Numbers 6:25

6:25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you,

and be gracious to you; ¹ 

Psalms 111:4

111:4 He does ²  amazing things that will be remembered; ³ 

the Lord is merciful and compassionate.

Psalms 112:4

112:4 In the darkness a light ⁴  shines for the godly,

for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just. ⁵ 

Isaiah 30:19

30:19 For people will live in Zion;

in Jerusalem ⁶  you will weep no more. ⁷ 

When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;

when he hears it, he will respond to you. ⁸ 

Isaiah 33:2

33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.

Give us strength each morning! ⁹ 

Deliver us when distress comes. ¹⁰ 

Malachi 1:9

1:9 But now plead for God’s favor ¹¹  that he might be gracious to us. ¹²  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

¹ tn Whereas the first line of the blessing had three Hebrew words, the second has five, and the third has seven. In this second line and the following third, the blessing takes the form of an emblem followed by the truth. For the Lord to make his face shine on them would mean to be gracious to them. M. Noth rightly calls this image of the shining face “a figure of speech for benevolence and favour” (Numbers [OTL], 59); see, for example, Pss 4:7; 31:17; 44:4; 67:2; 80:4, 8, 20; 119:135; Dan 9:17). The image may have its inspiration in the theophanies. The picture is of divine favor – the beaming face of a parent for his beloved.

² tn Or “did,” if this refers primarily to the events of the exodus and conquest period (see vv. 6, 9).

³ tn Heb “a memorial he had made for his amazing deeds.”

⁴ tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability.

⁵ tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Heb “For people in Zion will live, in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.” The phrase “in Jerusalem” could be taken with what precedes. Some prefer to emend יֵשֵׁב (yeshev, “will live,” a Qal imperfect) to יֹשֵׁב (yoshev, a Qal active participle) and translate “For [you] people in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.”

⁸ tn Heb “he will indeed show you mercy at the sound of your crying out; when he hears, he will answer you.”

⁹ tn Heb “Be their arm each morning.” “Arm” is a symbol for strength. The mem suffixed to the noun has been traditionally understood as a third person suffix, but this is contrary to the context, where the people speak of themselves in the first person. The mem (מ) is probably enclitic with ellipsis of the pronoun, which can be supplied from the context. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:589, n. 1.

¹⁰ tn Heb “[Be] also our deliverance in the time of distress.”

¹¹ tn Heb “seek the face of God.”

¹² tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).