Amsal 8:6-9

8:6 Listen, for I will speak excellent things, ¹ 

and my lips will utter ²  what is right.

8:7 For my mouth ³  speaks truth, ⁴ 

and my lips ⁵  hate wickedness. ⁶ 

8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; ⁷ 

there is nothing in them twisted ⁸  or crooked.

8:9 All of them are clear ⁹  to the discerning

and upright to those who find knowledge.

Amsal 22:20-21

22:20 Have I not written thirty sayings ¹⁰  for you,

sayings ¹¹  of counsel and knowledge,

22:21 to show you true and reliable words, ¹² 

so that you may give accurate answers ¹³  to those who sent you?

Ulangan 32:2

32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,

my sayings will drip like the dew, ¹⁴ 

as rain drops upon the grass,

and showers upon new growth.

Ayub 33:3

33:3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart, ¹⁵ 

and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 49:1-3

Psalm 49 ¹⁷ 

For the music director, a psalm by the Korahites.

49:1 Listen to this, all you nations!

Pay attention, all you inhabitants of the world! ¹⁸ 

49:2 Pay attention, all you people, ¹⁹ 

both rich and poor!

49:3 I will declare a wise saying; ²⁰ 

I will share my profound thoughts. ²¹ 

Yohanes 7:16-17

7:16 So Jesus replied, ²²  “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me. ²³  7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ²⁴  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ²⁵ 

Yohanes 7:1

The Feast of Tabernacles

7:1 After this ²⁶  Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. ²⁷  He ²⁸  stayed out of Judea ²⁹  because the Jewish leaders ³⁰  wanted ³¹  to kill him.

Titus 1:6

1:6 An elder must be blameless, ³²  the husband of one wife, ³³  with faithful children ³⁴  who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion.

Titus 1:9

1:9 He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, ³⁵  so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching ³⁶  and correct those who speak against it.

[8:6]  ¹ tn Heb “noble” or “princely.” Wisdom begins the first motivation by claiming to speak noble things, that is, excellent things.

[8:6]  ² tn Heb “opening of my lips” (so KJV, NASB). The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause, with the organ of speech put for what is said.

[8:7]  ³ tn Heb “roof of the mouth.” This expression is a metonymy of cause for the activity of speaking.

[8:7]  ⁴ tn The word “truth” (אֱמֶת, ’emet) is derived from the verbal root אָמַן (’aman) which means “to support.” There are a number of derived nouns that have the sense of reliability: “pillars,” “master craftsman,” “nurse,” “guardian.” Modifiers related to this group of words includes things like “faithful,” “surely,” “truly” (amen). In the derived stems the verb develops various nuances: The Niphal has the meanings of “reliable, faithful, sure, steadfast,” and the Hiphil has the meaning “believe” (i.e., consider something dependable). The noun “truth” means what is reliable or dependable, firm or sure.

[8:7]  ⁵ sn Wise lips detest wickedness; wisdom hates speaking wicked things. In fact, speaking truth results in part from detesting wickedness.

[8:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “wickedness is an abomination to my lips” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[8:8]  ⁷ tn The phrase could be rendered with an understood ellipsis: “all the words of my mouth [are said] in righteousness”; or the preposition could be interpreted as a beth essentiae: “all the words of my mouth are righteousness.”

[8:8]  ⁸ sn The verb פָּתַל (patal) means “to twist.” In the Niphal it means “to wrestle” (to twist oneself). It was used in Gen 30:8 for the naming of Naphtali, with the motivation for the name from this verb: “with great struggling.” Here it describes speech that is twisted. It is a synonym for the next word, which means “twisted; crooked; perverse.”

[8:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “front of.” Describing the sayings as “right in front” means they are open, obvious, and clear, as opposed to words that might be twisted or perverse. The parallel word “upright” means “straight, smooth, right.” Wisdom’s teachings are in plain view and intelligible for those who find knowledge.

[22:20]  ¹⁰ tn Older English versions and a few more recent ones render this phrase as either “excellent things” following the Qere (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), “officers,” or “heretofore” [day before yesterday], following the Kethib. However (as in most recent English versions) the Qere should be rendered “thirty,” referring to the number in the collection (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[22:20]  ¹¹ tn The term “sayings” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[22:21]  ¹² tn Heb “to cause you to know the truth of words of truth” (NASB similar).

[22:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “to return true words”; NAB “a dependable report”; NIV “sound answers.”

[32:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

[33:3]  ¹⁵ tc This expression is unusual; R. Gordis (Job, 371) says it can be translated, “the purity of my heart [is reflected] in my words,” but that is far-fetched and awkward. So there have been suggestions for emending יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”). Kissane’s makes the most sense if a change is desired: “shall reveal” (an Arabic sense of yasher), although Holscher interpreted “shall affirm” (yasher, with a Syriac sense). Dhorme has “my heart will repeat” (יָשׁוּר, yashur), but this is doubtful. If Kissane’s view is taken, it would say, “my heart will reveal my words.” Some commentators would join “and knowledge” to this colon, and read “words of knowledge” – but that requires even more emendations.

[33:3]  ¹⁶ tn More literally, “and the knowledge of my lips they will speak purely.”

[49:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 49. In this so-called wisdom psalm (see v. 3) the psalmist states that he will not fear the rich enemies who threaten him, for despite their wealth, they are mere men who will die like everyone else. The psalmist is confident the Lord will vindicate the godly and protect them from the attacks of their oppressors.

[49:1]  ¹⁸ tn The rare noun חָלֶד (kheled, “world”) occurs in Ps 17:14 and perhaps also in Isa 38:11 (see the note on “world” there).

[49:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “even the sons of mankind, even the sons of man.” Because of the parallel line, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, some treat these expressions as polar opposites, with בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes (cf. NIV, NRSV). But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; 62:9; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand “even the sons of mankind” and “even the sons of man” as synonymous expressions (cf. NEB “all mankind, every living man”). The repetition emphasizes the need for all people to pay attention, for the psalmist’s message is relevant to everyone.

[49:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my mouth will speak wisdom.” According to BDB 315 s.v. חָכְמָה the plural חָכְמוֹת (khokhmot, “wisdom”) indicates degree or emphasis here.

[49:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the meditation of my heart [i.e., mind] is understanding.” The Hebrew term הָגוּת (hagut, “meditation”), derived from הָגָה (hagah, “to recite quietly; to meditate”), here refers to thoughts that are verbalized (see the preceding line). The plural form תְבוּנוֹת (tÿvunot, “understanding”) indicates degree or emphasis (see GKC 397-98 §124.e).

[7:16]  ²² tn Grk “So Jesus answered and said to them.”

[7:16]  ²³ tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.

[7:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ²⁵ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[7:1]  ²⁶ sn Again, the transition is indicated by the imprecise temporal indicator After this. Clearly, though, the author has left out much of the events of Jesus’ ministry, because chap. 6 took place near the Passover (6:4). This would have been the Passover between winter/spring of a.d. 32, just one year before Jesus’ crucifixion (assuming a date of a.d. 33 for the crucifixion), or the Passover of winter/spring a.d. 29, assuming a date of a.d. 30 for the crucifixion.

[7:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Jesus was traveling around in Galilee.”

[7:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “For he.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.

[7:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he did not want to travel around in Judea.”

[7:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase should be restricted to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents.

[7:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “were seeking.”

[1:6]  ³² tn Grk “if anyone is blameless…” as a continuation of v. 5b, beginning to describe the elder’s character.

[1:6]  ³³ tn Or “married only once,” “devoted solely to his wife.” See the note on “wife” in 1 Tim 3:2; also 1 Tim 3:12; 5:9.

[1:6]  ³⁴ tn Or “believing children.” The phrase could be translated “believing children,” but the parallel with 1 Tim 3:4 (“keeping his children in control”) argues for the sense given in the translation.

[1:9]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the faithful message in accordance with the teaching” (referring to apostolic teaching).

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “the healthy teaching” (referring to what was just mentioned).