23:5 “I, the Lord, promise 1 that a new time will certainly come 2
when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, 3 a descendant of David.
He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding 4
and will do what is just and right in the land. 5
1 tn Heb “Oracle of the
2 tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”
3 tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).
4 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).
5 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).