35:12 They repay me evil for the good I have done; 1
I am overwhelmed with sorrow. 2
109:4 They repay my love with accusations, 3
but I continue to pray. 4
109:5 They repay me evil for good, 5
and hate for love.
17:13 As for the one who repays 6 evil for good,
evil will not leave 7 his house. 8
18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?
Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. 9
Just remember how I stood before you
pleading on their behalf 10
to keep you from venting your anger on them. 11
1 tn Heb “they repay me evil instead of good.”
2 tn Heb “[there is] bereavement to my soul.”
3 tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”
4 tn Heb “and I, prayer.”
5 tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”
6 tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).
7 tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.
8 sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.
9 tn Or “They are plotting to kill me”; Heb “They have dug a pit for my soul.” This is a common metaphor for plotting against someone. See BDB 500 s.v. כָּרָה Qal and for an example see Pss 7:16 (7:15 HT) in its context.
10 tn Heb “to speak good concerning them” going back to the concept of “good” being paid back with evil.
11 tn Heb “to turn back your anger from them.”