2:7 The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy;
he humbles and he exalts.
2:8 He lifts the weak 1 from the dust;
he raises 2 the poor from the ash heap
to seat them with princes
and to bestow on them an honored position. 3
The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord,
and he has placed the world on them.
75:7 For God is the judge! 4
He brings one down and exalts another. 5
14:5 The Lord has broken the club of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers.
1:52 He has brought down the mighty 27 from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; 28
13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, 29 and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.
1 tn Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”
2 tn The imperfect verbal form, which is parallel to the participle in the preceding line, is best understood here as indicating what typically happens.
3 tn Heb “a seat of honor.”
4 tn Or “judges.”
5 tn The imperfects here emphasize the generalizing nature of the statement.
6 tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.
7 sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.
8 tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”
9 sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.
10 tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.
11 sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605
12 tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).
13 tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)
14 tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.
15 tn Heb “oracle of the
16 tn Heb “The nation and/or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, by sword, starvation, and disease I will punish [or more literally, “visit upon”] that nation, oracle of the
17 tn Heb “with/by the sword.”
18 tc The verb translated “destroy” (תָּמַם, tamam) is usually intransitive in the stem of the verb used here. It is found in a transitive sense elsewhere only in Ps 64:7. BDB 1070 s.v. תָּמַם 7 emends both texts. In this case they recommend תִּתִּי (titi): “until I give them into his hand.” That reading is suggested by the texts of the Syriac and Targumic translations (see BHS fn c). The Greek translation supports reading the verb “destroy” but treats it as though it were intransitive “until they are destroyed by his hand” (reading תֻּמָּם [tummam]). The MT here is accepted as the more difficult reading and support is seen in the transitive use of the verb in Ps 64:7.
19 tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.
20 tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.
21 tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.
22 tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”
23 sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.
24 tn Aram “until.”
25 tn Aram “until.”
26 tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.
27 tn Or “rulers.”
28 tn Or “those of humble position”
29 tn Grk “by God.”