Yesaya 32:1-2

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ¹ 

officials will promote justice. ² 

32:2 Each of them ³  will be like a shelter from the wind

and a refuge from a rainstorm;

like streams of water in a dry region

and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.

1 Samuel 8:15

8:15 He will demand a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards and give it to his administrators ⁴  and his servants.

1 Samuel 23:2-4

23:2 So David asked the Lord, “Should I go and strike down these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go, strike down the Philistines and deliver Keilah.”

23:3 But David’s men said to him, “We are afraid while we are still here in Judah! What will it be like if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 23:4 So David asked the Lord once again. But again the Lord replied, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”

1 Samuel 23:1

David Delivers the City of Keilah

23:1 They told David, “The Philistines are fighting in Keilah and are looting the threshing floors.”

Kisah Para Rasul 10:8-9

10:8 and when he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

10:9 About noon ⁵  the next day, while they were on their way and approaching ⁶  the city, Peter went up on the roof ⁷  to pray.

Mazmur 45:6-7

45:6 Your throne, ⁸  O God, is permanent. ⁹ 

The scepter ¹⁰  of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

45:7 You love ¹¹  justice and hate evil. ¹² 

For this reason God, your God ¹³  has anointed you ¹⁴ 

with the oil of joy, ¹⁵  elevating you above your companions. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 72:1-4

Psalm 72 ¹⁷ 

For ¹⁸  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ¹⁹ 

Grant the king’s son ²⁰  the ability to make fair decisions! ²¹ 

72:2 Then he will judge ²²  your people fairly,

and your oppressed ones ²³  equitably.

72:3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,

and the hills will announce justice. ²⁴ 

72:4 He will defend ²⁵  the oppressed among the people;

he will deliver ²⁶  the children ²⁷  of the poor

and crush the oppressor.

Mazmur 72:12-14

72:12 For he will rescue the needy ²⁸  when they cry out for help,

and the oppressed ²⁹  who have no defender.

72:13 He will take pity ³⁰  on the poor and needy;

the lives of the needy he will save.

72:14 From harm and violence he will defend them; ³¹ 

he will value their lives. ³² 

Mazmur 82:2-4

82:2 He says, ³³  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ³⁴  (Selah)

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ³⁵ 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ³⁶  of the wicked!

Yeremia 23:5-6

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ³⁷  that a new time will certainly come ³⁸ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ³⁹  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ⁴⁰ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ⁴¹ 

23:6 Under his rule ⁴²  Judah will enjoy safety ⁴³ 

and Israel will live in security. ⁴⁴ 

This is the name he will go by:

‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’ ⁴⁵ 

Yeremia 33:15

33:15 In those days and at that time I will raise up for them a righteous descendant ⁴⁶  of David.

“‘He will do what is just and right in the land.

Matius 11:5

11:5 The blind see, the ⁴⁷  lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

Wahyu 19:11

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ⁴⁸  I saw heaven opened and here came ⁴⁹  a white horse! The ⁵⁰  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ⁵¹  he judges and goes to war.

[32:1]  ¹ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ² tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[32:2]  ³ tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

[8:15]  ⁴ tn Or “eunuchs” (so NAB); NIV “officials”; KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT “officers.”

[10:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “about the sixth hour.”

[10:9]  ⁶ tn The participles ὁδοιπορούντων (Jodoiporountwn, “while they were on their way”) and ἐγγιζόντων (engizontwn, “approaching”) have been translated as temporal participles.

[10:9]  ⁷ sn Went up on the roof. Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.

[45:6]  ⁸ sn The king’s throne here symbolizes his rule.

[45:6]  ⁹ tn Or “forever and ever.”

[45:6]  sn O God. The king is clearly the addressee here, as in vv. 2-5 and 7-9. Rather than taking the statement at face value, many prefer to emend the text because the concept of deifying the earthly king is foreign to ancient Israelite thinking (cf. NEB “your throne is like God’s throne, eternal”). However, it is preferable to retain the text and take this statement as another instance of the royal hyperbole that permeates the royal psalms. Because the Davidic king is God’s vice-regent on earth, the psalmist addresses him as if he were God incarnate. God energizes the king for battle and accomplishes justice through him. A similar use of hyperbole appears in Isa 9:6, where the ideal Davidic king of the eschaton is given the title “Mighty God” (see the note on this phrase there). Ancient Near Eastern art and literature picture gods training kings for battle, bestowing special weapons, and intervening in battle. According to Egyptian propaganda, the Hittites described Rameses II as follows: “No man is he who is among us, It is Seth great-of-strength, Baal in person; Not deeds of man are these his doings, They are of one who is unique” (see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:67). Ps 45:6 and Isa 9:6 probably envision a similar kind of response when friends and foes alike look at the Davidic king in full battle regalia. When the king’s enemies oppose him on the battlefield, they are, as it were, fighting against God himself.

[45:6]  ¹⁰ sn The king’s scepter symbolizes his royal authority.

[45:7]  ¹¹ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ¹² sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ¹³ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ¹⁴ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ¹⁵ sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[45:7]  sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.

[72:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16-17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2-15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2-7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9-14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15-17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18-19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42-72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.

[72:1]  ¹⁸ tn The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.

[72:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ²⁰ sn Grant the king…Grant the king’s son. It is not entirely clear whether v. 1 envisions one individual or two. The phrase “the king’s son” in the second line may simply refer to “the king” of the first line, drawing attention to the fact that he has inherited his dynastic rule. Another option is that v. 1 envisions a co-regency between father and son (a common phenomenon in ancient Israel) or simply expresses a hope for a dynasty that champions justice.

[72:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”

[72:2]  ²² tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:2]  ²³ sn These people are called God’s oppressed ones because he is their defender (see Pss 9:12, 18; 10:12; 12:5).

[72:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[the] mountains will bear peace to the people, and [the] hills with justice.” The personified mountains and hills probably represent messengers who will sweep over the land announcing the king’s just decrees and policies. See Isa 52:7 and C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:133.

[72:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “judge [for].”

[72:4]  ²⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “sons.”

[72:12]  ²⁸ tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.

[72:12]  ²⁹ tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.

[72:13]  ³⁰ tn The prefixed verb form is best understood as a defectively written imperfect (see Deut 7:16).

[72:14]  ³¹ tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Pss 19:14; 69:18).

[72:14]  ³² tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”

[82:2]  ³³ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[82:3]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).

[82:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “hand.”

[23:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ³⁹ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  sn This passage and the parallel in Jer 33:15 are part of a growing number of prayers and prophecies regarding an ideal ruler to come forth from the Davidic line who will bring the justice, security, and well-being that the continuing line of Davidic rulers did not. Though there were periodic kings like Josiah who did fulfill the ideals set forth in Jer 22:3 (see Jer 22:15), by and large they were more like Jehoiakim who did not (see Jer 22:13). Hence the Lord brought to an end the Davidic rule. The potential for the ideal, however, remained because of God’s promise to David (2 Sam 7:16). The Davidic line became like a tree which was cut down, leaving only a stump. But from that stump God would bring forth a “shoot,” a “sprig” which would fulfill the ideals of kingship. See Isa 11:1-6 and Zech 3:8, 6:12 for this metaphor and compare Dan 4:14-15, 23, 26 for a different but related use of the metaphor.

[23:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ⁴¹ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[23:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “In his days [= during the time he rules].”

[23:6]  ⁴³ tn Parallelism and context (cf. v. 4) suggest this nuance for the word often translated “be saved.” For this nuance elsewhere see Ps 119:117; Prov 28:18 for the verb (יָשַׁע [yasha’] in the Niphal); and Ps 12:6; Job 5:4, 11 for the related noun (יֶשַׁע, yesha’).

[23:6]  ⁴⁴ sn It should be noted that this brief oracle of deliverance implies the reunification of Israel and Judah under the future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah has already spoken about this reunification earlier in 3:18 and will have more to say about it in 30:3; 31:27, 31. This same ideal was espoused in the prophecies of Hosea (1:10-11 [2:1-2 HT]), Isaiah (11:1-4, 10-12), and Ezekiel (37:15-28) all of which have messianic and eschatological significance.

[23:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “his name will be called ‘The Lord our righteousness’.”

[23:6]  sn The Hebrew word translated “justice” here is very broad in its usage, and it is hard to catch all the relevant nuances for this word in this context. It is used for “vindication” in legal contexts (see, e.g., Job 6:29), for “deliverance” or “salvation” in exilic contexts (see, e.g., Isa 58:8), and in the sense of ruling, judging with “justice” (see, e.g., Lev 19:15; Isa 32:1). Here it probably sums up the justice that the Lord provides through raising up this ruler as well as the safety, security, and well-being that result (see vv. 5-6a). In the NT this takes on soteriological connotations (see 1 Cor 1:31 in its context).

[33:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “sprig” or “shoot.”

[33:15]  sn For the meaning of this term and its significance in biblical prophecy see the study note on 23:5.

[11:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more. Two other conjunctions are omitted in this series.

[19:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ⁴⁹ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ⁵⁰ tn A new sentence was started in the translation at this point and καί (kai) was not translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:11]  ⁵¹ tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.