Kejadian 31:53

31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ¹  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ² 

Keluaran 5:21

5:21 and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, ³  because you have made us stink ⁴  in the opinion of ⁵  Pharaoh and his servants, ⁶  so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!” ⁷ 

Keluaran 5:1

Opposition to the Plan of God

5:1 ⁸ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, ⁹  the God of Israel, ‘Release ¹⁰  my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast ¹¹  to me in the desert.’”

1 Samuel 24:12-15

24:12 May the Lord judge between the two of us, and may the Lord vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you. 24:13 It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you. 24:14 Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea? 24:15 May the Lord be our judge and arbiter. May he see and arbitrate my case and deliver me from your hands!”

1 Samuel 24:2

24:2 So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find ¹²  David and his men in the region of ¹³  the rocks of the mountain goats. ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 24:22

24:22 David promised Saul this on oath. ¹⁵  Then Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Mazmur 7:8

7:8 The Lord judges the nations. ¹⁶ 

Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, ¹⁷ 

because I am blameless, ¹⁸  O Exalted One! ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 35:23

35:23 Rouse yourself, wake up ²⁰  and vindicate me! ²¹ 

My God and Lord, defend my just cause! ²² 

Mazmur 43:1

Psalm 43 ²³ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ²⁴  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ²⁵  from deceitful and evil men! ²⁶ 

[31:53]  ¹ tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.

[31:53]  ² tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.

[5:21]  ³ tn The foremen vented their anger on Moses and Aaron. The two jussives express their desire that the evil these two have caused be dealt with. “May Yahweh look on you and may he judge” could mean only that God should decide if Moses and Aaron are at fault, but given the rest of the comments it is clear the foremen want more. The second jussive could be subordinated to the first – “so that he may judge [you].”

[5:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “you have made our aroma stink.”

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[5:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the eyes of his servants.” This phrase is not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” The infinitive construct with the lamed (לָתֶת, latet) signifies the result (“so that”) of making the people stink. Their reputation is now so bad that Pharaoh might gladly put them to death. The next infinitive could also be understood as expressing result: “put a sword in their hand so that they can kill us.”

[5:1]  ⁸ sn The enthusiasm of the worshipers in the preceding chapter turns sour in this one when Pharaoh refuses to cooperate. The point is clear that when the people of God attempt to devote their full service and allegiance to God, they encounter opposition from the world. Rather than finding instant blessing and peace, they find conflict. This is the theme that will continue through the plague narratives. But what makes chapter 5 especially interesting is how the people reacted to this opposition. The chapter has three sections: first, the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh (vv. 1-5); then the report of the stern opposition of the king (vv. 6-14); and finally, the sad account of the effect of this opposition on the people (vv. 15-21).

[5:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh.”

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn The form שַׁלַּח (shallakh), the Piel imperative, has been traditionally translated “let [my people] go.” The Qal would be “send”; so the Piel “send away, release, dismiss, discharge.” B. Jacob observes, “If a person was dismissed through the use of this verb, then he ceased to be within the power or sphere of influence of the individual who had dismissed him. He was completely free and subsequently acted entirely on his own responsibility” (Exodus, 115).

[5:1]  ¹¹ tn The verb חָגַג (khagag) means to hold a feast or to go on a pilgrim feast. The Arabic cognate of the noun form is haj, best known for the pilgrim flight of Mohammed, the hajira. The form in the text (וְיָחֹגּוּ, vÿyakhoggu) is subordinated to the imperative and thus shows the purpose of the imperative.

[24:2]  ¹² tn Heb “to search [for].”

[24:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[24:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the region of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats,” if this expression is understood as a place name (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV).

[24:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and David swore an oath to Saul.”

[7:8]  ¹⁶ sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.

[7:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.

[35:23]  ²⁰ sn Though he is confident that the Lord is aware of his situation (see v. 22a), the psalmist compares the Lord’s inactivity to sleep and urges him to wake up.

[35:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “for my justice.”

[35:23]  ²² tn Heb “for my cause.”

[43:1]  ²³ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ²⁵ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.