34:2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
21:10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise up in arms 4 against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, 5 and on the earth nations will be in distress, 6 anxious 7 over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves.
1 tn Heb “threw them into confusion with all distress.”
2 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
3 tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”
4 tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see L&N 55.2.
5 sn Signs in the sun and moon and stars are cosmic signs that turn our attention to the end and the Son of Man’s return for the righteous. OT imagery is present: See Isa 13:9-10; 24:18-20; 34:4; Ezek 32:7-8; Joel 2:1, 30-31; 3:15.
6 tn Grk “distress of nations.”
7 tn Or “in consternation” (L&N 32.9).