Week 20 Psalm 135
The verse said: for the Lord will judge His people and will have compassion on His servants. In some previous year I’d underlined the word ‘judge’. So I decided to check the verse in a couple of other versions. I found these:
the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants
the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants
the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants
the Lord will give justice to his people and have compassion on his servants.
Hmmm…judging & vindicating. I decided to check a bunch of other versions. I found 19 translations that used the word ‘vindicate’. 17 others used ‘judge’. A pretty even split.
Having versions flip-flop the words ‘vindicate’ & ‘judge’ was a bit of a concern to me. In the modern world vindicate has the idea of me being in a jam but then I get acquitted. Absolved. Exonerated. Pardoned. Released. Getting judged has the sense of some judge weighing evidence – pros and cons – before forming his opinion. He thinks & weighs & deliberates & decides – but he might go one way or (maybe) another.
So for me judging is sitting down to think and make a decision. With vindicating a decision has already been made. Which seem like two related – but different – things.
I figure translators have good reasons for their word choices. But I know I’d prefer being vindicated than judged.
Note: quote from Psalm 135:14 (NASB CSB ESV NIV NLT)