Amsal 16:12

16:12 Doing wickedness ¹  is an abomination to kings,

because a throne ²  is established in righteousness.

Amsal 20:8

20:8 A king sitting on the throne to judge ³ 

separates out ⁴  all evil with his eyes. ⁵ 

Imamat 19:15

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ⁶  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ⁷  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ⁸  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁹ 

Ulangan 1:16

1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ¹⁰  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ¹¹  and judge fairly, ¹²  whether between one citizen and another ¹³  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ¹⁴ 

Ulangan 16:18-20

Provision for Justice

16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants ¹⁵  for each tribe in all your villages ¹⁶  that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. ¹⁷  16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort ¹⁸  the words of the righteous. ¹⁹  16:20 You must pursue justice alone ²⁰  so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Ulangan 16:2

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal ²¹  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ²²  chooses to locate his name.

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 ²³  and his servants.

Mazmur 58:1-2

Psalm 58 ²⁴ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²⁵  a prayer ²⁶  of David.

58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? ²⁷ 

Do you judge people ²⁸  fairly?

58:2 No! ²⁹  You plan how to do what is unjust; ³⁰ 

you deal out violence in the earth. ³¹ 

Mazmur 72:1-2

Psalm 72 ³² 

For ³³  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ³⁴ 

Grant the king’s son ³⁵  the ability to make fair decisions! ³⁶ 

72:2 Then he will judge ³⁷  your people fairly,

and your oppressed ones ³⁸  equitably.

Ayub 29:12

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ³⁹  had no one to assist him;

Ayub 29:15-16

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father ⁴⁰  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

Yesaya 1:17

1:17 Learn to do what is right!

Promote justice!

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! ⁴¹ 

Take up the cause of the orphan!

Defend the rights of the widow! ⁴² 

Yesaya 1:23

1:23 Your officials are rebels, ⁴³ 

they associate with ⁴⁴  thieves.

All of them love bribery,

and look for ⁴⁵  payoffs. ⁴⁶ 

They do not take up the cause of the orphan, ⁴⁷ 

or defend the rights of the widow. ⁴⁸ 

Yesaya 11:4

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ⁴⁹ 

and make right decisions ⁵⁰  for the downtrodden of the earth. ⁵¹ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁵² 

and order the wicked to be executed. ⁵³ 

Yesaya 32:1-2

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ⁵⁴ 

officials will promote justice. ⁵⁵ 

32:2 Each of them ⁵⁶  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.

Yeremia 5:28

5:28 That is how ⁵⁷  they have grown fat and sleek. ⁵⁸ 

There is no limit to the evil things they do. ⁵⁹ 

They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.

They do not defend the rights of the poor.

Yeremia 22:3

22:3 The Lord says, “Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those ⁶⁰  who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. ⁶¹  Do not kill innocent people ⁶²  in this land.

Yeremia 22:15-16

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ⁶³  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ⁶⁴ 

He did what was just and right. ⁶⁵ 

So things went well with him.

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ⁶⁶ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ⁶⁷ 

Yeremia 23:5

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ⁶⁸  that a new time will certainly come ⁶⁹ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ⁷⁰  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ⁷¹ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ⁷² 

Daniel 4:27

4:27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ⁷³ 

Amos 5:11-12

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ⁷⁴ 

and exact a grain tax from them,

you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,

nor will you drink the wine from the fine ⁷⁵  vineyards you planted. ⁷⁶ 

5:12 Certainly ⁷⁷  I am aware of ⁷⁸  your many rebellious acts ⁷⁹ 

and your numerous sins.

You ⁸⁰  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ⁸¹  the needy at the city gate. ⁸² 

Zakharia 7:9

7:9 “The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other.

Zakharia 9:9

9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!

Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!

Look! Your king is coming to you:

he is legitimate ⁸³  and victorious, ⁸⁴ 

humble and riding on a donkey ⁸⁵  –

on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.

Yohanes 7:24

7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance, ⁸⁶  but judge with proper ⁸⁷  judgment.”

Ibrani 1:9

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ⁸⁸  with the oil of rejoicing.” ⁸⁹ 

Wahyu 19:11

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ⁹⁰  I saw heaven opened and here came ⁹¹  a white horse! The ⁹²  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ⁹³  he judges and goes to war.

[16:12]  ¹ sn The “wickedness” mentioned here (רֶשַׁע, resha’) might better be understood as a criminal act, for the related word “wicked” can also mean the guilty criminal. If a king is trying to have a righteous administration, he will detest any criminal acts.

[16:12]  ² tn The “throne” represents the administration, or the decisions made from the throne by the king, and so the word is a metonymy of adjunct (cf. NLT “his rule”).

[20:8]  ³ tn The infinitive construct is דִּין; it indicates purpose, “to judge” (so NIV, NCV) even though it does not have the preposition with it.

[20:8]  ⁴ tn The second line uses the image of winnowing (cf. NIV, NRSV) to state that the king’s judgment removes evil from the realm. The verb form is מִזָרֶה (mÿzareh), the Piel participle. It has been translated “to sift; to winnow; to scatter” and “to separate” – i.e., separate out evil from the land. The text is saying that a just government roots out evil (cf. NAB “dispels all evil”), but few governments have been consistently just.

[20:8]  ⁵ sn The phrase with his eyes indicates that the king will closely examine or look into all the cases that come before him.

[19:15]  ⁶ tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.

[19:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

[19:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

[19:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

[1:16]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

[1:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

[1:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

[16:18]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.

[16:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “gates.”

[16:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”

[16:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[16:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).

[16:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ²² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[8:15]  ²³ tn Or “eunuchs” (so NAB); NIV “officials”; KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT “officers.”

[58:1]  ²⁴ sn Psalm 58. The psalmist calls on God to punish corrupt judges because a vivid display of divine judgment will convince observers that God is the just judge of the world who vindicates the godly.

[58:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 57, 59, and 75.

[58:1]  ²⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam) which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 56-57, 59-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[58:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun אֵלֶם (’elem, “silence”) makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some feel that this is an indictment of the addressees’ failure to promote justice; they are silent when they should make just decisions. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֵלִם (’elim), which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of אֵילִים (’elim, “rulers,” a metaphorical use of אַיִל, ’ayil, “ram”; see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of דָּבַר (davar, “speak”) with צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “what is right”) as object means “to speak the truth” (see Ps 52:3; Isa 45:19). Here it refers specifically to declaring what is right in a legal setting, as the next line indicates.

[58:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the sons of mankind.” The translation assumes the phrase is the object of the verb “to judge.” Some take it as a vocative, “Do you judge fairly, O sons of mankind?” (Cf. NASB; see Ezek 20:4; 22:2; 23:36.)

[58:2]  ²⁹ tn The particle אַף (’af, “no”) is used here as a strong adversative emphasizing the following statement, which contrasts reality with the rulers’ claim alluded to in the rhetorical questions (see Ps 44:9).

[58:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in the heart unjust deeds you do.” The phrase “in the heart” (i.e., “mind”) seems to refer to their plans and motives. The Hebrew noun עַוְלָה (’avlah, “injustice”) is collocated with פָּעַל (pa’al, “do”) here and in Job 36:23 and Ps 119:3. Some emend the plural form עוֹלֹת (’olot, “unjust deeds”; see Ps 64:6) to the singular עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”; see Job 34:32), taking the final tav (ת) as dittographic (note that the following verbal form begins with tav). Some then understand עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”) as a genitive modifying “heart” and translate, “with a heart of injustice you act.”

[58:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the earth the violence of your hands you weigh out.” The imagery is from the economic realm. The addressees measure out violence, rather than justice, and distribute it like a commodity. This may be ironic, since justice was sometimes viewed as a measuring scale (see Job 31:6).

[72:1]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”

[72:2]  ³⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:2]  ³⁸ sn These people are called God’s oppressed ones because he is their defender (see Pss 9:12, 18; 10:12; 12:5).

[29:12]  ³⁹ tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).

[29:16]  ⁴⁰ sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.

[1:17]  ⁴¹ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”

[1:17]  ⁴² tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.

[1:23]  ⁴³ tn Or “stubborn”; CEV “have rejected me.”

[1:23]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and companions of” (so KJV, NASB); CEV “friends of crooks.”

[1:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “pursue”; NIV “chase after gifts.”

[1:23]  ⁴⁶ sn Isaiah may have chosen the word for gifts (שַׁלְמוֹנִים, shalmonim; a hapax legomena here), as a sarcastic pun on what these rulers should have been doing. Instead of attending to peace and wholeness (שָׁלוֹם, shalom), they sought after payoffs (שַׁלְמוֹנִים).

[1:23]  ⁴⁷ sn See the note at v. 17.

[1:23]  ⁴⁸ sn The rich oppressors referred to in Isaiah and the other eighth century prophets were not rich capitalists in the modern sense of the word. They were members of the royal military and judicial bureaucracies in Israel and Judah. As these bureaucracies grew, they acquired more and more land and gradually commandeered the economy and legal system. At various administrative levels bribery and graft become commonplace. The common people outside the urban administrative centers were vulnerable to exploitation in such a system, especially those, like widows and orphans, who had lost their family provider through death. Through confiscatory taxation, conscription, excessive interest rates, and other oppressive governmental measures and policies, they were gradually disenfranchised and lost their landed property, and with it, their rights as citizens. The socio-economic equilibrium envisioned in the law of Moses was radically disturbed.

[11:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ 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.

[32:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[32:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

[5:28]  ⁵⁷ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.

[5:28]  ⁵⁸ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.

[5:28]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”

[5:28]  sn There is a wordplay in the use of this word which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God.

[22:3]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “from the hand [or power] of.”

[22:3]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “aliens, orphans, or widows” treating the terms as generic or collective. However, the term “alien” carries faulty connotations and the term “orphan” is not totally appropriate because the Hebrew term does not necessarily mean that both parents have died.

[22:3]  sn These were classes of people who had no one to look out for their rights. The laws of Israel, however, were careful to see that their rights were guarded (cf. Deut 10:18) and that provision was made for meeting their needs (cf. Deut 24:19-21). The Lord promised to protect them (cf. Ps 146:9) and a curse was called down on any who deprived them of justice (cf. Deut 27:19).

[22:3]  ⁶² tn Heb “Do not shed innocent blood.”

[22:3]  sn Do not kill innocent people. For an example of one of the last kings who did this see Jer 36:20-23. Manasseh was notorious for having done this and the book of 2 Kgs attributes the ultimate destruction of Judah to this crime and his sin of worshiping false gods (2 Kgs 21:16; 24:4).

[22:15]  ⁶³ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ⁶⁵ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[22:16]  ⁶⁶ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:16]  sn Comparison of the usage of the words “know me” in their context in Jer 2:8; 9:3, 6, 24 and here will show that more than mere intellectual knowledge is involved. It involves also personal commitment to God and obedience to the demands of the agreements with him. The word “know” is used in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts of submission to the will of the overlord. See further the notes on 9:3.

[23:5]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ⁷⁰ 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]  ⁷¹ 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]  ⁷² 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).

[4:27]  ⁷³ tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”

[5:11]  ⁷⁴ tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).

[5:11]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”

[5:12]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

[5:12]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[5:12]  ⁸² sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[9:9]  ⁸³ tn The Hebrew term צַדִּיק (tsadiq) ordinarily translated “righteous,” frequently occurs, as here, with the idea of conforming to a standard or meeting certain criteria. The Messianic king riding into Jerusalem is fully qualified to take the Davidic throne (cf. 1 Sam 23:3; Isa 9:5-6; 11:4; 16:5; Jer 22:1-5; 23:5-6).

[9:9]  ⁸⁴ tn The Hebrew term נוֹשָׁע (nosha’) a Niphal participle of יָשַׁע (yasha’, “to save”) could mean “one delivered” or, if viewed as active, “one bringing salvation” (similar KJV, NIV, NKJV). It is preferable to take the normal passive use of the Niphal and understand that the king, having been delivered, is as a result “victorious” (so also NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[9:9]  ⁸⁵ sn The NT understands this verse to be a prophecy of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and properly so (cf. Matt 21:5; John 12:15), but reference to the universal rule of the king in v. 10 reveals that this is a “split prophecy,” that is, it has a two-stage fulfillment. Verse 9 was fulfilled in Jesus’ earthly ministry but v. 10 awaits a millennial consummation (cf. Rev 19:11-16).

[7:24]  ⁸⁶ tn Or “based on sight.”

[7:24]  ⁸⁷ tn Or “honest”; Grk “righteous.”

[1:9]  ⁸⁸ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ⁸⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.

[19:11]  ⁹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ⁹¹ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ⁹² 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]  ⁹³ tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.