Psalms 38:20

38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;

though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. ¹ 

Psalms 109:3-5

109:3 They surround me and say hateful things; ² 

they attack me for no reason.

109:4 They repay my love with accusations, ³ 

but I continue to pray. ⁴ 

109:5 They repay me evil for good, ⁵ 

and hate for love.

Psalms 109:1

Psalm 109 ⁶ 

For the music director, a psalm of David.

109:1 O God whom I praise, do not ignore me! ⁷ 

Psalms 19:4-5

19:4 Yet its voice ⁸  echoes ⁹  throughout the earth;

its ¹⁰  words carry ¹¹  to the distant horizon. ¹² 

In the sky ¹³  he has pitched a tent for the sun. ¹⁴ 

19:5 Like a bridegroom it emerges ¹⁵  from its chamber; ¹⁶ 

like a strong man it enjoys ¹⁷  running its course. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 19:1

Psalm 19 ¹⁹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; ²⁰ 

the sky displays his handiwork. ²¹ 

Psalms 22:13-14

22:13 They ²²  open their mouths to devour me ²³ 

like a roaring lion that rips its prey. ²⁴ 

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ²⁵ 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ²⁶  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

Proverbs 17:13

17:13 As for the one who repays ²⁷  evil for good,

evil will not leave ²⁸  his house. ²⁹ 

Jeremiah 18:20

18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?

Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. ³⁰ 

Just remember how I stood before you

pleading on their behalf ³¹ 

to keep you from venting your anger on them. ³² 

John 10:32

10:32 Jesus said to them, ³³  “I have shown you many good deeds ³⁴  from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?”

[38:20]  ¹ tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”

[109:3]  ² tn Heb “and [with] words of hatred they surround me.”

[109:4]  ³ tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”

[109:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I, prayer.”

[109:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”

[109:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 109. Appealing to God’s justice, the psalmist asks God to vindicate him and to bring severe judgment down upon his enemies.

[109:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not be deaf.”

[19:4]  ⁸ tc The MT reads, “their measuring line” (קוּם, qum). The noun קַו (qav, “measuring line”) makes no sense in this context. The reading קוֹלָם (qolam, “their voice”) which is supported by the LXX, is preferable.

[19:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “goes out,” or “proceeds forth.”

[19:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their” (see the note on the word “its” in v. 3).

[19:4]  ¹¹ tn The verb is supplied in the translation. The Hebrew text has no verb; יָצָא (yatsa’, “goes out”) is understood by ellipsis.

[19:4]  ¹² tn Heb “to the end of the world.”

[19:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “in them” (i.e., the heavens).

[19:4]  ¹⁴ sn He has pitched a tent for the sun. The personified sun emerges from this “tent” in order to make its daytime journey across the sky. So the “tent” must refer metaphorically to the place where the sun goes to rest during the night.

[19:5]  ¹⁵ tn The participle expresses the repeated or regular nature of the action.

[19:5]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew noun חֻפָּה (khufah, “chamber”) occurs elsewhere only in Isa 4:5 and Joel 2:16 (where it refers to the bedroom of a bride and groom).

[19:5]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the regularity of the action.

[19:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[on] a path.”

[19:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.

[19:1]  ²⁰ sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.

[19:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.

[22:13]  ²² tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”

[22:13]  ²³ tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).

[22:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”

[22:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ²⁶ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[17:13]  ²⁷ tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).

[17:13]  ²⁸ tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.

[17:13]  ²⁹ sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.

[18:20]  ³⁰ tn Or “They are plotting to kill me”; Heb “They have dug a pit for my soul.” This is a common metaphor for plotting against someone. See BDB 500 s.v. כָּרָה Qal and for an example see Pss 7:16 (7:15 HT) in its context.

[18:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “to speak good concerning them” going back to the concept of “good” being paid back with evil.

[18:20]  ³² tn Heb “to turn back your anger from them.”

[10:32]  ³³ tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”

[10:32]  ³⁴ tn Or “good works.”