Psalms 119:106

119:106 I have vowed and solemnly sworn

to keep your just regulations.

Isaiah 56:1-2

The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter

56:1 This is what the Lord says,

“Promote ¹  justice! Do what is right!

For I am ready to deliver you;

I am ready to vindicate you openly. ² 

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ³ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ⁴ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 22:15-16

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ⁶  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ⁷ 

He did what was just and right. ⁸ 

So things went well with him.

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ⁹ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ¹⁰ 

Luke 11:42

11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! ¹¹  You give a tenth ¹²  of your mint, ¹³  rue, ¹⁴  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ¹⁵  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ¹⁶ 

John 14:21-23

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys ¹⁷  them is the one who loves me. ¹⁸  The one ¹⁹  who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal ²⁰  myself to him.”

14:22 “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) ²¹  said, ²²  “what has happened that you are going to reveal ²³  yourself to us and not to the world?” 14:23 Jesus replied, ²⁴  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ²⁵  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ²⁶ 

[56:1]  ¹ tn Heb “guard”; KJV “Keep”; NAB “Observe”; NASB “Preserve”; NIV, NRSV “Maintain.”

[56:1]  ² tn Heb “for near is my deliverance to enter, and my vindication [or “righteousness”] to be revealed.”

[56:2]  ³ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ⁵ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[22:15]  ⁶ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ⁸ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[22:16]  ⁹ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[11:42]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).

[11:42]  ¹² tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[11:42]  ¹³ sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).

[11:42]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and rue.” Καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:42]  ¹⁵ sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).

[11:42]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.

[14:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “keeps.”

[14:21]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

[14:21]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

[14:21]  ²⁰ tn Or “will disclose.”

[14:22]  ²¹ tn Grk “(not Iscariot).” The proper noun (Judas) has been repeated for clarity and smoothness in English style.

[14:22]  ²² tn Grk “said to him.”

[14:22]  ²³ tn Or “disclose.”

[14:23]  ²⁴ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[14:23]  ²⁵ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:23]  ²⁶ tn Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23. It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.