Psalms 109:17-19

109:17 He loved to curse ¹  others, so those curses have come upon him. ² 

He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings. ³ 

109:18 He made cursing a way of life, ⁴ 

so curses poured into his stomach like water

and seeped into his bones like oil. ⁵ 

109:19 May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on, ⁶ 

or a belt ⁷  one wears continually!

Leviticus 26:23-24

26:23 “‘If in spite of these things ⁸  you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me, ⁹  26:24 I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you ¹⁰  seven times on account of your sins.

Leviticus 26:27-28

26:27 “‘If in spite of this ¹¹  you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me, ¹²  26:28 I will walk in hostile rage against you ¹³  and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins.

Proverbs 3:34

3:34 Although ¹⁴  he is scornful to arrogant scoffers, ¹⁵ 

yet ¹⁶  he shows favor to the humble. ¹⁷ 

Romans 2:4-6

2:4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know ¹⁸  that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 2:5 But because of your stubbornness ¹⁹  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ²⁰  2:6 He ²¹  will reward ²²  each one according to his works: ²³ 

Romans 2:9

2:9 There will be ²⁴  affliction and distress on everyone ²⁵  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ²⁶ 

James 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ²⁷  judgment.

[109:17]  ¹ sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.

[109:17]  ² tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.

[109:17]  ³ tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”

[109:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”

[109:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”

[109:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “may it be for him like a garment one puts on.”

[109:19]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew noun מֵזַח (mezakh, “belt; waistband”) occurs only here in the OT. The form apparently occurs in Isa 23:10 as well, but an emendation is necessary there.

[26:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “And if in these.”

[26:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “with me,” but see the added preposition בְּ (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in vv. 24 and 27.

[26:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I myself will also strike you.”

[26:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And if in this.”

[26:27]  ¹² tn Heb “with me.”

[26:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “in rage of hostility with you”; NASB “with wrathful hostility”; NRSV “I will continue hostile to you in fury”; CEV “I’ll get really furious.”

[3:34]  ¹⁴ tn The particle אִם (’im, “though”) introduces a concessive clause: “though….”

[3:34]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he mocks those who mock.” The repetition of the root לִיץ (lits, “to scorn; to mock”) connotes poetic justice; the punishment fits the crime. Scoffers are characterized by arrogant pride (e.g., Prov 21:24), as the antithetical parallelism with “the humble” here emphasizes.

[3:34]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed vav (ו) introduces the apodosis to the concessive clause: “Though … yet …”

[3:34]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically (AB:BA): “he scorns / arrogant scoffers // but to the humble / he gives grace.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “being unaware.”

[2:5]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[2:6]  ²¹ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:6]  ²² tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works.

[2:6]  ²³ sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

[2:9]  ²⁶ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.

[2:13]  ²⁷ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.