Exodus 15:6

15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic ¹  in power,

your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.

Psalms 44:4-7

44:4 You are my ²  king, O God!

Decree ³  Jacob’s ⁴  deliverance!

44:5 By your power ⁵  we will drive back ⁶  our enemies;

by your strength ⁷  we will trample down ⁸  our foes! ⁹ 

44:6 For I do not trust in my bow,

and I do not prevail by my sword.

44:7 For you deliver ¹⁰  us from our enemies;

you humiliate ¹¹  those who hate us.

Psalms 99:4

99:4 The king is strong;

he loves justice. ¹² 

You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly; ¹³ 

you promote justice and equity in Jacob.

Isaiah 9:7

9:7 His dominion will be vast ¹⁴ 

and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. ¹⁵ 

He will rule on David’s throne

and over David’s kingdom, ¹⁶ 

establishing it ¹⁷  and strengthening it

by promoting justice and fairness, ¹⁸ 

from this time forward and forevermore.

The Lord’s intense devotion to his people ¹⁹  will accomplish this.

Isaiah 52:13

The Lord Will Vindicate His Servant

52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! ²⁰ 

He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted ²¹  –

[15:6]  ¹ tn The form נֶאְדָּרִי (ne’dari) may be an archaic infinitive with the old ending i, used in place of the verb and meaning “awesome.” Gesenius says that the vowel ending may be an old case ending, especially when a preposition is inserted between the word and its genitive (GKC 253 §90.l), but he suggests a reconstruction of the form.

[44:4]  ² sn The speaker changes here to an individual, perhaps the worship leader or the king. The oscillation between singular (vv. 4, 6) and plural (vv. 1-3, 5, 7-8) in vv. 1-8 may reflect an antiphonal ceremony.

[44:4]  ³ tc The LXX assumes a participle here (מְצַוֶּה [mÿtsavveh], “the one who commands/decrees”) which would stand in apposition to “my God.” It is possible that the MT, which has the imperative (צַוֵּה, tsavveh) form, has suffered haplography of the letter mem (ם). Note that the preceding word (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) ends in mem. Another option is that the MT is divided in the wrong place; perhaps one could move the final mem from אֱלֹהִים to the beginning of the next word and read מְצַוֶּה אֱלֹהָי (’elohay mÿtsavveh, “[You are my king,] my God, the one who decrees”).

[44:4]  ⁴ tn That is, Israel. See Pss 14:7; 22:23.

[44:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “by you.”

[44:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “gore” (like an ox). If this portion of the psalm contains the song of confidence/petition the Israelites recited prior to battle, then the imperfects here and in the next line may express their expectation of victory. Another option is that the imperfects function in an emphatic generalizing manner. In this case one might translate, “you [always] drive back…you [always] trample down.”

[44:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “in your name.” The Lord’s “name” refers here to his revealed character or personal presence. Specifically in this context his ability to deliver, protect, and energize for battle is in view (see Ps 54:1).

[44:5]  ⁸ sn The image of the powerful wild ox continues; see the note on the phrase “drive back” in the preceding line.

[44:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who rise up [against] us.”

[44:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “have delivered,” if past successes are in view. Another option is to take the perfect as rhetorical, emphasizing that victory is certain (note the use of the imperfect in vv. 5-6).

[44:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “have humiliated,” if past successes are in view. Another option is to take the perfect as rhetorical, emphasizing that victory is certain (note the use of the imperfect in vv. 5-6).

[99:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and strength, a king, justice he loves.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult here. The translation assumes that two affirmations are made about the king, the Lord (see v. 1, and Ps 98:6). The noun עֹז (’oz, “strength”) should probably be revocalized as the adjective עַז (’az, “strong”).

[99:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “you establish fairness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁹ 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.

[52:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”

[52:13]  ²¹ tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.