Psalms 145:9

145:9 The Lord is good to all,

and has compassion on all he has made. ¹ 

Proverbs 12:10

12:10 A righteous person cares for ²  the life of his animal,

but even the most compassionate acts ³  of the wicked are cruel.

Luke 1:78

1:78 Because of ⁴  our God’s tender mercy ⁵ 

the dawn ⁶  will break ⁷  upon us from on high

James 5:11

5:11 Think of how we regard ⁸  as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. ⁹ 

[145:9]  ¹ tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”

[12:10]  ² tn Heb “knows”; NLT “concerned for the welfare of.” The righteous take care of animals, not just people.

[12:10]  ³ tn Heb “but the mercies.” The additional words appear in the translation for the sake of clarification. The line can be interpreted in two ways: (1) when the wicked exhibit a kind act, they do it in a cruel way, or (2) even the kindest of their acts is cruel by all assessments, e.g., stuffing animals with food to fatten them for market – their “kindness” is driven by ulterior motives (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 129).

[1:78]  ⁴ tn For reasons of style, a new sentence has been started in the translation at this point. God’s mercy is ultimately seen in the deliverance John points to, so v. 78a is placed with the reference to Jesus as the light of dawning day.

[1:78]  ⁵ sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

[1:78]  ⁶ sn The Greek term translated dawn (ἀνατολή, anatolh) can be a reference to the morning star or to the sun. The Messiah is pictured as a saving light that shows the way. The Greek term was also used to translate the Hebrew word for “branch” or “sprout,” so some see a double entendre here with messianic overtones (see Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).

[1:78]  ⁷ tn Grk “shall visit us.”

[5:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “Behold! We regard…”

[5:11]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Exod 34:6; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 102:13; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2.