Jeremiah 32:19

32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ¹  You see everything people do. ²  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ³ 

Jeremiah 32:2

32:2 Now at that time, ⁴  the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem. ⁵  The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse ⁶  attached to the royal palace of Judah.

Jeremiah 16:9

16:9 For I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, tell you what will happen. ⁷  I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in this land. You and the rest of the people will live to see this happen.’” ⁸ 

Psalms 11:4-7

11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; ⁹ 

the Lord’s throne is in heaven. ¹⁰ 

His eyes ¹¹  watch; ¹² 

his eyes ¹³  examine ¹⁴  all people. ¹⁵ 

11:5 The Lord approves of ¹⁶  the godly, ¹⁷ 

but he ¹⁸  hates ¹⁹  the wicked and those who love to do violence. ²⁰ 

11:6 May the Lord rain down ²¹  burning coals ²²  and brimstone ²³  on the wicked!

A whirlwind is what they deserve! ²⁴ 

11:7 Certainly ²⁵  the Lord is just; ²⁶ 

he rewards godly deeds; ²⁷ 

the upright will experience his favor. ²⁸ 

Psalms 51:6

51:6 Look, ²⁹  you desire ³⁰  integrity in the inner man; ³¹ 

you want me to possess wisdom. ³² 

Proverbs 22:12

22:12 The eyes of the Lord ³³  guard knowledge, ³⁴ 

but he overthrows the words of the faithless person. ³⁵ 

Romans 2:2

2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth ³⁶  against those who practice such things.

[32:19]  ¹ tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”

[32:19]  ² tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”

[32:19]  ³ tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

[32:2]  ⁴ sn Jer 32:2-5 are parenthetical, giving the background for the actual report of what the Lord said in v. 7. The background is significant because it shows that Jeremiah was predicting the fall of the city and the kingdom and was being held prisoner for doing so. Despite this pessimistic outlook, the Lord wanted Jeremiah to demonstrate his assurance of the future restoration (which has been the topic of the two preceding chapters) by buying a field as a symbolic act that the Israelites would again one day regain possession of their houses, fields, and vineyards (vv. 15, 44). (For other symbolic acts with prophetic import see Jer 13, 19.)

[32:2]  ⁵ sn According to Jer 39:1 the siege began in Zedekiah’s ninth year (i.e., in 589/88 b.c.). It had been interrupted while the Babylonian army was occupied with fighting against an Egyptian force that had invaded Judah. During this period of relaxed siege Jeremiah had attempted to go to his home town in Anathoth to settle some property matters, had been accused of treason, and been thrown into a dungeon (37:11-15). After appealing to Zedekiah he had been moved from the dungeon to the courtyard of the guardhouse connected to the palace (37:21) where he remained confined until Jerusalem was captured in 587/86 b.c. (38:28).

[32:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the courtyard of the guarding” or “place of guarding.” This expression occurs only in the book of Jeremiah (32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6, 12, 28; 39:14, 15) and in Neh 3:25. It is not the same as an enclosed prison which is where Jeremiah was initially confined (37:15-16; literally a “house of imprisoning” [בֵּית הָאֵסוּר, bet ha’esur] or “house of confining” [בֵּית הַכֶּלֶא, bet hakkele’]). It is said to have been in the palace compound (32:2) near the citadel or upper palace (Neh 3:25). Though it was a place of confinement (32:2; 33:1; 39:15) Jeremiah was able to receive visitors, e.g., his cousin Hanamel (32:8) and the scribe Baruch (32:12), and conduct business there (32:12). According to 32:12 other Judeans were also housed there. A cistern of one of the royal princes, Malkijah, was located in this courtyard, so this is probably not a “prison compound” as NJPS interpret but a courtyard adjacent to a guardhouse or guard post (so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 151, and compare Neh 12:39 where reference is made to a Gate of the Guard/Guardhouse) used here for housing political prisoners who did not deserve death or solitary confinement as some of the officials though Jeremiah did.

[16:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “For thus says Yahweh of armies the God of Israel.” The introductory formula which appears three times in vv. 1-9 (vv. 1, 3, 5) has been recast for smoother English style.

[16:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “before your eyes and in your days.” The pronouns are plural including others than Jeremiah.

[11:4]  ⁹ tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The Lord’s heavenly temple is in view here (see Mic 1:2-4).

[11:4]  ¹⁰ sn The Lord’s throne is in heaven. The psalmist is confident that the Lord reigns as sovereign king, “keeps an eye on” all people, and responds in a just manner to the godly and wicked.

[11:4]  ¹¹ sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.

[11:4]  ¹² tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the Lord’s characteristic activity.

[11:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “eyelids.”

[11:4]  ¹⁴ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.

[11:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “test the sons of men.”

[11:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “examines,” the same verb used in v. 4b. But here it is used in a metonymic sense of “examine and approve” (see Jer 20:12).

[11:5]  ¹⁷ tn The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form “pure (of heart)” in v. 2.

[11:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his [very] being.” A נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being, soul”) is also attributed to the Lord in Isa 1:14, where a suffixed form of the noun appears as the subject of the verb “hate.” Both there and here the term is used of the seat of one’s emotions and passions.

[11:5]  ¹⁹ sn He hates the wicked. The Lord “hates” the wicked in the sense that he despises their wicked character and deeds, and actively opposes and judges them for their wickedness. See Ps 5:5.

[11:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the wicked [one] and the lover of violence.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked [ones]”) in vv. 2 and 6.

[11:6]  ²¹ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord rain down”), not indicative (“The Lord rains down”; see also Job 20:23). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that God will do so. In this way the psalmist seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

[11:6]  ²² tc The MT reads “traps, fire, and brimstone,” but the image of God raining traps, or snares, down from the sky is bizarre and does not fit the fire and storm imagery of this verse. The noun פַּחִים (pakhim, “traps, snares”) should be emended to פַּחֲמֵי (pakhamey, “coals of [fire]”). The rare noun פֶּחָם (pekham, “coal”) occurs in Prov 26:21 and Isa 44:12; 54:16.

[11:6]  ²³ sn The image of God “raining down” brimstone on the objects of his judgment also appears in Gen 19:24 and Ezek 38:22.

[11:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[may] a wind of rage [be] the portion of their cup.” The precise meaning of the rare noun זִלְעָפוֹת (zil’afot) is uncertain. It may mean “raging heat” (BDB 273 s.v. זַלְעָפָה) or simply “rage” (HALOT 272 s.v. זַלְעָפָה). If one understands the former sense, then one might translate “hot wind” (cf. NEB, NRSV). The present translation assumes the latter nuance, “a wind of rage” (the genitive is attributive) referring to a “whirlwind” symbolic of destructive judgment. In this mixed metaphor, judgment is also compared to an allotted portion of a beverage poured into one’s drinking cup (see Hab 2:15-16).

[11:7]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[11:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “righteous.”

[11:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he loves righteous deeds.” The “righteous deeds” are probably those done by godly people (see v. 5). The Lord “loves” such deeds in the sense that he rewards them. Another option is to take צְדָקוֹת (tsÿdaqot) as referring to God’s acts of justice (see Ps 103:6). In this case one could translate, “he loves to do just deeds.”

[11:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the upright will see his face.” The singular subject (“upright”) does not agree with the plural verb. However, collective singular nouns can be construed with a plural predicate (see GKC 462 §145.b). Another possibility is that the plural verb יֶחֱזוּ (yekhezu) is a corruption of an original singular form. To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 17:15 and Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזָה (khazah), is used]). On the form פָנֵימוֹ (fanemo, “his face”) see GKC 300-301 §103.b, n. 3.

[51:6]  ²⁹ sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

[51:6]  ³⁰ tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

[51:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

[51:6]  ³² tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

[22:12]  ³³ sn The “eyes of the Lord” is an anthropomorphic expression; the omniscience of God is the intended meaning. When scripture uses the “eyes” of the Lord, it usually means evaluation, superintending, or safeguarding.

[22:12]  ³⁴ tn There is a slight difficulty in that the abstract noun “knowledge” is used nowhere else in the book of Proverbs with the word “watch.” C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 418) wants to make a major change to read “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,” but there is no support for this and it reduces the line to a common idea. D. W. Thomas suggests changing the word “knowledge” to “lawsuit” based on an Arabic cognate (“A Note on דַּעַת in Proverbs 22:12,” JTS 14 [1963]: 93-94).

[22:12]  ³⁵ tn The object of the verb is the “words of the traitor” (בֹגֵד דִּבְרֵי, divre voged); cf. NASB “the words of the treacherous man.” What treacherous people say is treachery. In this context “traitor, treacherous” refers to one who is “unfaithful” (cf. NIV).

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “based on truth.”