Yehezkiel 19:3

19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. ¹ 

Yehezkiel 19:7

19:7 He broke down ²  their strongholds ³  and devastated their cities.

The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

Yehezkiel 22:27

22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.

Yehezkiel 46:18

46:18 The prince will not take away any of the people’s inheritance by oppressively removing them from their property. He will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own property.’”

Amsal 28:16

28:16 The prince who is a great oppressor lacks wisdom, ⁴ 

but the one who hates ⁵  unjust gain will prolong his days.

Yesaya 11:3-5

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ⁶ 

He will not judge by mere appearances, ⁷ 

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ⁸ 

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ⁹ 

and make right decisions ¹⁰  for the downtrodden of the earth. ¹¹ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ¹² 

and order the wicked to be executed. ¹³ 

11:5 Justice will be like a belt around his waist,

integrity will be like a belt around his hips. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 32:1-2

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ¹⁵ 

officials will promote justice. ¹⁶ 

32:2 Each of them ¹⁷  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.

Yesaya 60:17-18

60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,

instead of iron, I will bring you silver,

instead of wood, I will bring you ¹⁸  bronze,

instead of stones, I will bring you ¹⁹  iron.

I will make prosperity ²⁰  your overseer,

and vindication your sovereign ruler. ²¹ 

60:18 Sounds of violence ²²  will no longer be heard in your land,

or the sounds of ²³  destruction and devastation within your borders.

You will name your walls, ‘Deliverance,’

and your gates, ‘Praise.’

Yeremia 22:17

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ²⁴ 

Yeremia 23:5

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ²⁵  that a new time will certainly come ²⁶ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ²⁷  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ²⁸ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ²⁹ 

Mikha 3:1-4

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ³⁰  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ³¹  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ³² 

3:2 yet you ³³  hate what is good, ³⁴ 

and love what is evil. ³⁵ 

You flay my people’s skin ³⁶ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ³⁷ 

3:3 You ³⁸  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ³⁹  –

like meat in a kettle.

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ⁴⁰ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

Zefanya 3:13

3:13 The Israelites who remain ⁴¹  will not act deceitfully.

They will not lie,

and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.

Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep ⁴²  and lie down;

no one will terrify them.”

Yakobus 2:6

2:6 But you have dishonored the poor! ⁴³  Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts?

Yakobus 5:1-6

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ⁴⁴  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ⁴⁵  5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁴⁶  5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ⁴⁷ 

Wahyu 19:11-16

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. 19:12 His eyes are like a fiery ⁵²  flame and there are many diadem crowns ⁵³  on his head. He has ⁵⁴  a name written ⁵⁵  that no one knows except himself. 19:13 He is dressed in clothing dipped ⁵⁶  in blood, and he is called ⁵⁷  the Word of God. 19:14 The ⁵⁸  armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, ⁵⁹  were following him on white horses. 19:15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. ⁶⁰  He ⁶¹  will rule ⁶²  them with an iron rod, ⁶³  and he stomps the winepress ⁶⁴  of the furious ⁶⁵  wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ⁶⁶  19:16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

[19:3]  ¹ tn Heb “a man.”

[19:7]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (dalet-resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.

[19:7]  ³ tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”

[28:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “A prince lacking of understanding [is] also a great oppressor” (both KJV, ASV similar) The last clause, “and a great oppressor,” appears to modify “the prince.” There is little difference in meaning, only in emphasis. The LXX has “lacks income” (reading תְּבוּאוֹת [tÿvu’ot] instead of תְּבוּנוֹת [tÿvunot]). C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 501) suggests deleting the word for “prince” altogether, but this emendation is gratuitous.

[28:16]  ⁵ tc This follows the Qere reading of the participle which is singular (as opposed to the plural). The implication is that this one is also a ruler, paralleling the first half. But since he “hates” (= rejects) unjust gain he will extend [his] days, meaning he will enjoy a long and happy life (cf. NIV, NRSV, CEV).

[11:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

[11:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”

[11:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[11:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Justice will be the belt [or “undergarment”] on his waist, integrity the belt [or “undergarment”] on his hips.” The point of the metaphor is uncertain. If a belt worn outside the robe is in view, then the point might be that justice/integrity will be readily visible or that these qualities will give support to his rule. If an undergarment is in view, then the idea might be that these characteristics support his rule or that they are basic to everything else.

[32:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[32:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

[60:17]  ¹⁸ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).

[60:17]  ¹⁹ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).

[60:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).

[60:17]  ²¹ tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.

[60:18]  ²² tn The words “sounds of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[60:18]  ²³ tn The words “sounds of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[23:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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).

[3:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “heads.”

[3:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “house.”

[3:1]  ³² tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

[3:2]  ³³ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:2]  sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.

[3:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ³⁹ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).

[3:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:13]  ⁴¹ tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”

[3:13]  ⁴² tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:6]  ⁴³ tn This is singular: “the poor person,” perhaps referring to the hypothetical one described in vv. 2-3.

[5:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”

[5:5]  ⁴⁶ sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).

[5:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”

[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.

[19:12]  ⁵² tn The genitive noun πυρός (puros) has been translated as an attributive genitive (see also Rev 1:14).

[19:12]  ⁵³ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[19:12]  sn Diadem crowns were a type of crown used as a symbol of the highest ruling authority in a given area, and thus often associated with kingship.

[19:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “head, having.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[19:12]  ⁵⁵ tn Although many translations supply a prepositional phrase to specify what the name was written on (“upon Him,” NASB; “on him,” NIV), there is no location for the name specified in the Greek text.

[19:13]  ⁵⁶ tc It appears that “dipped” (βεβαμμένον, bebammenon), supported by several uncials and other witnesses (A 051 Ï), is the original reading. Due to the lack of the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) after the verb (βεβαμμένον αἵματι, bebammenon {aimati), and also probably because of literary allusions to Isa 63:3, several mss and versions seem to have changed the text to “sprinkled” (either ῥεραντισμένον [rJerantismenon] in P 2329 al; ἐρραντισμένον [errantismenon] in 1006 1841; ἐρραμμένον [errammenon] in 2053 2062; or ῥεραμμένον [rJerammenon] in 1611; or in one case περιρεραμμένον [perirerammenon] in א^[2]). The reading most likely to give rise to the others is “dipped.”

[19:13]  tn Or perhaps “soaked.”

[19:13]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “the name of him is called.”

[19:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:14]  ⁵⁹ tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”

[19:15]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[19:15]  ⁶¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:15]  ⁶² tn Grk “will shepherd.”

[19:15]  ⁶³ tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”

[19:15]  sn A quotation from Ps 2:9 (see also Rev 2:27, 12:5).

[19:15]  ⁶⁴ sn He stomps the winepress. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process), and Rev 14:20.

[19:15]  ⁶⁵ tn The genitive θυμοῦ (qumou) has been translated as an attributed genitive. Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumos) and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9).

[19:15]  ⁶⁶ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”