1 Samuel 8:1

Israel Seeks a King

8:1 In his old age Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

1 Samuel 8:5

8:5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead ¹  us, just like all the other nations have.”

Mazmur 71:18

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ² 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ³ 

Yesaya 46:3-4

46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, ⁴ 

all you who are left from the family of Israel, ⁵ 

you who have been carried from birth, ⁶ 

you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. ⁷ 

46:4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you, ⁸ 

even when you have gray hair, I will carry you.

I made you and I will support you;

I will carry you and rescue you. ⁹ 

Yesaya 46:2

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ¹⁰ 

they themselves ¹¹  head off into captivity. ¹² 

Titus 1:6

1:6 An elder must be blameless, ¹³  the husband of one wife, ¹⁴  with faithful children ¹⁵  who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion.

Titus 1:2

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ¹⁶ 

Pengkhotbah 1:14

1:14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man ¹⁷  on earth, ¹⁸ 

and I concluded: Everything ¹⁹  he has accomplished ²⁰  is futile ²¹  – like chasing the wind! ²² 

[8:5]  ¹ tn Heb “judge” (also in v. 6).

[71:18]  ² tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ³ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[46:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”

[46:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”

[46:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”

[46:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”

[46:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “until old age, I am he” (NRSV similar); NLT “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”

[46:4]  ⁹ sn Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.

[46:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ¹¹ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ¹² sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[1:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “if anyone is blameless…” as a continuation of v. 5b, beginning to describe the elder’s character.

[1:6]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “by man” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[1:14]  ¹⁹ tn As mentioned in the note on “everything” in 1:2, the term הַכֹּל (hakkol, “everything”) is often limited in reference to the specific topic at hand in the context (e.g., BDB 482 s.v. כֹּל 2). The argument of 1:12-15, like 1:3-11, focuses on secular human achievement. This is clear from the repetition of the root עָשַׂה (’asah, “do, work, accomplish, achieve”) in 1:12-13.

[1:14]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “he has accomplished” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ²¹ tn This usage of הֶבֶל (hevel) denotes “futile, profitless, fruitless” (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:15; Ps 78:33; Prov 13:11; 21:6; Eccl 1:2, 14; 2:1, 14-15; 4:8; Jer 2:5; 10:3; Lam 4:17; see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הֶבֶל). The term is used with the simile “like striving after the wind” (רְעוּת רוּחַ, rÿ’ut ruakh) – a graphic picture of an expenditure of effort in vain because no one can catch the wind by chasing it (e.g., 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9; 7:14). When used in this sense, the term is often used with the following synonyms: לְתֹהוּ (lÿtohu, “for nothing, in vain, for no reason”; Isa 49:4); רִיק (riq, “profitless; useless”; Isa 30:7; Eccl 6:11); לֹא הוֹעִיל (“worthless, profitless”; Is 30:6; 57:12; Jer 16:19); “what profit?” (מַה־יִּתְרוֹןֹ, mah-yyitron); and “no profit” (אֵין יִּתְרוֹן, en yyitron; e.g., 2:11; 3:19; 6:9). It is also used in antithesis to terms connoting value: טוֹב (tov, “good, benefit, advantage”) and יֹתְרוֹן (yotÿron, “profit, advantage, gain”). Despite everything that man has accomplished in history, it is ultimately futile because nothing on earth really changes.

[1:14]  ²² tn Heb “striving of wind.” The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it has been added in the translation to make the comparative notion clear.