Jeremiah 2:11

2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods

(even though they are not really gods at all)?

But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, ¹ 

for a god that cannot help them at all! ² 

Genesis 24:22

24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka ³  and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels ⁴  and gave them to her. ⁵ 

Genesis 24:30

24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring ⁶  and heard his sister Rebekah say, ⁷  “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing ⁸  by the camels near the spring.

Genesis 24:53

24:53 Then he ⁹  brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ¹⁰  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ¹¹ 

Genesis 1:24

1:24 God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” ¹²  It was so.

Psalms 45:13-14

45:13 The princess ¹³  looks absolutely magnificent, ¹⁴ 

decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold. ¹⁵ 

45:14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.

Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,

are led before you. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 61:10

61:10 I ¹⁷  will greatly rejoice ¹⁸  in the Lord;

I will be overjoyed because of my God. ¹⁹ 

For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;

he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. ²⁰ 

I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;

I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. ²¹ 

Ezekiel 16:10-13

16:10 I dressed you in embroidered clothing and put fine leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 16:11 I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. 16:12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 16:13 You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty.

Ezekiel 16:1

God’s Unfaithful Bride

16:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 3:3-5

3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, ²²  and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.

3:4 He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 3:5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech ²³  and difficult language, ²⁴  but ²⁵  to the house of Israel –

Revelation 21:2

21:2 And I saw the holy city – the new Jerusalem – descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.

[2:11]  ¹ tn Heb “have exchanged their glory [i.e., the God in whom they glory].” This is a case of a figure of speech where the attribute of a person or thing is put for the person or thing. Compare the common phrase in Isaiah, the Holy One of Israel, obviously referring to the Lord, the God of Israel.

[2:11]  ² tn Heb “what cannot profit.” The verb is singular and the allusion is likely to Baal. See the translator’s note on 2:8 for the likely pun or wordplay.

[24:22]  ³ sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).

[24:22]  ⁴ sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).

[24:22]  ⁵ tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[24:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “And it was when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister.” The word order is altered in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[24:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying.”

[24:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “and look, he was standing.” The disjunctive clause with the participle following the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites the audience to view the scene through Laban’s eyes.

[24:53]  ⁹ tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  ¹¹ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

[1:24]  ¹² tn There are three groups of land animals here: the cattle or livestock (mostly domesticated), things that creep or move close to the ground (such as reptiles or rodents), and the wild animals (all animals of the field). The three terms are general classifications without specific details.

[45:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “[the] daughter of a king.”

[45:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[is] completely glorious.”

[45:13]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “within, from settings of gold, her clothing.” The Hebrew term פְּנִימָה (pÿnimah, “within”), if retained, would go with the preceding line and perhaps refer to the bride being “within” the palace or her bridal chamber (cf. NIV, NRSV). Since the next two lines refer to her attire (see also v. 9b), it is preferable to emend the form to פְּנִינִיהָּ (“her pearls”) or to פְּנִינִים (“pearls”). The mem (מ) prefixed to “settings” is probably dittographic.

[45:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.

[61:10]  ¹⁷ sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.

[61:10]  ¹⁸ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[61:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”

[61:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”

[61:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[3:3]  ²² tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.

[3:5]  ²³ tn Heb “deep of lip” (in the sense of incomprehensible).

[3:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “heavy of tongue.” Similar language occurs in Exod 4:10; Isa 33:19.

[3:5]  ²⁵ tn The conjunction “but” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied from the context.