Psalms 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ¹ 

He has no regard for your commands; ² 

he disdains all his enemies. ³ 

Psalms 10:11

10:11 He says to himself, ⁴ 

“God overlooks it;

he does not pay attention;

he never notices.” ⁵ 

Isaiah 28:14-18

The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem

28:14 Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word,

you who mock,

you rulers of these people

who reside in Jerusalem! ⁶ 

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ⁷  we have made an agreement. ⁸ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ⁹ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ¹⁰ 

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ¹¹  a stone in Zion,

an approved ¹²  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ¹³ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ¹⁴ 

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,

fairness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, ¹⁵ 

the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; ¹⁶ 

your agreement ¹⁷  with Sheol will not last. ¹⁸ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, ¹⁹ 

you will be overrun by it. ²⁰ 

Luke 18:2-4

18:2 He said, ²¹  “In a certain city ²²  there was a judge ²³  who neither feared God nor respected people. ²⁴  18:3 There was also a widow ²⁵  in that city ²⁶  who kept coming ²⁷  to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 18:4 For ²⁸  a while he refused, but later on ²⁹  he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ³⁰ 

[10:5]  ¹ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ² tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ³ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “he says in his heart.” See v. 6.

[10:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “God forgets, he hides his face, he never sees.”

[28:14]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:15]  ⁷ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ⁸ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ¹⁰ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[28:16]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ¹² tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ¹³ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[28:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.

[28:18]  ¹⁶ tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.

[28:18]  ¹⁷ tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ¹⁸ tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).

[28:18]  ¹⁹ tn See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”

[18:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”

[18:2]  ²² tn Or “town.”

[18:2]  ²³ sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.

[18:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[18:3]  ²⁵ sn This widow was not necessarily old, since many people lived only into their thirties in the 1st century.

[18:3]  ²⁶ tn Or “town.”

[18:3]  ²⁷ tn This is an iterative imperfect; the widow did this on numerous occasions.

[18:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “after these things.”

[18:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.