Ayub 20:10

20:10 His sons must recompense ¹  the poor;

his own hands ²  must return his wealth.

Amsal 11:4

11:4 Wealth does not profit in the day of wrath, ³ 

but righteousness delivers from mortal danger. ⁴ 

Zefanya 1:18

1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth ⁵  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ⁶ 

Indeed, ⁷  he will bring terrifying destruction ⁸  on all who live on the earth.” ⁹ 

Lukas 12:15

12:15 Then ¹⁰  he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from ¹¹  all types of greed, ¹²  because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

[20:10]  ¹ tn The early versions confused the root of this verb, taking it from רָצַץ (ratsats, “mistreat”) and not from רָצָה (ratsah, “be please with”). So it was taken to mean, “Let inferiors destroy his children.” But the verb is רָצָה (ratsah). This has been taken to mean “his sons will seek the favor of the poor.” This would mean that they would be reduced to poverty and need help from even the poor. Some commentators see this as another root רָצָה (ratsah) meaning “to compensate; to restore” wealth their father had gained by impoverishing others. This fits the parallelism well, but not the whole context that well.

[20:10]  ² tn Some commentators are surprised to see “his hands” here, thinking the passage talks about his death. Budde changed it to “his children,” by altering one letter. R. Gordis argued that “hand” can mean offspring, and so translated it that way without changing anything in the text (“A note on YAD,” JBL 62 [1943]: 343).

[11:4]  ³ sn The “day of wrath” refers to divine punishment in this life (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 67; e.g., also Job 21:30; Ezek 7:19; Zeph 1:18). Righteousness and not wealth is more valuable in anticipating judgment.

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “from death.”

[1:18]  ⁵ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ⁶ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ⁹ tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).

[12:15]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:15]  ¹¹ tn See L&N 13.154 for this use of the middle voice of φυλάσσω (fulassw) in this verse.

[12:15]  ¹² tn Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire to acquire more and more possessions and experiences.