Kejadian 14:20

14:20 Worthy of praise is ¹  the Most High God,

who delivered ²  your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave Melchizedek ³  a tenth of everything.

Keluaran 18:10

18:10 Jethro said, “Blessed ⁴  be the Lord who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from the Egyptians’ control! ⁵ 

Rut 4:14

4:14 The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian ⁶  today! May he ⁷  become famous in Israel! ⁸ 

Rut 4:1

Boaz Settles the Matter

4:1 Now Boaz went up ⁹  to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian ¹⁰  whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth! ¹¹  Boaz said, “Come ¹²  here and sit down, ‘John Doe’!” ¹³  So he came ¹⁴  and sat down.

1 Samuel 25:32

25:32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praised ¹⁵  be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me!

1 Samuel 25:2

David Marries Abigail the Widow of Nabal

25:2 There was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. This man was very wealthy; ¹⁶  he owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

1 Samuel 18:28

18:28 When Saul realized ¹⁷  that the Lord was with David and that his ¹⁸  daughter Michal loved David, ¹⁹ 

1 Samuel 18:1

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ²⁰  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ²¹  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ²² 

1 Raja-raja 1:48

1:48 and said ²³  this: ‘The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because ²⁴  today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.’” ²⁵ 

[14:20]  ¹ tn Heb “blessed be.” For God to be “blessed” means that is praised. His reputation is enriched in the world as his name is praised.

[14:20]  ² sn Who delivered. The Hebrew verb מִגֵּן (miggen, “delivered”) foreshadows the statement by God to Abram in Gen 15:1, “I am your shield” (מָגֵן, magen). Melchizedek provided a theological interpretation of Abram’s military victory.

[14:20]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:10]  ⁴ tn This is a common form of praise. The verb בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle of the verb. Here must be supplied a jussive, making this participle the predicate: “May Yahweh be blessed.” The verb essentially means “to enrich”; in praise it would mean that he would be enriched by the praises of the people.

[18:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “from under the hand of the Egyptians.”

[4:14]  ⁶ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9. As the following context indicates, the child is referred to here.

[4:14]  ⁷ tn The “guardian” is the subject of the verb, as the next verse makes clear.

[4:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “may his name be called [i.e., “perpetuated”; see Gen 48:16] in Israel.”

[4:1]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause structure (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) here signals the beginning of a new scene.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Sometimes translated “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9.

[4:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “look, the guardian was passing by of whom Boaz had spoken.”

[4:1]  ¹² tn Heb “turn aside” (so KJV, NASB); NIV, TEV, NLT “Come over here.”

[4:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “a certain one”; KJV, ASV “such a one.” The expression פְלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי (pÿloni ’almoni) is not the name of the nearest relative, but an idiom which literally means “such and such” or “a certain one” (BDB 811-12 s.v. פְלֹנִי), which is used when one wishes to be ambiguous (1 Sam 21:3; 2 Kgs 6:8). Certainly Boaz would have known his relative’s name, especially in such a small village, and would have uttered his actual name. However the narrator refuses to record his name in a form of poetic justice because he refused to preserve Mahlon’s “name” (lineage) by marrying his widow (see 4:5, 9-10). This close relative, who is a literary foil for Boaz, refuses to fulfill the role of family guardian. Because he does nothing memorable, he remains anonymous in a chapter otherwise filled with names. His anonymity contrasts sharply with Boaz’s prominence in the story and the fame he attains through the child born to Ruth. Because the actual name of this relative is not recorded, the translation of this expression is difficult since contemporary English style expects either a name or title. This is usually supplied in modern translations: “friend” (NASB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NLT), “so-and-so” (JPS, NJPS). Perhaps “Mr. So-And-So!” or “Mr. No-Name!” makes the point. For discussion see Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, 99-101; R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 233-35; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 196-97. In the present translation “John Doe” is used since it is a standard designation for someone who is a party to legal proceedings whose true name is unknown.

[4:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he turned aside” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “And he went over.”

[25:32]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “blessed” (also in vv. 33, 39).

[25:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “great.”

[18:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “saw and knew.”

[18:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Saul’s.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[18:28]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

[18:1]  ²² tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

[18:1]  sn On the nature of Jonathan’s love for David, see J. A. Thompson, “The Significance of the Verb Love in the David-Jonathan Narratives in 1 Samuel,” VT 24 (1974): 334-38.

[1:48]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text reads, “and the king said.”

[1:48]  ²⁴ tn Or “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who….” In this blessing formula אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who; because”) introduces the reason why the one being blessed deserves the honor.

[1:48]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and my eyes are seeing.”