17:6 I call to you for you will answer me, O God.
Listen to me! 5
Hear what I say! 6
17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, 7
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. 8
63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal 10 and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion! 11
63:16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not recognize us.
You, Lord, are our father;
you have been called our protector from ancient times. 12
63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray 13 from your ways, 14
and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? 15
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance!
63:18 For a short time your special 16 nation possessed a land, 17
but then our adversaries knocked down 18 your holy sanctuary.
63:19 We existed from ancient times, 19
but you did not rule over them,
they were not your subjects. 20
64:12 In light of all this, 21 how can you still hold back, Lord?
How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?
1 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”
2 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
3 sn The festival. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.
4 sn The month Ethanim. This would be September-October in modern reckoning.
5 tn Heb “Turn your ear toward me.”
6 tn Heb “my word.”
7 tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”
8 tn Heb “[O] one who delivers those who seek shelter from the ones raising themselves up, by your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver.
9 tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
10 tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.
11 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.
12 tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”
13 tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.
14 tn This probably refers to God’s commands.
15 tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
16 tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
17 tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”
18 tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”
19 tn Heb “we were from antiquity” (see v. 16). The collocation עוֹלָם + מִן + הָיָה (hayah + min + ’olam) occurs only here.
20 tn Heb “you did not rule them, your name was not called over them.” The expression “the name is called over” indicates ownership; see the note at 4:1. As these two lines stand they are very difficult to interpret. They appear to be stating that the adversaries just mentioned in v. 18 have not been subject to the Lord’s rule in the past, perhaps explaining why they could commit the atrocity described in v. 18b.
21 tn Heb “because of these”; KJV, ASV “for these things.”