1 Kings 20:13

The Lord Delivers Israel

20:13 Now a prophet visited King Ahab of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Do you see this huge army? ¹  Look, I am going to hand it over to you this very day. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Deuteronomy 32:27

32:27 But I fear the reaction ²  of their enemies,

for ³  their adversaries would misunderstand

and say, “Our power is great, ⁴ 

and the Lord has not done all this!”’

Joshua 7:8-9

7:8 If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated ⁵  before its enemies? 7:9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us ⁶  from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?” ⁷ 

Job 12:16-19

12:16 With him are strength and prudence; ⁸ 

both the one who goes astray ⁹ 

and the one who misleads are his.

12:17 He ¹⁰  leads ¹¹  counselors away stripped ¹² 

and makes judges ¹³  into fools. ¹⁴ 

12:18 He loosens ¹⁵  the bonds ¹⁶  of kings

and binds a loincloth ¹⁷  around their waist.

12:19 He leads priests away stripped ¹⁸ 

and overthrows ¹⁹  the potentates. ²⁰ 

Psalms 58:10-11

58:10 The godly ²¹  will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;

they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

58:11 Then ²²  observers ²³  will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! ²⁴ 

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges ²⁵  in the earth!”

Psalms 79:10

79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants

be avenged among the nations! ²⁶ 

Isaiah 37:29

37:29 Because you rage against me

and the uproar you create has reached my ears, ²⁷ 

I will put my hook in your nose, ²⁸ 

and my bridle between your lips,

and I will lead you back

the way you came.”

Isaiah 37:35

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” ²⁹ 

Jeremiah 14:7

14:7 Then I said, ³⁰ 

“O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name ³¹ 

even though our sins speak out against us. ³² 

Indeed, ³³  we have turned away from you many times.

We have sinned against you.

Ezekiel 20:9

20:9 I acted for the sake of my reputation, ³⁴  so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, ³⁵  before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ³⁶ 

Ezekiel 20:14

20:14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 36:21-23

36:21 I was concerned for my holy reputation ³⁷  which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.

36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation ³⁸  which you profaned among the nations where you went. 36:23 I will magnify ³⁹  my great name that has been profaned among the nations, that you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord, when I magnify myself among you in their sight.

Ezekiel 36:32

36:32 Understand that ⁴⁰  it is not for your sake I am about to act, declares the sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and embarrassed by your behavior, O house of Israel.

[20:13]  ¹ tn Heb “this great horde.”

[32:27]  ² tn Heb “anger.”

[32:27]  ³ tn Heb “lest.”

[32:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”

[7:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “turned [the] back.”

[7:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and cut off our name.”

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “What will you do for your great name?”

[12:16]  ⁸ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is here rendered “prudence.” Some object that God’s power is intended here, and so a word for power and not wisdom should be included. But v. 13 mentioned wisdom. The point is that it is God’s efficient wisdom that leads to success. One could interpret this as a metonymy of cause, the intended meaning being victory or success.

[12:16]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text uses a wordplay here: שֹׁגֵג (shogeg) is “the one going astray,” i.e., the one who is unable to guard and guide his life. The second word is מַשְׁגֶּה (mashgeh), from a different but historically related root שָׁגָה (shagah), which here in the Hiphil means “the one who misleads, causes to go astray.” These two words are designed to include everybody – all are under the wisdom of God.

[12:17]  ¹⁰ tn The personal pronoun normally present as the subject of the participle is frequently omitted (see GKC 381 §119.s).

[12:17]  ¹¹ tn GKC 361-62 §116.x notes that almost as a rule a participle beginning a sentence is continued with a finite verb with or without a ו (vav). Here the participle (“leads”) is followed by an imperfect (“makes fools”) after a ו (vav).

[12:17]  ¹² tn The word שׁוֹלָל (sholal), from the root שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder; to strip”), is an adjective expressing the state (and is in the singular, as if to say, “in the state of one naked” [GKC 375 §118.o]). The word is found in military contexts (see Mic 1:8). It refers to the carrying away of people in nakedness and shame by enemies who plunder (see also Isa 8:1-4). They will go away as slaves and captives, deprived of their outer garments. Some (cf. NAB) suggest “barefoot,” based on the LXX of Mic 1:8; but the meaning of that is uncertain. G. R. Driver wanted to derive the word from an Arabic root “to be mad; to be giddy,” forming a better parallel.

[12:17]  ¹³ sn The judges, like the counselors, are nobles in the cities. God may reverse their lot, either by captivity or by shame, and they cannot resist his power.

[12:17]  ¹⁴ tn Some translate this “makes mad” as in Isa 44:25, but this gives the wrong connotation today; more likely God shows them to be fools.

[12:18]  ¹⁵ tn The verb may be classified as a gnomic perfect, or possibly a potential perfect – “he can loosen.” The Piel means “to untie; to unbind” (Job 30:11; 38:31; 39:5).

[12:18]  ¹⁶ tc There is a potential textual difficulty here. The MT has מוּסַר (musar, “discipline”), which might have replaced מוֹסֵר (moser, “bond, chain”) from אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). Or מוּסַר might be an unusual form of אָסַר (an option noted in HALOT 557 s.v. *מוֹסֵר). The line is saying that if the kings are bound, God can set them free, and in the second half, if they are free, he can bind them. Others take the view that this word “bond” refers to the power kings have over others, meaning that God can reduce kings to slavery.

[12:18]  ¹⁷ tn Some commentators want to change אֵזוֹר (’ezor, “girdle”) to אֵסוּר (’esur, “bond”) because binding the loins with a girdle was an expression for strength. But H. H. Rowley notes that binding the king’s loins this way would mean so that he would do servitude, menial tasks. Such a reference would certainly indicate troubled times.

[12:19]  ¹⁸ tn Except for “priests,” the phraseology is identical to v. 17a.

[12:19]  ¹⁹ tn The verb has to be defined by its context: it can mean “falsify” (Exod 23:8), “make tortuous” (Prov 19:3), or “plunge” into misfortune (Prov 21:12). God overthrows those who seem to be solid.

[12:19]  ²⁰ tn The original meaning of אֵיתָן (’eytan) is “perpetual.” It is usually an epithet for a torrent that is always flowing. It carries the connotations of permanence and stability; here applied to people in society, it refers to one whose power and influence does not change. These are the pillars of society.

[58:10]  ²¹ tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.

[58:11]  ²² tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.

[58:11]  ²³ tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.

[58:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”

[58:11]  ²⁵ tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC 428-29 §132.h). It is possible that the final mem (ם) on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.

[79:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”

[37:29]  ²⁷ tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).

[37:29]  ²⁸ sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.

[37:35]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

[14:7]  ³⁰ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. However, it cannot be a continuation of the Lord’s speech and the people have consistently refused to acknowledge their sin. The fact that the prayer here and in vv. 19-22 are followed by an address from God to Jeremiah regarding prayer (cf. 4:11 and the interchanges there between God and Jeremiah and 15:1) also argues that the speaker is Jeremiah. He is again identifying with his people (cf. 8:18-9:2). Here he takes up the petition part of the lament which often contains elements of confession of sin and statements of trust. In 14:1-6 God portrays to Jeremiah the people’s lamentable plight instead of their describing it to him. Here Jeremiah prays what they should pray. The people are strangely silent throughout.

[14:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “Act for the sake of your name.” The usage of “act” in this absolute, unqualified sense cf. BDB 794 s.v. עָוֹשָׂה Qal.I.r and compare the usage, e.g., in 1 Kgs 8:32 and 39. For the nuance of “for the sake of your name” compare the usage in Isa 48:9 and Ezek 20:9, 14.

[14:7]  ³² tn Or “bear witness against us,” or “can be used as evidence against us,” to keep the legal metaphor. Heb “testify against.”

[14:7]  ³³ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can scarcely be causal here; it is either intensive (BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) or concessive (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c). The parallel usage in Gen 18:20 argues for the intensive force as does the fact that the concessive has already been expressed by אִם (’im).

[20:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for the sake of my name.”

[20:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were.”

[20:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to whom I made myself known before their eyes to bring them out from the land of Egypt.” The translation understands the infinitive construct (“to bring them out”) as indicating manner. God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt was an act of self-revelation in that it displayed his power and his commitment to his promises.

[36:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “name.”

[36:22]  ³⁸ sn In Ezek 20:22 God refrained from punishment for the sake of his holy name. Here God’s reputation is the basis for Israel’s restoration.

[36:23]  ³⁹ tn Or “sanctify,” Heb “make holy.”

[36:32]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Let it be known.”