'Back' in the Bible

I thought about my waysand turned my steps back to Your decrees.

Though one goes along weeping,carrying the bag of seed,he will surely come back with shouts of joy,carrying his sheaves.

Plowmen plowed over my back;they made their furrows long.

Let all who hate Zionbe driven back in disgrace.

Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,happy is the one who pays you backwhat you have done to us.

Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later.I’ll give it tomorrow”—when it is there with you.

Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense.

The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;he doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth.

He is filled with craving all day long,but the righteous give and don’t hold back.

The one who digs a pit will fall into it,and whoever rolls a stone—it will come back on him.

He made its posts of silver,its back of gold,and its seat of purple.Its interior is inlaid with loveby the young women of Jerusalem.

W I have taken off my clothing.How can I put it back on?I have washed my feet.How can I get them dirty?

Y Come back, come back, Shulammite!Come back, come back, that we may look at you!M Why are you looking at the Shulammite,as you look at the dance of the two camps? >

Dull the minds of these people;deafen their ears and blind their eyes;otherwise they might see with their eyesand hear with their ears,understand with their minds,turn back, and be healed.

The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it;therefore, who can stand in its way?It is His hand that is outstretched,so who can turn it back?

The watchman said,“Morning has come, and also night.If you want to ask, ask!Come back again.”

And at the end of the 70 years, the Lord will restore Tyre and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

a spirit of justiceto the one who sits in judgment,and strengthto those who turn back the battle at the gate.

But He also is wise and brings disaster.He does not go back on what He says;He will rise up against the house of wicked menand against the allies of evildoers.

For the Lord has a day of vengeance,a time of paying back Edomfor its hostility against Zion.

this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:Virgin Daughter Ziondespises you and scorns you:Daughter Jerusalem shakes her headbehind your back.

Because your raging against Meand your arrogance have reached My ears,I will put My hook in your noseand My bit in your mouth;I will make you go backthe way you came.

I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on Ahaz’s stairway go back by 10 steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back the 10 steps it had descended.

Indeed, it was for my own welfarethat I had such great bitterness;but Your love has delivered mefrom the Pit of destruction,for You have thrown all my sins behind Your back.

They will be turned back and utterly ashamed—those who trust in idolsand say to metal-plated images:You are our gods!

But this is a people plundered and looted,all of them trapped in holesor imprisoned in dungeons.They have become plunderwith no one to rescue themand loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”

I will say to the north: Give them up!and to the south: Do not hold them back!Bring My sons from far away,and My daughters from the ends of the earth—

And now, says the Lord,who formed me from the womb to be His Servant,to bring Jacob back to Himso that Israel might be gathered to Him;for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,and my God is my strength—

The Lord God has opened My ear,and I was not rebellious;I did not turn back.

I gave My back to those who beat Me,and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting.

I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,who said to you:Lie down, so we can walk over you.You made your back like the ground,and like a street for those who walk on it. >

“Enlarge the site of your tent,and let your tent curtains be stretched out;do not hold back;lengthen your ropes,and drive your pegs deep.

“I deserted you for a brief moment,but I will take you back with great compassion.

Because of his sinful greed I was angry,so I struck him; I was angry and hid;but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart.

“Cry out loudly, don’t hold back!Raise your voice like a trumpet.Tell My people their transgressionand the house of Jacob their sins.

Justice is turned back,and righteousness stands far off.For truth has stumbled in the public square,and honesty cannot enter.

A sound of uproar from the city!A voice from the temple—the voice of the Lord,paying back His enemies what they deserve!

say to a tree, “You are my father,”and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”For they have turned their back to Meand not their face,yet in their time of disaster they beg,“Rise up and save us!”

Because of this, the earth will mourn;the skies above will grow dark.I have spoken; I have planned,and I will not relent or turn back from it.

But I am full of the Lord’s wrath;I am tired of holding it back.Pour it out on the children in the street,on the gang of young men as well.For both husband and wife will be captured,the old with the very old.

You have left Me.This is the Lord’s declaration.You have turned your back,so I have stretched out My hand against youand destroyed you.I am tired of showing compassion.

I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind.I will show them My back and not My faceon the day of their calamity.

Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple, and proclaimed to all the people,

Among the prophets of Jerusalem alsoI saw a horrible thing:They commit adultery and walk in lies.They strengthen the hands of evildoers,and none turns his back on evil.They are all like Sodom to Me;Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.

The Lord’s anger will not turn backuntil He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.In time to come you will understand it clearly.

If they had really stood in My council,they would have enabled My people to hear My wordsand would have turned them back from their evil waysand their evil deeds.

“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah’s cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.

Then I spoke to the priests and all these people, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets. They are prophesying to you, claiming, “Look, very soon now the articles of the Lord’s temple will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying a lie to you.

The Lord’s burning anger will not turn backuntil He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.In time to come you will understand it.

They will come weeping,but I will bring them back with consolation.I will lead them to wadis filled with waterby a smooth way where they will not stumble,for I am Israel’s Father,and Ephraim is My firstborn.

Afterward, however, they changed their minds and took back their male and female slaves they had freed and forced them to become slaves again.

But you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each has taken back his male and female slaves who had been freed to go wherever they wanted, and you have again subjugated them to be your slaves.

I am about to give the command”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. I will make Judah’s cities a desolation, without inhabitant.”

So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon.

Even her mercenaries among herare like stall-fed calves.They too will turn back;together they will flee;they will not take their stand,for the day of their calamity is coming on them,the time of their punishment.

At the sound of the stomping hooves of his stallions,the rumbling of his chariots,and the clatter of their wheels,fathers will not turn back for their sons,because they will be utterly helpless

Oh, sword of the Lord!How long will you be restless?Go back to your sheath;be still; be silent!

“How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him.”

Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated;cry out, daughters of Rabbah!Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament;run back and forth within your walls,because Milcom will go into exiletogether with his priests and officials.

Run! Turn back! Lie low,residents of Dedan,for I will bring Esau’s calamity on himat the time I punish him.

מ MemHe sent fire from heaven into my bones;He made it descend.He spread a net for my feetand turned me back.He made me desolate,sick all day long.

נ NunLet us search out and examine our ways,and turn back to the Lord.

ת TavYou will pay them back what they deserve, Lord,according to the work of their hands.

I looked and there was a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam like amber.

The form of the living creatures was like the appearance of burning coals of fire and torches. Fire was moving back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, with lightning coming out of it.

The creatures were darting back and forth like flashes of lightning.

When He unrolled it before me, it was written on the front and back; words of lamentation, mourning, and woe were written on it.

Then the man clothed in linen with the writing equipment at his side reported back, “I have done as You commanded me.”

“Now say to that rebellious house: Don’t you know what these things mean? Tell them: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and promiscuity.”

Men of Dedan were also your merchants; many coasts and islands were your regular markets. They brought back ivory tusks and ebony as your payment.

I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

“This is what the Lord God says: I caused grieving on the day the cedar went down to Sheol. I closed off the underground deep because of it: I held back the rivers of the deep, and its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn on account of it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.

“I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.

When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the countries of their enemies, I will demonstrate My holiness through them in the sight of many nations.

For they were arranged in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and middle stories.

The man then brought me back toward the sanctuary’s outer gate that faced east, and it was closed.

Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the temple faced east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.

He asked me, “Do you see this, son of man?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing,and He does what He wants with the army of heavenand the inhabitants of the earth.There is no one who can hold back His handor say to Him, “What have You done?”

“While I was watching, another beast appeared. It was like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back. It had four heads and was given authority to rule.

He will turn his attention back to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble, fall, and be no more.

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;she will seek them but not find them.Then she will think,“I will go back to my former husband,for then it was better for me than now.”

Therefore, I will take back My grain in its timeand My new wine in its season;I will take away My wool and linen,which were to cover her nakedness.

There I will give her vineyards back to herand make the Valley of Achorinto a gateway of hope.There she will respond as she didin the days of her youth,as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.

I will not vent the full fury of My anger;I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.For I am God and not man,the Holy One among you;I will not come in rage.

And also: Tyre, Sidon, and all the territories of Philistia—what are you to Me? Are you paying Me back or trying to get even with Me? I will quickly bring retribution on your heads.

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn’t because the sea was raging against them more and more.

The chariots dash madly through the streets;they rush around in the plazas.They look like torches;they dart back and forth like lightning.

Nineveh has been like a pool of waterfrom her first days,but they are fleeing.“Stop! Stop!” they cry,but no one turns back.

and those who turn back from following the Lord,who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him.

The Lord has removed your punishment;He has turned back your enemy.The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you;you need no longer fear harm.

At that time I will bring you back,yes, at the time I will gather you.I will give you fame and praiseamong all the peoples of the earth,when I restore your fortunes before your eyes.Yahweh has spoken.

“Now, reflect back from this day: Before one stone was placed on another in the Lord’s temple,

I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be My people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”

I will set up camp at My house against an army,against those who march back and forth,and no oppressor will march against them again,for now I have seen with My own eyes.

I will bring them back from the land of Egyptand gather them from Assyria.I will bring them to the land of Gileadand to Lebanon,but it will not be enough for them.

He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”