Psalms 16:4

16:4 their troubles multiply,

they desire other gods. ¹ 

I will not pour out drink offerings of blood to their gods, ² 

nor will I make vows in the name of their gods. ³ 

Psalms 34:19-21

34:19 The godly ⁴  face many dangers, ⁵ 

but the Lord saves ⁶  them ⁷  from each one of them.

34:20 He protects ⁸  all his bones; ⁹ 

not one of them is broken. ¹⁰ 

34:21 Evil people self-destruct; ¹¹ 

those who hate the godly are punished. ¹² 

Psalms 140:11

140:11 A slanderer ¹³  will not endure on ¹⁴  the earth;

calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 13:21

13:21 Calamity ¹⁶  pursues sinners,

but prosperity rewards the righteous. ¹⁷ 

Ecclesiastes 8:12

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ¹⁸  and still live a long time, ¹⁹ 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ²⁰  – for they stand in fear ²¹  before him.

Isaiah 3:11

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ²² 

Isaiah 57:21

57:21 There will be no prosperity,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Romans 2:8-9

2:8 but ²³  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²⁴  and do not obey the truth but follow ²⁵  unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be ²⁶  affliction and distress on everyone ²⁷  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ²⁸ 

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ²⁹ Therefore ³⁰  you are without excuse, ³¹  whoever you are, ³²  when you judge someone else. ³³  For on whatever grounds ³⁴  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Romans 6:10

6:10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.

[16:4]  ¹ tn Heb “their troubles multiply, another, they pay a dowry.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The Hebrew term עַצְּבוֹתָם (’atsÿvotam, “troubles”) appears to be a plural form of עַצֶּבֶת (’atsÿvet, “pain, wound”; see Job 9:28; Ps 147:3). Because idolatry appears to be in view (see v. 4b), some prefer to emend the noun to עַצְּבִים (’atsÿvim, “idols”). “Troubles” may be a wordplay on “idols” or a later alteration designed to emphasize that idolatry leads to trouble. The singular form אחר (“another”) is syntactically problematic here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a plural אֲחֵרִים (’akherim, “others”). (The final mem [ם] could have been lost by haplography; note the mem [מ] at the beginning of the next word.) In this case it might be taken as an abbreviated form of the well-attested phrase אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים (’elohim ’akherim, “other gods”). (In Isa 42:8 the singular form אַחַר (’akher, “another”) is used of another god.) The verb מָהַר (mahar) appears in the Qal stem; the only other use of a Qal verbal form of a root מָהַר is in Exod 22:15, where the denominative verb מָהֹר (mahor, “purchase [a wife]”) appears; cf. the related noun מֹהַר (mohar, “bride money, purchase price for a wife”). If that verb is understood here, then the idolaters are pictured as eager bridegrooms paying the price to acquire the object of their desire. Another option is to emend the verb to a Piel and translate, “hurry (after).”

[16:4]  ² tn Heb “I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood.” The third masculine plural suffix would appear to refer back to the people/leaders mentioned in v. 3. However, if we emend אֲחֵר (’akher, “another”) to the plural אֲחֵרִים (’akherim, “other [gods]”) in v. 4, the suffix can be understood as referring to these gods – “the drink offerings [made to] them.” The next line favors this interpretation. Perhaps this refers to some type of pagan cultic ritual. Elsewhere wine is the prescribed content of drink offerings.

[16:4]  ³ tn Heb “and I will not lift up their names upon my lips.” The expression “lift up the name” probably refers here to swearing an oath in the name of deity (see Exod 20:7; Deut 5:11). If so, the third masculine plural suffix on “names” likely refers to the pagan gods, not the people/leaders. See the preceding note.

[34:19]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.

[34:19]  ⁵ tn Or “trials.”

[34:19]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.

[34:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.

[34:20]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.

[34:20]  ⁹ tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.

[34:20]  ¹⁰ sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).

[34:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “evil kills the wicked [one].” The singular form is representative; the typical evil person is envisioned. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the typical nature of the action.

[34:21]  ¹² tn Heb “are guilty,” but the verb is sometimes used metonymically with the meaning “to suffer the consequences of guilt,” the effect being substituted for the cause.

[140:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”

[140:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “be established in.”

[140:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.

[13:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “evil.” The term רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) here functions in a metonymical sense meaning “calamity.” “Good” is the general idea of good fortune or prosperity; the opposite, “evil,” is likewise “misfortune” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV) or calamity.

[13:21]  ¹⁷ sn This statement deals with recompense in absolute terms. It is this principle, without allowing for any of the exceptions that Proverbs itself acknowledges, that Job’s friends applied (incorrectly) to his suffering.

[8:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

[8:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

[8:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

[8:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “they fear.”

[3:11]  ²² tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

[2:8]  ²³ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ²⁵ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:9]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

[2:9]  ²⁸ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.

[2:1]  ²⁹ sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ³¹ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ³² tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ³³ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”