Psalms 11:7

11:7 Certainly ¹  the Lord is just; ² 

he rewards godly deeds; ³ 

the upright will experience his favor. ⁴ 

Psalms 33:5

33:5 The Lord promotes ⁵  equity and justice;

the Lord’s faithfulness extends throughout the earth. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ⁷  justice,

and never abandons ⁸  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ⁹ 

but the children ¹⁰  of evil men are wiped out. ¹¹ 

Psalms 45:7

45:7 You love ¹²  justice and hate evil. ¹³ 

For this reason God, your God ¹⁴  has anointed you ¹⁵ 

with the oil of joy, ¹⁶  elevating you above your companions. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 99:4

99:4 The king is strong;

he loves justice. ¹⁸ 

You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly; ¹⁹ 

you promote justice and equity in Jacob.

Jeremiah 9:24

9:24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this:

They should boast that they understand and know me.

They should boast that they know and understand

that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth

and that I desire people to do these things,” ²⁰ 

says the Lord.

Zechariah 8:16-17

8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. ²¹  8:17 Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath – these are all things that I hate,’ says the Lord.”

[11:7]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[11:7]  ² tn Or “righteous.”

[11:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[33:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of equity and justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world.

[33:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “fills the earth.”

[37:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ¹¹ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ¹² tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ¹³ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[45:7]  ¹³ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ¹⁴ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ¹⁵ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ¹⁶ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ¹⁷ sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[99:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and strength, a king, justice he loves.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult here. The translation assumes that two affirmations are made about the king, the Lord (see v. 1, and Ps 98:6). The noun עֹז (’oz, “strength”) should probably be revocalized as the adjective עַז (’az, “strong”).

[99:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you establish fairness.”

[9:24]  ²¹ tn Or “fairness and justice, because these things give me pleasure.” Verse 24 reads in Hebrew, “But let the one who brags brag in this: understanding and knowing me that I, the Lord, do faithfulness, justice, and righteousness in the earth for/that I delight in these.” It is uncertain whether the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) before the clause “I delight in these things” is parallel to the כִּי introducing the clause “that I, the Lord, act…” or causal giving the grounds for the Lord acting the way he does. In the light of the contrasts in the passage and the emphasis that Jeremiah has placed on obedience to the covenant and ethical conduct in conjunction with real allegiance to the Lord not mere lip service, it is probable that the clauses are parallel. For the use of כִּי to introduce clauses of further definition after a direct object as here see GKC 365 §117.h and see BDB 393 s.v. יָדַע Qal.1.a. For parallels to the idea of Yahweh requiring these characteristics in people see Hos 6:6, Mic 6:8.

[8:16]  ²⁵ sn For a similar reference to true and righteous judgment see Mic 6:8.