Psalms 15:4

15:4 He despises a reprobate, ¹ 

but honors the Lord’s loyal followers. ² 

He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise. ³ 

Psalms 34:15

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help. ⁴ 

Psalms 119:63

119:63 I am a friend to all your loyal followers, ⁵ 

and to those who keep your precepts.

Proverbs 28:28

28:28 When the wicked gain control, ⁶  people ⁷  hide themselves, ⁸ 

but when they perish, ⁹  the righteous increase.

Proverbs 29:2

29:2 When the righteous become numerous, ¹⁰  the people rejoice;

when the wicked rule, the people groan. ¹¹ 

Matthew 24:45

The Faithful and Wise Slave

24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, ¹²  whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves ¹³  their food at the proper time?

Luke 12:43-44

12:43 Blessed is that slave ¹⁴  whom his master finds at work ¹⁵  when he returns. 12:44 I tell you the truth, ¹⁶  the master ¹⁷  will put him in charge of all his possessions.

Romans 13:1-4

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ¹⁸  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 13:2 So the person who resists such authority ¹⁹  resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation, 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.

[15:4]  ¹ tn Heb “despised in his eyes [is] a rejected [one].” The Hebrew term נִמְאָס (nim’as, “rejected [one]”) apparently refers here to one who has been rejected by God because of his godless behavior. It stands in contrast to “those who fear God” in the following line.

[15:4]  ² tn Heb “those who fear the Lord.” The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[15:4]  ³ tn Heb “he takes an oath to do harm and does not change.” The phrase “to do harm” cannot mean “do harm to others,” for the preceding verse clearly characterizes this individual as one who does not harm others. In this context the phrase must refer to an oath to which a self-imprecation is attached. The godly individual takes his commitments to others so seriously he is willing to “swear to his own hurt.” For an example of such an oath, see Ruth 1:16-17.

[34:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

[119:63]  ⁵ tn Heb “to all who fear you.”

[28:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “the wicked rise,” referring to an accession to power, as in a government. Cf. TEV “come to power”; NLT “take charge.”

[28:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “a man” or “mankind” in a generic sense.

[28:28]  ⁸ tn The form is the Niphal imperfect of סָתַר (satar, “to hide”); in this stem it can mean “to hide themselves” or “to go into hiding.” In either case the expression would be a hyperbole; the populace would not go into hiding, but they would tread softly and move about cautiously. G. R. Driver suggests the Akkadian sataru instead, which means “to demolish,” and is cognate to the Aramaic “to destroy.” This would produce the idea that people are “destroyed” when the wicked come to power (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 192-93). That meaning certainly fits the idea, but there is no reason for the change because the MT is perfectly readable as it is and makes good sense.

[28:28]  ⁹ tn The two clauses have parallel constructions: They both begin with infinitives construct with prepositions functioning as temporal clauses, followed by subjective genitives (first the wicked, and then the pronoun referring to them). This heightens the antithesis: “when the wicked rise…when they perish.”

[29:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew form בִּרְבוֹת (birvot) is the Qal infinitive construct of רָבָה (ravah) with a בּ (bet) preposition, forming a temporal clause with a subjective genitive following it. It is paralleled in the second colon by the same construction, showing the antithesis: וּבִמְשֹׁל (uvimshol), “and when the wicked rule.” Some commentators wish to change the first verb to make it parallel this more closely, e.g., רָדָה (radah, “to rule”), but that would be too neat and is completely unsupported. The contrast is between when the righteous increase and when the wicked rule. It is not hard to see how this contrast works out in society.

[29:2]  ¹¹ tn The Niphal verb אָנַח (’anakh) means “to sigh; to groan,” usually because of grief or physical and emotional distress. The word is a metonymy of effect; the cause is the oppression and distress due to evil rulers.

[24:45]  ¹² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[24:45]  ¹³ tn Grk “give them.”

[12:43]  ¹⁴ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[12:43]  ¹⁵ tn That is, doing his job, doing what he is supposed to be doing.

[12:44]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀληθῶς, alhqw"), I say to you.”

[12:44]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. See also Luke 19:11-27.

[13:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “by God.”

[13:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the authority,” referring to the authority just described.