24:12 If you say, “But we did not know about this,”
does not the one who evaluates 1 hearts consider?
Does not the one who guards your life know?
Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? 2
24:29 Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;
I will pay him back 3 according to what he has done.” 4
1 tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”
2 sn The verse completes the saying by affirming that people will be judged responsible for helping those in mortal danger. The verse uses a series of rhetorical questions to affirm that God knows our hearts and we cannot plead ignorance.
3 tn Heb “repay to the man.” The verb is שׁוּב (shuv), which in the Hiphil stem means “to restore; to repay; to return” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT “I’ll get even”). The idea is that of repaying someone for what he did.
4 sn Rather than give in to the spirit of vengeance, one should avoid retaliation (e.g., Prov 20:22; Matt 5:43-45; Rom 12:9). According to the Talmud, Hillel said, “Do not do to others what you would not have them do unto you” (b. Sanhedrin 31a).