Romans 13:4

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.

Deuteronomy 25:1

25:1 If controversy arises between people, ¹  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ²  hear the case, they shall exonerate ³  the innocent but condemn ⁴  the guilty.

Proverbs 14:35

14:35 The king shows favor ⁵  to a wise ⁶  servant,

but his wrath falls ⁷  on one who acts shamefully.

Proverbs 20:2

20:2 The king’s terrifying anger ⁸  is like the roar of a lion;

whoever provokes him ⁹  sins against himself. ¹⁰ 

Ecclesiastes 10:4-6

10:4 If the anger ¹¹  of the ruler flares up ¹²  against you, do not resign ¹³  from your position, ¹⁴ 

for a calm ¹⁵  response ¹⁶  can undo ¹⁷  great offenses.

10:5 I have seen another ¹⁸  misfortune ¹⁹  on the earth: ²⁰ 

It is an error a ruler makes. ²¹ 

10:6 Fools ²²  are placed in many positions of authority, ²³ 

while wealthy men sit in lowly positions.

Jeremiah 22:15-18

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ²⁴  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ²⁵ 

He did what was just and right. ²⁶ 

So things went well with him.

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ²⁷ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ²⁸ 

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ²⁹ 

22:18 So ³⁰  the Lord has this to say about Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:

People will not mourn for him, saying,

“This makes me sad, my brother!

This makes me sad, my sister!”

They will not mourn for him, saying,

“Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!” ³¹ 

[25:1]  ¹ tn Heb “men.”

[25:1]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:1]  ³ tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”

[25:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”

[14:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”

[14:35]  ⁶ sn The wise servant is shown favor, while the shameful servant is shown anger. Two Hiphil participles make the contrast: מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil, “wise”) and מֵבִישׁ (mevish, “one who acts shamefully”). The wise servant is a delight and enjoys the favor of the king because he is skillful and clever. The shameful one botches his duties; his indiscretions and incapacity expose the master to criticism (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 470).

[14:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).

[20:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the terror of a king” (so ASV, NASB); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. NIV “A king’s wrath”; NLT “The king’s fury”).

[20:2]  ⁹ tn The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mit’abbÿro) is problematic; in the MT the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The LXX rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”

[20:2]  ¹⁰ sn The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “endangers his life” (cf. NCV, NLT). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. TEV “making him angry is suicide”).

[10:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “spirit.”

[10:4]  ¹² tn Heb “rises up.”

[10:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “Do not leave.”

[10:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your place.” The term מָקוֹם (maqom, “place”) denotes a position, post or office (1 Kgs 20:24; Eccl 8:3; 10:4; BDB 879 s.v. מָקוֹם 1.c).

[10:4]  ¹⁵ tn The noun II מַרְפֵּא (marpe’, “calmness”) is used in reference to keeping one’s composure with a peaceful heart (Prov 14:30) and responding to criticism with a gentle tongue (Prov 15:4); cf. HALOT 637 s.v. II מַרְפֵּא. It is used in reference to keeping one’s composure in an emotionally charged situation (BDB 951 s.v. מַרְפֵּא 2). The term “calmness” is used here as a metonymy of association, meaning “calm response.”

[10:4]  ¹⁶ tn The term “response” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (see preceding note on the word “calm”).

[10:4]  ¹⁷ tn The verbal root נוח means “to leave behind; to leave untouched” (HALOT 680 s.v. I נוח 2) in general, and in this passage, “to undo” or “to allay” offenses (HALOT 680 s.v. I נוח 3; BDB 629 s.v. נוּחַ 5) or “to avoid” offenses (BDB 629 נוּחַ 5). The point is either that (1) a composed response can calm or appease the anger of the ruler, or (2) a calm heart will help one avoid great sins that would offend the king. The root נוח (“to rest”) is repeated, creating a wordplay: “Do not leave” (אַל־תַּנַּח, ’al-tannakh) and “to avoid; to allay” (יַנִּיחַ, yanniakh). Rather than resigning (i.e., leaving), composure can appease a king (i.e., cause the anger of the king to leave).

[10:5]  ¹⁸ tn The term “another” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that this is not the first “misfortune” described by the Teacher. See 5:13, 16; 6:1-2.

[10:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “an evil.”

[10:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[10:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “like an error that comes forth from the presence of a ruler.”

[10:6]  ²² tn Heb “folly.”

[10:6]  ²³ tn Heb “high places.”

[22:15]  ²⁴ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ²⁶ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[22:16]  ²⁷ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[22:18]  ³⁰ sn This is the regular way of introducing the announcement of judgment after an indictment of crimes. See, e.g., Isa 5:13, 14; Jer 23:2.

[22:18]  ³¹ tn The translation follows the majority of scholars who think that the address of brother and sister are the address of the mourners to one another, lamenting their loss. Some scholars feel that all four terms are parallel and represent the relation that the king had metaphorically to his subjects; i.e., he was not only Lord and Majesty to them but like a sister or a brother. In that case something like: “How sad it is for the one who was like a brother to us! How sad it is for the one who was like a sister to us.” This makes for poor poetry and is not very likely. The lover can call his bride sister in Song of Solomon (Song 4:9, 10) but there are no documented examples of a subject ever speaking of a king in this way in Israel or the ancient Near East.