Yakobus 4:6

4:6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” ¹ 

Ayub 5:11

5:11 he sets ²  the lowly ³  on high,

that those who mourn ⁴  are raised ⁵  to safety.

Ayub 5:1

5:1 “Call now! ⁶  Is there anyone who will answer you? ⁷ 

To which of the holy ones ⁸  will you turn? ⁹ 

1 Petrus 5:6

5:6 And God will exalt you in due time, ¹⁰  if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand ¹¹ 

[4:6]  ¹ sn A quotation from Prov 3:34.

[5:11]  ² tn Heb “setting.” The infinitive construct clause is here taken as explaining the nature of God, and so parallel to the preceding descriptions. If read simply as a purpose clause after the previous verse, it would suggest that the purpose of watering the earth was to raise the humble (cf. NASB, “And sends water on the fields, // So that He sets on high those who are lowly”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 39) makes a case for this interpretation, saying that God’s gifts in nature have the wider purpose of blessing man, but he prefers to see the line as another benevolence, parallel to v. 10, and so suggests a translation “setting up” rather than “to set up.”

[5:11]  ³ tn The word שְׁפָלִים (shÿfalim) refers to “those who are down.” This refers to the lowly and despised of the earth. They are the opposite of the “proud” (see Ps 138:6). Here there is a deliberate contrast between “lowly” and “on high.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the word is “to be dark, dirty”; therefore, it refers to the ash-sprinkled head of the mourner (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 54). The custom was to darken one’s face in sorrow (see Job 2:12; Ps 35:14; 38:7).

[5:11]  ⁵ tn The perfect verb may be translated “be set on high; be raised up.” E. Dhorme (Job, 64) notes that the perfect is parallel to the infinitive of the first colon, and so he renders it in the same way as the infinitive, comparing the construction to that of 28:25.

[5:1]  ⁶ tn Some commentators transpose this verse with the following paragraph, placing it after v. 7 (see E. Dhorme, Job, 62). But the reasons for this are based on the perceived development of the argument and are not that compelling.

[5:1]  sn The imperative is here a challenge for Job. If he makes his appeal against God, who is there who will listen? The rhetorical questions are intended to indicate that no one will respond, not even the angels. Job would do better to realize that he is guilty and his only hope is in God.

[5:1]  ⁷ tn The participle with the suffix could be given a more immediate translation to accompany the imperative: “Call now! Is anyone listening to you?”

[5:1]  ⁸ tn The LXX has rendered “holy ones” as “holy angels” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT). The LXX has interpreted the verb in the colon too freely: “if you will see.”

[5:1]  ⁹ sn The point being made is that the angels do not represent the cries of people to God as if mediating for them. But if Job appealed to any of them to take his case against God, there would be no response whatsoever for that.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in time,” but connoting “the proper time, when the time is right” as in Matt 24:45; Luke 12:42.

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that in due time he may exalt you.” The sentence was rearranged so that the English reader could more clearly see the connection between “casting” (v. 7) and “humble” (v. 6).