“Sing praises to Yahweh!
He dwells in Zion!
Declare his deeds among the peoples!
He who avenges blood,
He is mindful of them.
He does not forget
The cry of the afflicted.”
David wanted to sing praises to Yahweh, who lives at Mount Zion, where he has placed the Temple in Jerusalem. Everyone was to declare the deeds that he had done among his people. Yahweh avenged blood. He never forgets the afflicted ones. He is always mindful of them.
“I know that my redeemer lives.
Then at the last he will stand upon the earth.
After my skin has been thus destroyed,
Then in my flesh I shall see God.
I shall see him on my side.
My eyes shall behold.
Not another shall behold.
My heart faints within me!”
This passage has a different translation in the Greek, Syriac, and Latin. It is often referred to as a precursor of Jesus the redeemer, or the Messianic savior who came to earth. Redeemer could also mean defender or vindicator. The Hebrew word of ‘goel’ or redeemer means a member of the family who avenged your honor, despite debts. Job believed that someone would help him. Whether this is God or not is not clear. However, even more controversial is the idea that his flesh will see God after his skin has been destroyed. Is this a hint at a resurrection, since throughout this work he talked about Sheol as a dead end place? His eyes will see even though he was faint.
“After these things were reported to Jonathan and his brother Simon, they said.
‘The family of Jambri was celebrating a great wedding.
They were conducting the bride,
A daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan,
From Nadabath with a large escort.’
They remembered how their brother John had been killed. They went up and hid under the cover of the mountains. They looked out and saw a tumultuous procession with a great amount of baggage. The bridegroom came out with his friends and his brothers to meet them with tambourines, musicians, and many weapons. Then they rushed upon them from the ambush. They began killing them. Many were wounded and fell. The rest fled to the mountains. The Jews took all their goods. Thus the wedding was turned into mourning. The voice of their musicians was turned into a funeral dirge. After they had fully avenged the blood of their brother, they returned to the marshes of the Jordan River.”
Jonathan and his brother Simon were upset about the attack and death of their brother John at the hands of the Jambri family. They saw that the Jambri family was celebrating a big wedding. One of daughters of a Canaanite was marrying a man from Jambri. They were having a great procession with tambourines and musicians. Jonathan, Simon, and his group attacked the wedding party. They wounded and killed some, while others fled. Their joyous wedding music turned into a mourning funeral dirge. After they avenged the blood of their brother, they returned to the marshes along the Jordan River.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 