Psalms 119:21

119:21 You reprimand arrogant people.

Those who stray from your commands are doomed. ¹ 

Psalms 119:69

119:69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies, ² 

but I observe your precepts with all my heart.

Psalms 123:3-4

123:3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!

For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. ³ 

123:4 We have had our fill ⁴ 

of the taunts of the self-assured,

of the contempt of the proud.

Jeremiah 20:7

Jeremiah Complains about the Reaction to His Ministry

20:7 Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet,

and I allowed you to do it.

You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me. ⁵ 

Now I have become a constant laughingstock.

Everyone ridicules me.

Luke 16:14-15

More Warnings about the Pharisees

16:14 The Pharisees ⁶  (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed ⁷  him. 16:15 But ⁸  Jesus ⁹  said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, ¹⁰  but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized ¹¹  among men is utterly detestable ¹²  in God’s sight.

Luke 23:35

23:35 The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed ¹³  him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save ¹⁴  himself if ¹⁵  he is the Christ ¹⁶  of God, his chosen one!”

[119:21]  ¹ tn Heb “accursed.” The traditional punctuation of the Hebrew text takes “accursed” with the previous line (“arrogant, accursed ones”), but it is preferable to take it with the second line as the predicate of the statement.

[119:69]  ² tn Heb “smear over me a lie.”

[123:3]  ³ tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”

[123:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”

[20:7]  ⁵ tn The translation is admittedly interpretive but so is every other translation that tries to capture the nuance of the verb rendered here “coerced.” Here the Hebrew text reads: “You [ – ]ed me and I let myself be [ – ]ed. You overpowered me and prevailed.” The value one assigns to [ – ] is in every case interpretive based on what one thinks the context is referring to. The word is rendered “deceived” or “tricked” by several English versions (see, e.g., KJV, NASB, TEV, ICV) as though God had misled him. It is rendered “enticed” by some (see, e.g., NRSV, NJPS) as though God had tempted him with false hopes. Some go so far as to accuse Jeremiah of accusing God of metaphorically “raping” him. It is true that the word is used of “seducing” a virgin in Exod 22:15 and that it is used in several places to refer to “deceiving” someone with false words (Prov 24:28; Ps 78:36). It is also true that it is used of “coaxing” someone to reveal something he does not want to (Judg 14:15; 16:5) and of “enticing” someone to do something on the basis of false hopes (1 Kgs 22:20-22; Prov 1:10). However, it does not always have negative connotations or associations. In Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT) God “charms” or “woos” Israel, his estranged ‘wife,’ into the wilderness where he hopes to win her back to himself. What Jeremiah is alluding to here is crucial for translating and interpreting the word. There is no indication in this passage that Jeremiah is accusing God of misleading him or raising false hopes; God informed him at the outset that he would encounter opposition (1:17-19). Rather, he is alluding to his call to be a prophet, a call which he initially resisted but was persuaded to undertake because of God’s persistence (Jer 1:7-10). The best single word to translate ‘…’ with is thus “persuaded” or “coerced.” The translation spells out the allusion explicitly so the reader is not left wondering about what is being alluded to when Jeremiah speaks of being “coerced.” The translation “I let you do it” is a way of rendering the Niphal of the same verb which must be tolerative rather than passive since the normal passive for the Piel would be the Pual (See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g for discussion and examples.). The translation “you overcame my resistance” is based on allusion to the same context (1:7-10) and the parallel use of חָזַק (khazaq) as a transitive verb with a direct object in 1 Kgs 16:22.

[16:14]  ⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[16:14]  ⁷ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[16:15]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “before men.” The contrast is between outward appearance (“in people’s eyes”) and inward reality (“God knows your hearts”). Here the Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used twice in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, but “men” has been retained in the text to provide a strong verbal contrast with “God” in the second half of the verse.

[16:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “exalted.” This refers to the pride that often comes with money and position.

[16:15]  ¹² tn Or “is an abomination,” “is abhorrent” (L&N 25.187).

[23:35]  ¹³ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[23:35]  ¹⁴ sn The irony in the statement Let him save himself is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross.

[23:35]  ¹⁵ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.

[23:35]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”