will do these things. The expression involves a figure of speech where the subject of a declaration is stated instead of the declaration about it. Compare a similar use of the same figure in Gen 41:13.

[1:10]  ⁴⁴ sn These three pairs represent the twofold nature of Jeremiah’s prophecies, prophecies of judgment and restoration. For the further programmatic use of these pairs for Jeremiah’s ministry see 18:7-10 and 31:27-28.

[7:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Traditionally, “seer.” The word is a synonym for “prophet,” though it may carry a derogatory tone on the lips of Amaziah.

[7:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Eat bread there.”

[7:13]  ⁴⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:13]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “for it is a temple of a king and it is a royal house.” It is possible that the phrase “royal house” refers to a temple rather than a palace. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 243.

[7:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “replied and said.” The phrase “and said” is pleonastic (redundant) and has not been included in the translation.

[7:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “I was not a prophet nor was I the son of a prophet.” The phrase “son of a prophet” refers to one who was trained in a prophetic guild. Since there is no equative verb present in the Hebrew text, another option is to translate with the present tense, “I am not a prophet by profession.” In this case Amos, though now carrying out a prophetic ministry (v. 15), denies any official or professional prophetic status. Modern English versions are divided about whether to understand the past (JB, NIV, NKJV) or present tense (NASB, NEB, NRSV, NJPS) here.

[7:14]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “for.”

[7:14]  ⁵² tn Heb “gashed”; or “pierced.”

[7:14]  sn For a discussion of the agricultural background, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 128-29.

[7:14]  ⁵³ sn It is possible that herdsmen agreed to care for sycamore fig trees in exchange for grazing rights. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 116-17. Since these trees do not grow around Tekoa but rather in the lowlands, another option is that Amos owned other property outside his hometown. In this case, this verse demonstrates his relative wealth and is his response to Amaziah; he did not depend on prophecy as a profession (v. 13).

[7:15]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “from [following] after.”

[7:15]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and the Lord said to me.”