Ayub 12:12

12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged? ¹ 

Does not long life bring understanding?

Ayub 12:20

12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers ²  of speech ³ 

and takes away the discernment ⁴  of elders.

Lukas 2:47

2:47 And all who heard Jesus ⁵  were astonished ⁶  at his understanding and his answers.

Lukas 2:1

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ⁷  in those days a decree ⁸  went out from Caesar ⁹  Augustus ¹⁰  to register ¹¹  all the empire ¹²  for taxes.

1 Timotius 4:12

4:12 Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in your speech, conduct, love, faithfulness, ¹³  and purity.

[12:12]  ¹ tn The statement in the Hebrew Bible simply has “among the aged – wisdom.” Since this seems to be more the idea of the friends than of Job, scholars have variously tried to rearrange it. Some have proposed that Job is citing his friends: “With the old men, you say, is wisdom” (Budde, Gray, Hitzig). Others have simply made it a question (Weiser). But others take לֹא (lo’) from the previous verse and make it the negative here, to say, “wisdom is not….” But Job will draw on the wisdom of the aged, only with discernment, for ultimately all wisdom is with God.

[12:20]  ² tn The Hebrew נֶאֱמָנִים (ne’emanim) is the Niphal participle; it is often translated “the faithful” in the Bible. The Rabbis rather fancifully took the word from נְאֻם (nÿ’um, “oracle, utterance”) and so rendered it “those who are eloquent, fluent in words.” But that would make this the only place in the Bible where this form came from that root or any other root besides אָמַן (’aman, “confirm, support”). But to say that God takes away the speech of the truthful or the faithful would be very difficult. It has to refer to reliable men, because it is parallel to the elders or old men. The NIV has “trusted advisers,” which fits well with kings and judges and priests.

[12:20]  ³ tn Heb “he removes the lip of the trusted ones.”

[12:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “taste,” meaning “opinion” or “decision.”

[2:47]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:47]  ⁶ sn There was wonder (all who heard…were astonished) that Jesus at such a young age could engage in such a discussion. The fact that this story is told of a preteen hints that Jesus was someone special.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[2:1]  ⁸ sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

[2:1]  ⁹ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[2:1]  ¹⁰ sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14. He was known for his administrative prowess.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that all the empire should be registered for taxes.” The passive infinitive ἀπογράφεσθαι (apografesqai) has been rendered as an active in the translation to improve the English style. The verb is regarded as a technical term for official registration in tax lists (BDAG 108 s.v. ἀπογράφω a).

[2:1]  sn This census (a decree…to register all the empire) is one of the more disputed historical remarks in Luke. Josephus (Ant. 18.1.1 [18.1-2]) only mentions a census in a.d. 6, too late for this setting. Such a census would have been a massive undertaking; it could have started under one ruler and emerged under another, to whose name it became attached. This is one possibility to explain the data. Another is that Quirinius, who became governor in Syria for the later census, may have been merely an administrator for this census. See also Luke 2:2.

[2:1]  ¹² tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).

[4:12]  ¹³ tn Or “faith.”