2 Samuel 8:2

8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ¹  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ² 

2 Samuel 8:2

8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ³  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 21:13

21:13 David ⁵  brought the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there; they also gathered up the bones of those who had been executed.

Lamentations 2:8

ח (Khet)

2:8 The Lord was determined to tear down

Daughter Zion’s wall.

He prepared to knock it down; ⁶ 

he did not withdraw his hand from destroying. ⁷ 

He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament;

together they mourned their ruin. ⁸ 

Malachi 1:3-4

1:3 and rejected Esau. ⁹  I turned Esau’s ¹⁰  mountains into a deserted wasteland ¹¹  and gave his territory ¹²  to the wild jackals.”

1:4 Edom ¹³  says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all ¹⁴  responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as ¹⁵  the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.

¹ tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”

² tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

³ tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”

⁴ tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “he stretched out a measuring line.” In Hebrew, this idiom is used (1) literally: to describe a workman’s preparation of measuring and marking stones before cutting them for building (Job 38:5; Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16) and (2) figuratively: to describe the Lord’s planning and preparation to destroy a walled city, that is, to mark off for destruction (2 Kgs 21:13; Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8). It is not completely clear how a phrase from the vocabulary of building becomes a metaphor for destruction; however, it might picture a predetermined and carefully planned measure from which God will not deviate.

⁷ tn Heb “He did not return His hand from swallowing.” That is, he persisted until it was destroyed.

⁸ tn Heb “they languished together.” The verbs אָבַּלּ (’aval, “to lament”) and אָמַל (’amal, “languish, mourn”) are often used in contexts of funeral laments in secular settings. The Hebrew prophets often use these terms to describe the aftermath of the Lord’s judgment on a nation. Based on parallel terms, אָמַל (’amal) may describe either mourning or deterioration and so makes for a convenient play on meaning when destroyed objects are personified. Incorporating this play into the translation, however, may obscure the parallel between this line and the deterioration of the gates beginning in v. 9.

⁹ tn Heb “and I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.” The context indicates this is technical covenant vocabulary in which “love” and “hate” are synonymous with “choose” and “reject” respectively (see Deut 7:8; Jer 31:3; Hos 3:1; 9:15; 11:1).

¹⁰ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “I set his mountains as a desolation.”

¹² tn Or “inheritance” (so NIV, NLT).

¹³ sn Edom, a “brother” nation to Israel, became almost paradigmatic of hostility toward Israel and God (see Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:8; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; Obad 10-12).

¹⁴ sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Malachi (24 times total). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

¹⁵ tn Heb “and they will call them.” The third person plural subject is indefinite; one could translate, “and people will call them.”