1 Samuel 25:39

25:39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praised be the Lord who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal! ¹  The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.” ²  Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.

Psalms 35:1

Psalm 35 ³ 

By David.

35:1 O Lord, fight ⁴  those who fight with me!

Attack those who attack me!

Proverbs 22:23

22:23 for the Lord will plead their case ⁵ 

and will rob those who are robbing ⁶  them.

Jeremiah 50:34

50:34 But the one who will rescue them ⁷  is strong.

He is known as the Lord who rules over all. ⁸ 

He will strongly ⁹  champion their cause.

As a result ¹⁰  he will bring peace and rest to the earth,

but trouble and turmoil ¹¹  to the people who inhabit Babylonia. ¹² 

Jeremiah 51:36

51:36 Therefore the Lord says,

“I will stand up for your cause.

I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. ¹³ 

I will dry up their sea.

I will make their springs run dry. ¹⁴ 

Joel 3:2

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ¹⁵ 

I will enter into judgment ¹⁶  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ¹⁷ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ¹⁸  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ¹⁹  he will defend my cause, ²⁰ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ²¹  his deliverance. ²² 

[25:39]  ¹ tn Heb “who has argued the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal.”

[25:39]  ² tn Heb “his servant he has held back from evil, and the evil of Nabal the Lord has turned back on his head.”

[35:1]  ³ sn Psalm 35. The author, who faces ruthless enemies who seek his life for no reason, begs the Lord to fight his battles for him and to vindicate him by annihilating his adversaries.

[35:1]  ⁴ tn Or “contend.”

[22:23]  ⁵ tn The construction uses the verb יָרִיב (yariv) with its cognate accusative. It can mean “to strive,” but here it probably means “to argue a case, plead a case” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). How the Lord will do this is not specified – either through righteous people or by direct intervention.

[22:23]  ⁶ tn The verb קָבַע (qava’, “to rob; to spoil; to plunder”) is used here in both places to reflect the principle of talionic justice. What the oppressors did to the poor will be turned back on them by the Lord.

[50:34]  ⁷ sn Heb “their redeemer.” The Hebrew term “redeemer” referred in Israelite family law to the nearest male relative who was responsible for securing the freedom of a relative who had been sold into slavery. For further discussion of this term as well as its metaphorical use to refer to God as the one who frees Israel from bondage in Egypt and from exile in Assyria and Babylonia see the study note on 31:11.

[50:34]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies is his name.” For the rendering of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[50:34]  ⁹ tn Or “he will certainly champion.” The infinitive absolute before the finite verb here is probably functioning to intensify the verb rather than to express the certainty of the action (cf. GKC 333 §112.n and compare usage in Gen 43:3 and 1 Sam 20:6 listed there).

[50:34]  ¹⁰ tn This appears to be another case where the particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) introduces a result rather than giving the purpose or goal. See the translator’s note on 25:7 for a listing of other examples in the book of Jeremiah and also the translator’s note on 27:10.

[50:34]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will bring rest to the earth and will cause unrest to.” The terms “rest” and “unrest” have been doubly translated to give more of the idea underlying these two concepts.

[50:34]  ¹² tn This translation again reflects the problem often encountered in these prophecies where the Lord appears to be speaking but refers to himself in the third person. It would be possible to translate here using the first person as CEV and NIrV do. However, to sustain that over the whole verse results in a considerably greater degree of paraphrase. The verse could be rendered “But I am strong and I will rescue them. I am the Lord who rules over all. I will champion their cause. And I will bring peace and rest to….”

[51:36]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will avenge your vengeance [= I will take vengeance for you; the phrase involves a verb and a cognate accusative].” The meaning of the phrase has been spelled out in more readily understandable terms.

[51:36]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will dry up her [Babylon’s] sea and make her fountain dry.” “Their” has been substituted for “her” because “Babylonians” has been inserted in the previous clause and is easier to understand than the personification of Babylon = “her.”

[3:2]  ¹⁵ sn There is a play on words here. Jehoshaphat in Hebrew means “the Lord has judged,” and the next line in v. 2 further explicates this thought. The location of this valley is uncertain (cf. v. 12). Many interpreters have understood the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be the Kidron Valley, located on the east side of old Jerusalem. Since this is described as a scene of future messianic activity and judgment, many Jews and Muslims have desired to be buried in the vicinity, a fact attested to in modern times by the presence of many graves in the area. A variation of this view is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomasticon 1:10. According to this view, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is located in the Hinnom Valley, on the south side of the old city. Yet another view is held by many modern scholars, who understand the reference to this valley to be one of an idealized and nonliteral scene of judgment.

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”

[7:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ²⁰ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ²² tn Or “justice, vindication.”