2 Kings 22:19

22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit ¹  and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. ²  You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord.

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ³  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ⁴ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ⁵ 

Isaiah 66:2

66:2 My hand made them; ⁶ 

that is how they came to be,” ⁷  says the Lord.

I show special favor ⁸  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ⁹ 

Ezekiel 36:26

36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone ¹⁰  from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ¹¹ 

Ezekiel 36:31

36:31 Then you will remember your evil behavior ¹²  and your deeds which were not good; you will loathe yourselves on account of your sins and your abominable deeds.

¹ tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”

² tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.

³ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

⁴ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

⁵ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

⁶ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

⁷ tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

⁸ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

⁹ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

¹⁰ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).

¹¹ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.

¹² tn Heb “ways.”