17:26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? 1 For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”
79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! 2
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! 3
3:34 Although 4 he is scornful to arrogant scoffers, 5
yet 6 he shows favor to the humble. 7
12:14 But Ephraim bitterly 8 provoked him to anger;
so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed, 9
his Lord 10 will repay him for the contempt he has shown. 11
1 tn Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.”
2 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
3 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
4 tn The particle אִם (’im, “though”) introduces a concessive clause: “though….”
5 tn Heb “he mocks those who mock.” The repetition of the root לִיץ (lits, “to scorn; to mock”) connotes poetic justice; the punishment fits the crime. Scoffers are characterized by arrogant pride (e.g., Prov 21:24), as the antithetical parallelism with “the humble” here emphasizes.
6 tn The prefixed vav (ו) introduces the apodosis to the concessive clause: “Though … yet …”
7 tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically (AB:BA): “he scorns / arrogant scoffers // but to the humble / he gives grace.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.
8 tn The noun תַּמְרוּרִים (tamrurim, “bitter things”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner, modifying the finite verb: “He bitterly provoked Him to anger” (GKC 375 §118.q). The plural form of the noun functions as a plural of intensity: “very bitterly.” For the adverbial function of the accusative, see IBHS 172-73 §10.2.2e.
9 tn Heb “He will leave his blood upon him”; NIV “will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed.”
10 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
11 tn Heb “for his contempt” (so NIV); NRSV “for his insults”; NAB “for his outrage.”