Job 31:29

31:29 If ¹  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ² 

or exulted ³  because calamity ⁴  found him –

Proverbs 17:5

17:5 The one who mocks the poor ⁵  insults ⁶  his Creator;

whoever rejoices over disaster will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 24:17-18

24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, ⁷ 

and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice,

24:18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ⁸ 

and turn his wrath away from him. ⁹ 

Lamentations 4:21

The Prophet Speaks:

ש (Sin/Shin)

4:21 Rejoice and be glad for now, ¹⁰  O people of Edom, ¹¹ 

who reside in the land of Uz.

But the cup of judgment ¹²  will pass ¹³  to you also;

you will get drunk and take off your clothes.

Ezekiel 25:6-7

25:6 For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with intense scorn ¹⁴  over the land of Israel, 25:7 take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder ¹⁵  to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Ezekiel 35:15

35:15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you – you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom – all of it! Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Micah 7:8

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ¹⁶  do not gloat ¹⁷  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ¹⁸ 

Luke 19:41

Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment

19:41 Now ¹⁹  when Jesus ²⁰  approached ²¹  and saw the city, he wept over it,

[31:29]  ¹ tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.

[31:29]  ² sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”

[31:29]  ³ tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ⁴ tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.

[17:5]  ⁵ sn The parallelism helps define the subject matter: The one who “mocks the poor” (NAB, NASB, NIV) is probably one who “rejoices [NIV gloats] over disaster.” The poverty is hereby explained as a disaster that came to some. The topic of the parable is the person who mocks others by making fun of their misfortune.

[17:5]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew word translated “insults” (חֵרֵף, kheref) means “reproach; taunt” (as with a cutting taunt); it describes words that show contempt for or insult God. The idea of reproaching the Creator may be mistaking and blaming God’s providential control of the world (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 337). W. G. Plaut, however, suggests that mocking the poor means holding up their poverty as a personal failure and thus offending their dignity and their divine nature (Proverbs, 187).

[24:17]  ⁷ sn The saying (vv. 17, 18) warns against gloating over the misfortune of one’s enemies. The prohibition is formed with two negated jussives “do not rejoice” and “let not be glad,” the second qualified by “your heart” as the subject, signifying the inner satisfaction of such a defeat.

[24:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”

[24:18]  ⁹ sn The judgment of God should strike a note of fear in the heart of people (e.g., Lev 19:17-18). His judgment is not to be taken lightly, or personalized as a victory. If that were to happen, then the Lord might take pity on the enemies in their calamity, for he champions the downtrodden and defeated. These are probably personal enemies; the imprecatory psalms and the prophetic oracles present a different set of circumstances for the downfall of God’s enemies – even the book of Proverbs says that brings joy to the community.

[4:21]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “for now” is added in the translation to highlight the implied contrast between the present joy of the Gentiles (4:21a) and their future judgment (4:21b).

[4:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O Daughter of Edom.”

[4:21]  ¹² tn Heb “the cup.” Judgment is often depicted as a cup of wine that God forces a person to drink, causing him to lose consciousness, red wine drooling out of his mouth – resembling corpses lying on the ground as a result of the actual onslaught of the Lord’s judgment. The drunkard will reel and stagger, causing bodily injury to himself – an apt metaphor to describe the devastating effects of God’s judgment. Just as a cup of poison kills all those who are forced to drink it, the cup of God’s wrath destroys all those who must drink it (e.g., Ps 75:9; Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 25:15, 17, 28; 49:12; 51:7; Lam 4:21; Ezek 23:33; Hab 2:16).

[4:21]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verb “will pass” may also be a jussive, continuing the element of request, “let the cup pass…”

[25:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with all your scorn in (the) soul.”

[25:7]  ¹⁵ tc The translation here follows the marginal reading (Qere) of the Hebrew text. The consonantal text (Kethib) is meaningless.

[7:8]  ¹⁶ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ¹⁸ sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[19:41]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[19:41]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he.”

[19:41]  ²¹ sn When Jesus approached and saw the city. This is the last travel note in Luke’s account (the so-called Jerusalem journey), as Jesus approached and saw the city before entering it.