2 Samuel 8:15

8:15 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people. ¹ 

Psalms 78:71-72

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, ² 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ³ 

78:72 David ⁴  cared for them with pure motives; ⁵ 

he led them with skill. ⁶ 

Psalms 89:14

89:14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne. ⁷ 

Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule. ⁸ 

Isaiah 9:7

9:7 His dominion will be vast ⁹ 

and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. ¹⁰ 

He will rule on David’s throne

and over David’s kingdom, ¹¹ 

establishing it ¹²  and strengthening it

by promoting justice and fairness, ¹³ 

from this time forward and forevermore.

The Lord’s intense devotion to his people ¹⁴  will accomplish this.

Isaiah 32:1-2

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ¹⁵ 

officials will promote justice. ¹⁶ 

32:2 Each of them ¹⁷  will be like a shelter from the wind

and a refuge from a rainstorm;

like streams of water in a dry region

and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.

Jeremiah 22:15

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ¹⁸  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ¹⁹ 

He did what was just and right. ²⁰ 

So things went well with him.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ²¹  that a new time will certainly come ²² 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ²³  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ²⁴ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ²⁵ 

23:6 Under his rule ²⁶  Judah will enjoy safety ²⁷ 

and Israel will live in security. ²⁸ 

This is the name he will go by:

‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’ ²⁹ 

Jeremiah 33:15

33:15 In those days and at that time I will raise up for them a righteous descendant ³⁰  of David.

“‘He will do what is just and right in the land.

[8:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and David was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”

[78:71]  ² tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ³ tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[78:72]  ⁴ tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[78:72]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”

[78:72]  ⁶ tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”

[89:14]  ⁷ sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.

[89:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “are in front of your face.” The idiom can mean “confront” (Ps 17:13) or “meet, enter the presence of” (Ps 95:2).

[9:7]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”

[9:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”

[9:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:7]  ¹² tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”

[9:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.

[32:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[32:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

[22:15]  ¹⁸ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ²⁰ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[23:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ²² tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ²³ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ²⁵ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[23:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “In his days [= during the time he rules].”

[23:6]  ²⁷ tn Parallelism and context (cf. v. 4) suggest this nuance for the word often translated “be saved.” For this nuance elsewhere see Ps 119:117; Prov 28:18 for the verb (יָשַׁע [yasha’] in the Niphal); and Ps 12:6; Job 5:4, 11 for the related noun (יֶשַׁע, yesha’).

[23:6]  ²⁸ sn It should be noted that this brief oracle of deliverance implies the reunification of Israel and Judah under the future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah has already spoken about this reunification earlier in 3:18 and will have more to say about it in 30:3; 31:27, 31. This same ideal was espoused in the prophecies of Hosea (1:10-11 [2:1-2 HT]), Isaiah (11:1-4, 10-12), and Ezekiel (37:15-28) all of which have messianic and eschatological significance.

[23:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “his name will be called ‘The Lord our righteousness’.”

[33:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “sprig” or “shoot.”