Job 8:3

8:3 Does God pervert ¹  justice? ² 

Or does the Almighty pervert ³  what is right?

Job 9:2

9:2 “Truly, ⁴  I know that this is so.

But how ⁵  can a human ⁶  be just before ⁷  God? ⁸ 

Job 35:2

35:2 “Do you think this to be ⁹  just:

when ¹⁰  you say, ‘My right before God.’ ¹¹ 

Job 40:8

40:8 Would you indeed annul ¹²  my justice?

Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

Genesis 18:25

18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ¹³  of the whole earth do what is right?” ¹⁴ 

Psalms 143:2

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ¹⁵  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 145:17

145:17 The Lord is just in all his actions, ¹⁷ 

and exhibits love in all he does. ¹⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 7:20

7:20 For ¹⁹  there is not one truly ²⁰  righteous person on the earth

who continually does good and never sins.

Jeremiah 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ²¹ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²² 

Why are wicked people successful? ²³ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Romans 2:5

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ²⁴  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ²⁵ 

Romans 3:4-7

3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being ²⁶  shown up as a liar, ²⁷  just as it is written: “so that you will be justified ²⁸  in your words and will prevail when you are judged.” ²⁹ 

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ³⁰  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ³¹  (I am speaking in human terms.) ³²  3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances ³³  his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner?

Romans 9:20

9:20 But who indeed are you – a mere human being ³⁴  – to talk back to God? ³⁵  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ³⁶ 

Romans 11:33

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!

[8:3]  ¹ tn The Piel verb יְעַוֵּת (yÿ’avvet) means “to bend; to cause to swerve from the norm; to deviate; to pervert.” The LXX renders the first colon as “will the Lord be unjust when he judges?”

[8:3]  ² tn The first word is מִשְׁפָּת (mishpat, “justice”). It can mean an act of judgment, place of judgment, or what is just, that is, the outcome of the decision. It basically describes an umpire’s decision. The parallel word is צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “righteousness,” or “what is right”). The basic idea here is that which conforms to the standard, what is right. See S. H. Scholnick, “The Meaning of Mishpat in the Book of Job,” JBL 101 (1982): 521-29.

[8:3]  ³ tn Some commentators think that the second verb should be changed in order to avoid the repetition of the same word and to reflect the different words in the versions. The suggestion is to read יְעַוֵּה (yÿ’avveh) instead; this would mean “to cause someone to deviate,” for the root means “to bend.” The change is completely unwarranted; the LXX probably chose different words for stylistic reasons (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 198). The repetition in the Hebrew text is a common type; it strengthens the enormity of the charge Job seems to be making.

[9:2]  ⁴ tn The adverb אָמְנָם (’omnam, “in truth”) is characteristic of the Book of Job (12:2; 19:4; 34:12; 36:4). The friends make commonplace statements, general truths, and Job responds with “truly I know this is so.” Job knows as much about these themes as his friends do.

[9:2]  ⁵ sn The interrogative is used to express what is an impossibility.

[9:2]  ⁶ tn The attempt to define אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) as “weak” or “mortal” man is not compelling. Such interpretations are based on etymological links without the clear support of usage (an issue discussed by J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament). This seems to be a poetic word for “human” (the only nonpoetic use is in 2 Chr 14:10).

[9:2]  ⁷ tn The preposition is אִם (’im, “with, before, in the presence of”). This is more specific than מִן (min) in 4:17.

[9:2]  ⁸ sn The point of Job’s rhetorical question is that man cannot be justified as against God, because God is too powerful and too clever – he controls the universe. He is discussing now the question that Eliphaz raised in 4:17. Peake observes that Job is raising the question of whether something is right because God says it is right, or that God declares it right because it is right.

[35:2]  ⁹ tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.

[35:2]  ¹⁰ tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[35:2]  ¹¹ tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”

[40:8]  ¹² tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to annul; to break; to frustrate.” It was one thing for Job to claim his own integrity, but it was another matter altogether to nullify God’s righteousness in the process.

[18:25]  ¹³ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ¹⁴ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[143:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”

[145:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in all his ways.”

[145:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and [is] loving in all his deeds.”

[7:20]  ¹⁹ tn The introductory particle כִּי (ki) is rendered variously: “for” (KJV); “indeed” (NASB); not translated (NIV); “for” (NJPS). The particle functions in an explanatory sense, explaining the need for wisdom in v. 19. Righteousness alone cannot always protect a person from calamity (7:15-16); therefore, something additional, such as wisdom, is needed. The need for wisdom as protection from calamity is particularly evident in the light of the fact that no one is truly righteous (7:19-20).

[7:20]  ²⁰ tn The term “truly” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Qoheleth does not deny the existence of some people who are relatively righteous.

[12:1]  ²¹ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ²² tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ²³ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[2:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ²⁵ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[3:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “every man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.

[3:4]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.

[3:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.

[3:4]  ²⁹ tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.

[3:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “shows clearly.”

[3:5]  ³¹ tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”

[3:5]  ³² sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.

[3:7]  ³³ tn Grk “abounded unto.”

[9:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “O man.”

[9:20]  ³⁵ tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”

[9:20]  ³⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.