Ulangan 29:24

29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ¹  all about?”

Yosua 7:7-9

7:7 Joshua prayed, ²  “O, Master, Lord! Why did you bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us? 7:8 If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated ³  before its enemies? 7:9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us ⁴  from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?” ⁵ 

Mazmur 74:1

Psalm 74 ⁶ 

A well-written song ⁷  by Asaph.

74:1 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us? ⁸ 

Why does your anger burn ⁹  against the sheep of your pasture?

Mazmur 80:12

80:12 Why did you break down its walls, ¹⁰ 

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? ¹¹ 

Amsal 19:3

19:3 A person’s folly ¹²  subverts ¹³  his way,

and ¹⁴  his heart rages ¹⁵  against the Lord.

Yesaya 63:17

63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray ¹⁶  from your ways, ¹⁷ 

and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? ¹⁸ 

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your inheritance!

Yeremia 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹⁹ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²⁰ 

Why are wicked people successful? ²¹ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

[29:24]  ¹ tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

[7:7]  ² tn Heb “said.”

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “turned [the] back.”

[7:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “and cut off our name.”

[7:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “What will you do for your great name?”

[74:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 74. The psalmist, who has just experienced the devastation of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., asks God to consider Israel’s sufferings and intervene on behalf of his people. He describes the ruined temple, recalls God’s mighty deeds in the past, begs for mercy, and calls for judgment upon God’s enemies.

[74:1]  ⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[74:1]  ⁸ sn The psalmist does not really believe God has permanently rejected his people or he would not pray as he does in this psalm. But this initial question reflects his emotional response to what he sees and is overstated for the sake of emphasis. The severity of divine judgment gives the appearance that God has permanently abandoned his people.

[74:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “smoke.” The picture is that of a fire that continues to smolder.

[80:12]  ¹⁰ sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

[80:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “pluck it.”

[19:3]  ¹² tn Heb “the folly of a man.”

[19:3]  ¹³ tn The verb סָלַף (salaf) normally means “to twist; to pervert; to overturn,” but in this context it means “to subvert” (BDB 701 s.v.); cf. ASV “subverteth.”

[19:3]  sn J. H. Greenstone comments: “Man’s own failures are the result of his own folly and should not be attributed to God” (Proverbs, 201).

[19:3]  ¹⁴ tn The clause begins with vav on the nonverb phrase “against the Lord.” While clause structure and word order is less compelling in a book like Proverbs, this fits well as a circumstantial clause indicating concession.

[19:3]  ¹⁵ sn The “heart raging” is a metonymy of cause (or adjunct); it represents the emotions that will lead to blaming God for the frustration. Genesis 42:28 offers a calmer illustration of this as the brothers ask what God was doing to them.

[63:17]  ¹⁶ tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.

[63:17]  ¹⁷ tn This probably refers to God’s commands.

[63:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[63:17]  sn How direct this hardening is, one cannot be sure. The speaker may envision direct involvement on the Lord’s part. The Lord has brought the exile as judgment for the nation’s sin and now he continues to keep them at arm’s length by blinding them spiritually. The second half of 64:7 might support this, though the precise reading of the final verb is uncertain. On the other hand, the idiom of lament is sometimes ironic and hyperbolically deterministic. For example, Naomi lamented that Shaddai was directly opposing her and bringing her calamity (Ruth 1:20-21), while the author of Ps 88 directly attributes his horrible suffering and loneliness to God (see especially vv. 6-8, 16-18). Both individuals make little, if any, room for intermediate causes or the principle of sin and death which ravages the human race. In the same way, the speaker in Isa 63:17 (who evidences great spiritual sensitivity and is anything but “hardened”) may be referring to the hardships of exile, which discouraged and even embittered the people, causing many of them to retreat from their Yahwistic faith. In this case, the “hardening” in view is more indirect and can be lifted by the Lord’s intervention. Whether the hardening here is indirect or direct, it is important to recognize that the speaker sees it as one of the effects of rebellion against the Lord (note especially 64:5-6).

[12:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”