Psalms 26:1

Psalm 26 ¹ 

By David.

26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have integrity, ² 

and I trust in the Lord without wavering.

Psalms 43:1-2

Psalm 43 ³ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ⁴  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ⁵  from deceitful and evil men! ⁶ 

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. ⁷ 

Why do you reject me? ⁸ 

Why must I walk around ⁹  mourning ¹⁰ 

because my enemies oppress me?

Psalms 99:4

99:4 The king is strong;

he loves justice. ¹¹ 

You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly; ¹² 

you promote justice and equity in Jacob.

Proverbs 23:11

23:11 for their Protector ¹³  is strong;

he will plead their case against you. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 50:34

50:34 But the one who will rescue them ¹⁵  is strong.

He is known as the Lord who rules over all. ¹⁶ 

He will strongly ¹⁷  champion their cause.

As a result ¹⁸  he will bring peace and rest to the earth,

but trouble and turmoil ¹⁹  to the people who inhabit Babylonia. ²⁰ 

[26:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.

[26:1]  ² tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”

[43:1]  ³ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ⁴ tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ⁵ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

[43:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

[43:2]  ⁸ tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

[43:2]  ⁹ tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

[43:2]  ¹⁰ sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.

[99:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and strength, a king, justice he loves.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult here. The translation assumes that two affirmations are made about the king, the Lord (see v. 1, and Ps 98:6). The noun עֹז (’oz, “strength”) should probably be revocalized as the adjective עַז (’az, “strong”).

[99:4]  ¹² tn Heb “you establish fairness.”

[23:11]  ¹³ tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) describes a “kinsman redeemer.” Some English versions explicitly cite “God” (e.g., NCV, CEV) or “the Lord” (e.g. TEV).

[23:11]  ¹⁴ sn This is the tenth saying; once again there is a warning not to encroach on other people’s rights and property, especially the defenseless (see v. 10; 22:22-23, 28).

[50:34]  ¹⁵ sn Heb “their redeemer.” The Hebrew term “redeemer” referred in Israelite family law to the nearest male relative who was responsible for securing the freedom of a relative who had been sold into slavery. For further discussion of this term as well as its metaphorical use to refer to God as the one who frees Israel from bondage in Egypt and from exile in Assyria and Babylonia see the study note on 31:11.

[50:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies is his name.” For the rendering of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[50:34]  ¹⁷ tn Or “he will certainly champion.” The infinitive absolute before the finite verb here is probably functioning to intensify the verb rather than to express the certainty of the action (cf. GKC 333 §112.n and compare usage in Gen 43:3 and 1 Sam 20:6 listed there).

[50:34]  ¹⁸ tn This appears to be another case where the particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) introduces a result rather than giving the purpose or goal. See the translator’s note on 25:7 for a listing of other examples in the book of Jeremiah and also the translator’s note on 27:10.

[50:34]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he will bring rest to the earth and will cause unrest to.” The terms “rest” and “unrest” have been doubly translated to give more of the idea underlying these two concepts.

[50:34]  ²⁰ tn This translation again reflects the problem often encountered in these prophecies where the Lord appears to be speaking but refers to himself in the third person. It would be possible to translate here using the first person as CEV and NIrV do. However, to sustain that over the whole verse results in a considerably greater degree of paraphrase. The verse could be rendered “But I am strong and I will rescue them. I am the Lord who rules over all. I will champion their cause. And I will bring peace and rest to….”