Isaiah 28:21

28:21 For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, ¹ 

he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, ² 

to accomplish his work,

his peculiar work,

to perform his task,

his strange task. ³ 

Isaiah 63:4-5

63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,

and then payback time arrived. ⁴ 

63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help;

I was shocked because there was no one offering support. ⁵ 

So my right arm accomplished deliverance;

my raging anger drove me on. ⁶ 

Numbers 10:35

10:35 And when the ark traveled, Moses would say, “Rise up, O Lord! May your enemies be scattered, and may those who hate you flee before you!”

Psalms 12:5-6

12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ⁷ 

because of the painful cries ⁸  of the needy,

I will spring into action,” ⁹  says the Lord.

“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ¹⁰ 

12:6 The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable. ¹¹ 

They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,

where it is thoroughly refined. ¹² 

Psalms 68:1-2

Psalm 68 ¹³ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ¹⁴ 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ¹⁵  run from him. ¹⁶ 

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ¹⁷ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 78:65-66

78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; ¹⁸ 

he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. ¹⁹ 

78:66 He drove his enemies back;

he made them a permanent target for insults. ²⁰ 

Zephaniah 3:8

3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently ²¹  for me,” says the Lord,

“for the day when I attack and take plunder. ²² 

I have decided ²³  to gather nations together

and assemble kingdoms,

so I can pour out my fury on them –

all my raging anger.

For ²⁴  the whole earth will be consumed

by my fiery anger.

[28:21]  ¹ sn This probably alludes to David’s victory over the Philistines at Baal Perazim. See 2 Sam 5:20.

[28:21]  ² sn This probably alludes to the Lord’s victory over the Canaanites at Gibeon, during the days of Joshua. See Josh 10:10-11.

[28:21]  ³ sn God’s judgment of his own people is called “his peculiar work” and “his strange task,” because he must deal with them the way he treated their enemies in the past.

[63:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (gÿ’ulai) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.

[63:5]  ⁵ sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.

[63:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”

[12:5]  ⁷ tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.

[12:5]  ⁸ tn Elsewhere in the psalms this noun is used of the painful groans of prisoners awaiting death (79:11; 102:20). The related verb is used of the painful groaning of those wounded in combat (Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15) and of the mournful sighing of those in grief (Ezek 9:4; 24:17).

[12:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will rise up.”

[12:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will place in deliverance, he pants for it.” The final two words in Hebrew (יָפִיחַ לוֹ, yafiakh lo) comprise an asyndetic relative clause, “the one who pants for it.” “The one who pants” is the object of the verb “place” and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix (in the phrase “for it”) is “deliverance.” Another option is to translate, “I will place in deliverance the witness for him,” repointing יָפִיחַ (a Hiphil imperfect from פּוּחַ, puakh, “pant”) as יָפֵחַ (yafeakh), a noun meaning “witness.” In this case the Lord would be promising protection to those who have the courage to support the oppressed in the court of law. However, the first part of the verse focuses on the oppressed, not their advocates.

[12:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the words of the Lord are pure words,” i.e., untainted by falsehood or deception (in contrast to the flattery of the evildoers, v. 2).

[12:6]  ¹² tn Heb “[like] silver purified in a furnace of [i.e., “on”] the ground, refined seven times.” The singular participle מְזֻקָּק (mÿzuqqaq, “refined”) modifies “silver.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of שִׁבְעָתָיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”), see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[68:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ¹⁶ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[68:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[78:65]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The Lord’s apparent inactivity during the time of judgment is compared to sleep.

[78:65]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “like a warrior overcome with wine.” The Hebrew verb רוּן (run, “overcome”) occurs only here in the OT. The phrase “overcome with wine” could picture a drunken warrior controlled by his emotions and passions (as in the present translation), or it could refer to a warrior who awakes from a drunken stupor.

[78:66]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”

[3:8]  ²¹ tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.

[3:8]  ²² tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).

[3:8]  ²³ tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ²⁴ tn Or “certainly.”