Psalms 44:2

44:2 You, by your power, ¹  defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; ² 

you crushed ³  the people living there ⁴  and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. ⁵ 

Psalms 92:13

92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,

they grow in the courts of our God.

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ⁶  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ⁷  instead of discouragement. ⁸ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ⁹ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 24:6

24:6 I will look after their welfare ¹¹  and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land ¹²  and will not uproot them. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 32:41

32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ¹⁴  firmly in the land.’

[44:2]  ¹ tn Heb “you, your hand.”

[44:2]  ² tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.

[44:2]  ³ tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).

[44:2]  ⁴ tn Or “peoples.”

[44:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.

[61:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ⁹ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[24:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will set my eyes upon them for good.” For the nuance of “good” see Jer 21:10; Amos 9:4 (in these cases the opposite of harm; see BDB 375 s.v. טוֹבָה 1).

[24:6]  ¹² tn The words “There” and “firmly in the land” are not in the text but are implicit from the connection and the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:6]  ¹³ sn For these terms see Jer 1:10.

[32:41]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).