2 Chronicles 20:27

20:27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat leading them; the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies.

Job 34:29

34:29 But if God is quiet, who can condemn him?

If he hides his face, then who can see him?

Yet he is over the individual and the nation alike,

Psalms 28:7

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me;

I trust in him with all my heart.

I am rescued and my heart is full of joy;

I will sing to him in gratitude.

Psalms 30:11-12

30:11 Then you turned my lament into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy. 10 

30:12 So now 11  my heart 12  will sing to you and not be silent;

O Lord my God, I will always 13  give thanks to you.

Psalms 92:4

92:4 For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work.

I will sing for joy because of what you have done. 14 

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, 15  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, 16  instead of discouragement. 17 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, 18 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. 19 

Isaiah 66:10-14

66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem

and rejoice with her, all you who love her!

Share in her great joy,

all you who have mourned over her!

66:11 For 20  you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; 21 

you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. 22 

66:12 For this is what the Lord says:

“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,

the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. 23 

You will nurse from her breast 24  and be carried at her side;

you will play on her knees.

66:13 As a mother consoles a child, 25 

so I will console you,

and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, 26 

and you will be revived. 27 

The Lord will reveal his power to his servants

and his anger to his enemies. 28 

Jeremiah 33:11

33:11 Once again there will be sounds 29  of joy and gladness and the glad celebrations of brides and grooms. 30  Once again people will bring their thank offerings to the temple of the Lord and will say, “Give thanks to the Lord who rules over all. For the Lord is good and his unfailing love lasts forever.” 31  For I, the Lord, affirm 32  that I will restore the land to what it was 33  in days of old.’ 34 

John 16:22

16:22 So also you have sorrow 35  now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. 36 

tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn The verb in this position is somewhat difficult, although it does make good sense in the sentence – it is just not what the parallelism would suggest. So several emendations have been put forward, for which see the commentaries.

tn The line simply reads “and over a nation and over a man together.” But it must be the qualification for the points being made in the previous lines, namely, that even if God hides himself so no one can see, yet he is still watching over them all (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 222).

tn The word translated “alike” (Heb “together”) has bothered some interpreters. In the reading taken here it is acceptable. But others have emended it to gain a verb, such as “he visits” (Beer), “he watches over” (Duhm), “he is compassionate” (Kissane), etc. But it is sufficient to say “he is over.”

tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

tn Or “I am helped.”

tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.

10 sn Covered me with joy. “Joy” probably stands metonymically for festive attire here.

11 tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”

12 tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.

13 tn Or “forever.”

14 tn Heb “the works of your hands.”

15 tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

16 tn Heb “garment of praise.”

17 tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

18 tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

19 tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

20 tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”

21 tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”

22 tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”

23 tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”

24 tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).

25 tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”

26 tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

27 tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

28 tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”

29 tn Heb33:10 Thus says the Lord, ‘There will again be heard in this place of which you are saying [masc. pl.], “It is a ruin without people and without animals,” [that is] in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem which are desolate without people and without inhabitants and without animals 33:11 the sound of….” The long run-on sentence in Hebrew has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style.

30 sn What is predicted here is a reversal of the decimation caused by the Babylonian conquest that had been threatened in 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.

31 sn This is a common hymnic introduction to both individual songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 118:1) and communal songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 136 where it is a liturgical refrain accompanying a recital of Israel’s early history and of the Lord’s continuing providence).

32 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

33 tn Or “I will restore the fortunes of the land.”

34 tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.

35 tn Or “distress.”

36 sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will be indignant toward his enemies.” The change from “you will see [me]” to I will see you places more emphasis on Jesus as the one who reinitiates the relationship with the disciples after his resurrection, but v. 16 (you will see me) is more like Isa 66:14. Further support for seeing this allusion as intentional is found in Isa 66:7, which uses the same imagery of the woman giving birth found in John 16:21. In the context of Isa 66 the passages refer to the institution of the messianic kingdom, and in fact the last clause of 66:14 along with the following verses (15-17) have yet to be fulfilled. This is part of the tension of present and future eschatological fulfillment that runs throughout the NT, by virtue of the fact that there are two advents. Some prophecies are fulfilled or partially fulfilled at the first advent, while other prophecies or parts of prophecies await fulfillment at the second.