Ayub 37:23

37:23 As for the Almighty, ¹  we cannot attain to him!

He is great in power,

but justice ²  and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

Yeremia 31:20

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ³ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ⁴ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 18:23

18:23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

[37:23]  ¹ tn The name “Almighty” is here a casus pendens, isolating the name at the front of the sentence and resuming it with a pronoun.

[37:23]  ² tn The MT places the major disjunctive accent (the atnach) under “power,” indicating that “and justice” as a disjunctive clause starting the second half of the verse (with ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT). Ignoring the Masoretic accent, NRSV has “he is great in power and justice.”

[31:20]  ³ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”