2 Samuel 22:27

22:27 You prove to be reliable ¹  to one who is blameless,

but you prove to be deceptive ²  to one who is perverse. ³ 

Genesis 14:20

14:20 Worthy of praise is ⁴  the Most High God,

who delivered ⁵  your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave Melchizedek ⁶  a tenth of everything.

Genesis 24:27

24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love ⁷  for my master! The Lord has led me ⁸  to the house ⁹  of my master’s relatives!” ¹⁰ 

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ¹¹  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ¹² 

Genesis 20:1

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ¹³  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ¹⁴  in Gerar,

Psalms 115:1

Psalm 115 ¹⁵ 

115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us!

But to your name bring honor, ¹⁶ 

for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 124:6

124:6 The Lord deserves praise, ¹⁸ 

for ¹⁹  he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.

Psalms 144:1-2

Psalm 144 ²⁰ 

By David.

144:1 The Lord, my protector, ²¹  deserves praise ²²  –

the one who trains my hands for battle, ²³ 

and my fingers for war,

144:2 who loves me ²⁴  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ²⁵  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ²⁶ 

Revelation 19:1-3

19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ²⁷ 

For he has judged ²⁸  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ²⁹  poured out by her own hands!” ³⁰ 

19:3 Then ³¹  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. ³² 

[22:27]  ¹ tn Or “blameless.”

[22:27]  ² tc The translation follows two medieval Hebrew mss in reading תִּתְפַּתָּל (titpattal, from the root פתל, “to twist”) rather than the MT תִּתַּפָּל (tittappal, from the root תפל, “to be tasteless,” “behave silly”; cf. KJV “unsavoury”). See as well the parallel passage in Ps 18:26. The verb פָתַל (patal) is used in only three other texts. In Gen 30:8 it means literally “to wrestle,” or “to twist.” In Job 5:13 it refers to devious individuals, and in Prov 8:8 to deceptive words. Cf. NAB, NASB “astute”; NIV “shrewd”; NRSV “perverse”; TEV, NLT “hostile.”

[22:27]  ³ tn The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20) and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4). Verses 26-27 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28.

[14:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “blessed be.” For God to be “blessed” means that is praised. His reputation is enriched in the world as his name is praised.

[14:20]  ⁵ sn Who delivered. The Hebrew verb מִגֵּן (miggen, “delivered”) foreshadows the statement by God to Abram in Gen 15:1, “I am your shield” (מָגֵן, magen). Melchizedek provided a theological interpretation of Abram’s military victory.

[14:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”

[24:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “As for me – in the way the Lord led me.”

[24:27]  ⁹ tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.

[24:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “brothers.”

[24:2]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  ¹² sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

[20:1]  ¹³ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[115:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 115. The psalmist affirms that Israel’s God is superior to pagan idols and urges Israel to place their confidence in him.

[115:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “give glory.”

[115:1]  ¹⁷ sn The psalmist asks the Lord to demonstrate his loyal love and faithfulness, not simply so Israel may benefit, but primarily so that the Lord will receive honor among the nations, who will recognize, contrary to their present view (see v. 2), that Israel’s God is committed to his people.

[124:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[124:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[the one] who.”

[144:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.

[144:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[144:1]  ²² tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”

[144:1]  ²³ sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[144:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).

[144:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”

[19:2]  ²⁷ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ²⁹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

[19:3]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:3]  ³² tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”