Isaiah 11:3-4

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ¹ 

He will not judge by mere appearances, ² 

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ³ 

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ⁴ 

and make right decisions ⁵  for the downtrodden of the earth. ⁶ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁷ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ⁸ 

Psalms 72:2-4

72:2 Then he will judge ⁹  your people fairly,

and your oppressed ones ¹⁰  equitably.

72:3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,

and the hills will announce justice. ¹¹ 

72:4 He will defend ¹²  the oppressed among the people;

he will deliver ¹³  the children ¹⁴  of the poor

and crush the oppressor.

Psalms 96:13

96:13 before the Lord, for he comes!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ¹⁵ 

and the nations in accordance with his justice. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 98:9

98:9 before the Lord!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ¹⁷ 

and the nations in a just manner.

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 

John 5:30

5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. ²³  Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, ²⁴  because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. ²⁵ 

Revelation 19:11

The Son of God Goes to War

19:11 Then ²⁶  I saw heaven opened and here came ²⁷  a white horse! The ²⁸  one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice ²⁹  he judges and goes to war.

[11:3]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

[11:3]  ² tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

[11:3]  ³ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ⁶ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[72:2]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:2]  ¹⁰ sn These people are called God’s oppressed ones because he is their defender (see Pss 9:12, 18; 10:12; 12:5).

[72:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[the] mountains will bear peace to the people, and [the] hills with justice.” The personified mountains and hills probably represent messengers who will sweep over the land announcing the king’s just decrees and policies. See Isa 52:7 and C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:133.

[72:4]  ¹² tn Heb “judge [for].”

[72:4]  ¹³ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sons.”

[96:13]  ¹⁵ tn The verbal forms in v. 13 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions, in which case they could be translated “will judge the world.”

[96:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the nations with his integrity.”

[98:9]  ¹⁷ tn The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).

[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.”

[5:30]  ²³ tn Grk “nothing from myself.”

[5:30]  ²⁴ tn Or “righteous,” or “proper.”

[5:30]  ²⁵ tn That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”

[19:11]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:11]  ²⁷ tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[19:11]  ²⁸ tn A new sentence was started in the translation at this point and καί (kai) was not translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:11]  ²⁹ tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.