Jeremiah 12:14

12:14 “I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning ¹  the wicked nations who surround my land ²  and have attacked and plundered ³  the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession. ⁴  I say: ‘I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 50:7

50:7 All who encountered them devoured them.

Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment!

For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture. ⁶ 

They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors ⁷  trusted.’ ⁸ 

Exodus 4:22-23

4:22 You must say ⁹  to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says ¹⁰  the Lord, “Israel is my son, my firstborn, ¹¹  4:23 and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve ¹²  me,’ but since you have refused to let him go, ¹³  I will surely kill ¹⁴  your son, your firstborn!”’”

Psalms 81:14-15

81:14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,

and attack ¹⁵  their adversaries.”

81:15 (May those who hate the Lord ¹⁶  cower in fear ¹⁷  before him!

May they be permanently humiliated!) ¹⁸ 

Psalms 105:14-15

105:14 He let no one oppress them;

he disciplined kings for their sake,

105:15 saying, ¹⁹  “Don’t touch my chosen ²⁰  ones!

Don’t harm my prophets!”

Psalms 105:25-36

105:25 He caused them ²¹  to hate his people,

and to mistreat ²²  his servants.

105:26 He sent his servant Moses,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

105:27 They executed his miraculous signs among them, ²³ 

and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.

105:28 He made it dark; ²⁴ 

they did not disobey his orders. ²⁵ 

105:29 He turned their water into blood,

and killed their fish.

105:30 Their land was overrun by frogs,

which even got into the rooms of their kings.

105:31 He ordered flies to come; ²⁶ 

gnats invaded their whole territory.

105:32 He sent hail along with the rain; ²⁷ 

there was lightning in their land. ²⁸ 

105:33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,

and broke the trees throughout their territory.

105:34 He ordered locusts to come, ²⁹ 

innumerable grasshoppers.

105:35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,

and devoured the crops of their fields. ³⁰ 

105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power. ³¹ 

Isaiah 41:11

41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;

your adversaries ³²  will be reduced to nothing ³³  and perish.

Isaiah 47:6

47:6 I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy; ³⁴ 

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. ³⁵ 

Joel 1:3

1:3 Tell your children ³⁶  about it,

have your children tell their children,

and their children the following generation. ³⁷ 

Joel 1:7-8

1:7 They ³⁸  have destroyed our ³⁹  vines; ⁴⁰ 

they have turned our ⁴¹  fig trees into mere splinters.

They have completely stripped off the bark ⁴²  and thrown them aside;

the ⁴³  twigs are stripped bare. ⁴⁴ 

A Call to Lament

1:8 Wail ⁴⁵  like a young virgin ⁴⁶  clothed in sackcloth,

lamenting the death of ⁴⁷  her husband-to-be. ⁴⁸ 

Zechariah 1:15

1:15 But I am greatly displeased with the nations that take my grace for granted. ⁴⁹  I was a little displeased with them, but they have only made things worse for themselves.

Zechariah 2:8

2:8 For the Lord who rules over all says to me that for his own glory ⁵⁰  he has sent me to the nations that plundered you – for anyone who touches you touches the pupil ⁵¹  of his ⁵²  eye.

Zechariah 12:2-4

12:2 “I am about to make Jerusalem ⁵³  a cup that brings dizziness ⁵⁴  to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden ⁵⁵  for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; ⁵⁶  yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 12:4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses ⁵⁷  of the nations ⁵⁸  with blindness.

Acts 9:4-5

9:4 He ⁵⁹  fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, ⁶⁰  why are you persecuting me?” ⁶¹  9:5 So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting!

[12:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord concerning….” This structure has been adopted to prevent a long dangling introduction to what the Lord has to say that does not begin until the middle of the verse in Hebrew. The first person address was adopted because the speaker is still the Lord as in vv. 7-13.

[12:14]  ² tn Heb “my wicked neighbors.”

[12:14]  ³ tn Heb “touched.” For the nuance of this verb here see BDB 619 s.v. נָגַע Qal.3 and compare the usage in 1 Chr 16:22 where it is parallel to “do harm to” and Zech 2:8 where it is parallel to “plundered.”

[12:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the inheritance which I caused my people Israel to inherit.” Compare 3:18.

[12:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will uproot the house of Judah from their midst.”

[50:7]  ⁶ tn This same Hebrew phrase “the habitation of righteousness” is found in Jer 31:23 in relation to Jerusalem in the future as “the place where righteousness dwells.” Here, however, it refers to the same entity as “their resting place” in v. 6 and means “true pasture.” For the meaning of “pasture” for the word נָוֶה (naveh) see 2 Sam 7:8 and especially Isa 65:10 where it is parallel with “resting place” for the flocks. For the meaning of “true” for צֶדֶק (tsedeq) see BDB 841 s.v. צֶדֶק 1. For the interpretation adopted here see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 365. The same basic interpretation is reflected in NRSV, NJPS, and God’s Word.

[50:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

[50:7]  ⁸ sn These two verses appear to be a poetical summary of the argument of Jer 2 where the nation is accused of abandoning its loyalty to God and worshiping idols. Whereas those who tried to devour Israel were liable for punishment when Israel was loyal to God (2:3), the enemies of Israel who destroyed them (i.e., the Babylonians [but also the Assyrians], 50:17) argue that they are not liable for punishment because the Israelites have sinned against the Lord and thus deserve their fate.

[4:22]  ⁹ tn The sequence of the instruction from God uses the perfect tense with vav (ו), following the preceding imperfects.

[4:22]  ¹⁰ tn The instantaneous use of the perfect tense fits well with the prophetic announcement of what Yahweh said or says. It shows that the words given to the prophet are still binding.

[4:22]  ¹¹ sn The metaphor uses the word “son” in its connotation of a political dependent, as it was used in ancient documents to describe what was intended to be a loyal relationship with well-known privileges and responsibilities, like that between a good father and son. The word can mean a literal son, a descendant, a chosen king (and so, the Messiah), a disciple (in Proverbs), and here, a nation subject to God. If the people of Israel were God’s “son,” then they should serve him and not Pharaoh. Malachi reminds people that the Law said “a son honors his father,” and so God asked, “If I am a father, where is my honor?” (Mal 1:6).

[4:23]  ¹² tn The text uses the imperative, “send out” (שַׁלַּח, shallakh) followed by the imperfect or jussive with the vav (ו) to express purpose.

[4:23]  ¹³ tn The Piel infinitive serves as the direct object of the verb, answering the question of what Pharaoh would refuse to do. The command and refusal to obey are the grounds for the announcement of death for Pharaoh’s son.

[4:23]  ¹⁴ tn The construction is very emphatic. The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) gives it an immediacy and a vividness, as if God is already beginning to act. The participle with this particle has the nuance of an imminent future act, as if God is saying, “I am about to kill.” These words are not repeated until the last plague.

[81:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “turn my hand against.” The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack” (see Isa 1:25; Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7).

[81:15]  ¹⁶ tn “Those who hate the Lord” are also mentioned in 2 Chr 19:2 and Ps 139:21.

[81:15]  ¹⁷ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.

[81:15]  ¹⁸ tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (’ittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the Lord. Some propose an emendation to בַּעֲתָתָם (ba’atatam) or בִּעֻתָם (bi’utam; “their terror”; i.e., “may their terror last forever”), but the omission of bet (ב) in the present Hebrew text is difficult to explain, making the proposed emendation unlikely.

[105:15]  ¹⁹ tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[105:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “anointed.”

[105:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “their heart.”

[105:25]  ²² tn Or “to deal deceptively.” The Hitpael of נָכַל (nakhal) occurs only here and in Gen 37:18, where it is used of Joseph’s brothers “plotting” to kill him.

[105:27]  ²³ tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).

[105:28]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”

[105:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.

[105:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”

[105:32]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”

[105:32]  ²⁸ tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”

[105:34]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”

[105:35]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”

[105:36]  ³¹ tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).

[41:11]  ³² tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”

[41:11]  ³³ tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”

[47:6]  ³⁴ tn Or “compassion.”

[47:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

[1:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “sons.” This word occurs several times in this verse.

[1:3]  ³⁷ sn The circumstances that precipitated the book of Joel surrounded a locust invasion in Palestine that was of unprecedented proportions. The locusts had devastated the country’s agrarian economy, with the unwelcome consequences extending to every important aspect of commercial, religious, and national life. To further complicate matters, a severe drought had exhausted water supplies, causing life-threatening shortages for animal and human life (cf. v. 20). Locust invasions occasionally present significant problems in Palestine in modern times. The year 1865 was commonly known among Arabic-speaking peoples of the Near East as sent el jarad, “year of the locust.” The years 1892, 1899, and 1904 witnessed significant locust invasions in Palestine. But in modern times there has been nothing equal in magnitude to the great locust invasion that began in Palestine in February of 1915. This modern parallel provides valuable insight into the locust plague the prophet Joel points to as a foreshadowing of the day of the Lord. For an eyewitness account of the 1915 locust invasion of Palestine see J. D. Whiting, “Jerusalem’s Locust Plague,” National Geographic 28 (December 1915): 511-50.

[1:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “it.” Throughout vv. 6-7 the Hebrew uses singular forms to describe the locust swarm, but the translation uses plural forms because several details of the text make more sense in English as if they are describing the appearance and effects of individual locusts.

[1:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Both “vines” and “fig trees” are singular in the Hebrew text, but are regarded as collective singulars.

[1:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “it has completely stripped her.”

[1:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “her.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “grow white.”

[1:8]  ⁴⁵ sn The verb is feminine singular, raising a question concerning its intended antecedent. A plural verb would be expected here, the idea being that all the inhabitants of the land should grieve. Perhaps Joel is thinking specifically of the city of Jerusalem, albeit in a representative sense. The choice of the feminine singular verb form has probably been influenced to some extent by the allusion to the young widow in the simile of v. 8.

[1:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “a young woman” (TEV, CEV). See the note on the phrase “husband-to-be” in the next line.

[1:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “over the death of.” The term “lamenting” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[1:8]  ⁴⁸ sn Heb “the husband of her youth.” The woman described here may already be married, so the reference is to the death of a husband rather than a fiancé (a husband-to-be). Either way, the simile describes a painful and unexpected loss to which the national tragedy Joel is describing may be compared.

[1:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “the nations that are at ease” (so ASV, NRSV). The Hebrew word in question is שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan) which has the idea of a careless, even arrogant attitude (see BDB 983 s.v. שַׁאֲנָן); cf. NAB “the complacent nations.” Here it suggests that the nations take for granted that God will never punish them just because he hasn't already done so. Thus they presume on the grace and patience of the Lord. The translation attempts to bring out this nuance rather than the more neutral renderings of TEV “nations that enjoy quiet and peace” or NLT “enjoy peace and security.”

[2:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “After glory has he sent me” (similar KJV, NASB). What is clearly in view is the role of Zechariah who, by faithful proclamation of the message, will glorify the Lord.

[2:8]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “gate” (בָּבָה, bavah) of the eye, that is, pupil. The rendering of this term by KJV as “apple” has created a well-known idiom in the English language, “the apple of his eye” (so ASV, NIV). The pupil is one of the most vulnerable and valuable parts of the body, so for Judah to be considered the “pupil” of the Lord’s eye is to raise her value to an incalculable price (cf. NLT “my most precious possession”).

[2:8]  ⁵² tc A scribal emendation (tiqqun sopherim) has apparently altered an original “my eye” to “his eye” in order to allow the prophet to be the speaker throughout vv. 8-9. This alleviates the problem of the Lord saying, in effect, that he has sent himself on the mission to the nations.

[12:2]  ⁵³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:2]  ⁵⁴ sn The image of a cup that brings dizziness is that of drunkenness. The Lord will force the nations to drink of his judgment and in doing so they will become so intoxicated by his wrath that they will stumble and become irrational.

[12:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”

[12:3]  ⁵⁶ sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.

[12:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “every horse.”

[12:4]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “peoples” (so NAB, NRSV).

[9:4]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[9:4]  ⁶⁰ tn The double vocative suggests emotion.

[9:4]  ⁶¹ sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.