2 Samuel 15:4

15:4 Absalom would then say, “If only they would make me ¹  a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint ²  could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement.”

2 Samuel 15:1

Absalom Leads an Insurrection against David

15:1 Some time later Absalom managed to acquire ³  a chariot and horses, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 20:11

20:11 One of Joab’s soldiers who stood over Amasa said, “Whoever is for ⁵  Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

Psalms 10:3

10:3 Yes, ⁶  the wicked man ⁷  boasts because he gets what he wants; ⁸ 

the one who robs others ⁹  curses ¹⁰  and ¹¹  rejects the Lord. ¹² 

Romans 1:30-31

1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, ¹³  heartless, ruthless.

[15:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Who will make me?”

[15:4]  ² tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[15:1]  ³ tn Heb “acquired for himself.”

[15:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”

[20:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “takes delight in.”

[10:3]  ⁶ tn The translation assumes כִּי (ki) is asseverative: “indeed, certainly.” Another option is to translate “for,” understanding v. 3 as giving the reason why the wicked so arrogantly seek to destroy the helpless (so NASB, NRSV).

[10:3]  ⁷ tn The representative or typical evildoer is described in vv. 3-11, 13, 15. Since the singular form predominates in these verses, it has been retained in the translation.

[10:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “the wicked [one] boasts on account of the desire of his appetite.” The translation assumes that the preposition עַל (’al) introduces the reason why the wicked boasts (cf. this use of עַל with הָלַל (halal) in Ps 119:164 and Ezra 3:11). In this case, the “desire of his appetite” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired.

[10:3]  ⁹ tn The translation assumes the active participle is substantival, referring to the wicked man mentioned in the preceding line. The substantival participle is then understood as the subject of the following verbs. For other examples of the participle of בָּצַע (batsar) used of those who desire and/or acquire wealth through dishonest and/or violent means, see Prov 1:19; 15:27; Jer 6:13; 8:10; Hab 2:9.

[10:3]  ¹⁰ tn The verb בָּרַךְ (barakh) normally means “to bless,” but in a few cases it exhibits the polarized meaning “to curse” (1 Kgs 21:10, 13; Job 1:5-11; 2:5-9). (Some regard this use of בָּרַךְ as a mere euphemism.) The verb refers to the act of pronouncing or calling down a formal curse upon the object of one’s anger.

[10:3]  ¹¹ tn The conjunction “and” is supplied in the translation; it does not appear in the Hebrew text.

[10:3]  ¹² tn Another option is to translate, “he blesses one who robs others, [but] he curses the Lord.” In this case the subject of the verbs is “the wicked man” mentioned in the previous line, and “the one who robs others” is the object of the verb בָּרַךְ (barakh), which is understood in its usual sense of “bless.”

[1:31]  ¹³ tn Or “promise-breakers.”