Zechariah 12:6

12:6 On that day ¹  I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter ²  among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem.

Jude 1:9

1:9 But even ³  when Michael the archangel ⁴  was arguing with the devil and debating with him ⁵  concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”

Isaiah 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ⁶ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ⁷ 

people of Gomorrah!

Isaiah 1:23

1:23 Your officials are rebels, ⁸ 

they associate with ⁹  thieves.

All of them love bribery,

and look for ¹⁰  payoffs. ¹¹ 

They do not take up the cause of the orphan, ¹² 

or defend the rights of the widow. ¹³ 

Isaiah 1:26

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ¹⁴ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Isaiah 29:10

29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you

a strong urge to sleep deeply. ¹⁵ 

He has shut your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

Isaiah 32:1

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ¹⁶ 

officials will promote justice. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 60:17

60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,

instead of iron, I will bring you silver,

instead of wood, I will bring you ¹⁸  bronze,

instead of stones, I will bring you ¹⁹  iron.

I will make prosperity ²⁰  your overseer,

and vindication your sovereign ruler. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 30:21

30:21 One of their own people will be their leader.

Their ruler will come from their own number. ²² 

I will invite him to approach me, and he will do so. ²³ 

For no one would dare approach me on his own. ²⁴ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 33:26

33:26 Just as surely as I have done this, so surely will I never reject the descendants of Jacob. Nor will I ever refuse to choose one of my servant David’s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, ²⁶  I will restore them ²⁷  and show mercy to them.”

Ezekiel 45:8-9

45:8 of the land. This will be his property in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people, but the land will be allotted to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

45:9 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, ²⁸  declares the sovereign Lord.

[12:6]  ¹ sn On that day (referring to the day of the Lord) the Davidic monarchy will be restored and the Lord’s people will recognize once more the legitimacy and divine sanction of David’s dynasty. But there will also be a democratizing that will not give Jerusalem and its rulers undue priority over the people of the countryside (v. 7).

[12:6]  ² tn Heb “a firepot” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “a blazing pot”; NLT “a brazier.”

[1:9]  ³ tn The word “even” is not in Greek; it is implied by the height of the contrast.

[1:9]  ⁴ sn According to Jewish intertestamental literature (such as 1 En. 20), Michael was one of seven archangels.

[1:9]  ⁵ tn The sentence structure is a bit different in Greek. Literally it reads: “But Michael the archangel, when arguing with the devil and disputing.”

[1:10]  ⁶ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[1:23]  ⁸ tn Or “stubborn”; CEV “have rejected me.”

[1:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “and companions of” (so KJV, NASB); CEV “friends of crooks.”

[1:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “pursue”; NIV “chase after gifts.”

[1:23]  ¹¹ sn Isaiah may have chosen the word for gifts (שַׁלְמוֹנִים, shalmonim; a hapax legomena here), as a sarcastic pun on what these rulers should have been doing. Instead of attending to peace and wholeness (שָׁלוֹם, shalom), they sought after payoffs (שַׁלְמוֹנִים).

[1:23]  ¹² sn See the note at v. 17.

[1:23]  ¹³ sn The rich oppressors referred to in Isaiah and the other eighth century prophets were not rich capitalists in the modern sense of the word. They were members of the royal military and judicial bureaucracies in Israel and Judah. As these bureaucracies grew, they acquired more and more land and gradually commandeered the economy and legal system. At various administrative levels bribery and graft become commonplace. The common people outside the urban administrative centers were vulnerable to exploitation in such a system, especially those, like widows and orphans, who had lost their family provider through death. Through confiscatory taxation, conscription, excessive interest rates, and other oppressive governmental measures and policies, they were gradually disenfranchised and lost their landed property, and with it, their rights as citizens. The socio-economic equilibrium envisioned in the law of Moses was radically disturbed.

[1:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[29:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.

[32:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[60:17]  ¹⁸ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).

[60:17]  ¹⁹ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).

[60:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).

[60:17]  ²¹ tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.

[30:21]  ²² sn The statement their ruler will come from their own number accords with the regulation in Deut 17:15. They would not be ruled by a foreign leader but by one of their own people. In v. 9 he is specifically said to come from the Davidic line. See the study note there.

[30:21]  ²³ sn Ordinarily this prerogative was confined to the priests and the Levites and even then under strict regulations (cf., e.g., Num 8:19; 16:10; Lev 16:10; 21:17; 22:3). Uzziah king of Judah violated this and suffered leprosy for having done so (2 Chr 26:16-20). It is clear, however, that both David and Solomon on occasion exercised priestly functions in the presence of the ark or the altar which it was normally lawful for only the priests to approach (cf., e.g., 2 Sam 6:13-14; 1 Kgs 8:22, 54-55). Here reference is probably not to the normal prerogatives of offering sacrifice or burning incense but access to God’s special presence at special times for the purpose of consultation.

[30:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “For who is he who would pledge his heart to draw near to me.” The question is a rhetorical one expecting the answer “no one” and is a way of expressing an emphatic negative (see BDB 566 s.v. מִי f[c]). The concept of “pledging” something refers to putting up security in guarantee of payment. Here the word is used figuratively of “putting up one’s heart [i.e., his very being (cf. BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 7 and Ps 22:26)]” for the privilege of access to God. The rhetorical question denies that any one would do that if he were not bidden by God to do so.

[30:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[33:26]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is probably intensive here as it has been on a number of occasions in the book of Jeremiah (see BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for the category).

[33:26]  ²⁷ tn Or “I will make them prosperous once again,” or “I will bring them back from captivity.”

[45:9]  ²⁸ sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.