73:8 They mock 3 and say evil things; 4
they proudly threaten violence. 5
16:18 Pride 6 goes 7 before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall. 8
1:15 The Babylonian tyrant 9 pulls them all up with a fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net. 10
When he catches 11 them in his dragnet,
he is very happy. 12
1:16 Because of his success 13 he offers sacrifices to his throw net
and burns incense to his dragnet; 14
for because of them he has plenty of food, 15
and more than enough to eat. 16
2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, 17
but the person of integrity 18 will live 19 because of his faithfulness. 20
2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! 21
His appetite 22 is as big as Sheol’s; 23
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers 24 all the nations;
he seizes 25 all peoples.
14:1 Now 32 one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine 33 at the house of a leader 34 of the Pharisees, 35 they were watching 36 him closely.
1 tn Aram “heart.”
2 sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.
3 tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.
4 tn Heb “and speak with evil.”
5 tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.
6 sn The two lines of this proverb are synonymous parallelism, and so there are parasynonyms. “Pride” is paired with “haughty spirit” (“spirit” being a genitive of specification); and “destruction” is matched with “a tottering, falling.”
7 tn Heb “[is] before destruction.”
8 sn Many proverbs have been written in a similar way to warn against the inevitable disintegration and downfall of pride. W. McKane records an Arabic proverb: “The nose is in the heavens, the seat is in the mire” (Proverbs [OTL], 490).
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.
10 tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.
11 tn Heb “and he gathers.”
12 tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
13 tn Heb “therefore.”
14 sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).
15 tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”
16 tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”
17 tn The meaning of this line is unclear, primarily because of the uncertainty surrounding the second word, עֲפְּלָה (’apÿlah). Some read this as an otherwise unattested verb עָפַל (’afal, “swell”) from which are derived nouns meaning “mound” and “hemorrhoid.” This “swelling” is then understood in an abstract sense, “swell with pride.” This would yield a translation, “As for the proud, his desires are not right within him” (cf. NASB “as for the proud one”; NIV “he is puffed up”; NRSV “Look at the proud!”). A multitude of other interpretations of this line, many of which involve emendations of the problematic form, may be found in the commentaries and periodical literature. The present translation assumes an emendation to a Pual form of the verb עָלַף (’alaf, “be faint, exhausted”). (See its use in the Pual in Isa 51:20, and in the Hitpael in Amos 8:13 and Jonah 4:8.) In the antithetical parallelism of the verse, it corresponds to חָיָה (khayah, “live”). The phrase לֹא יָשְׁרָה נַפְשׁוֹ בּוֹ (lo’ yoshrah nafsho bo), literally, “not upright his desire within him,” is taken as a substantival clause that contrasts with צַדִּיק (tsadiq, “the righteous one”) and serves as the subject of the preceding verb. Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in the sense of “desire” (see BDB 660-61 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ for a list of passages where the word carries this sense).
18 tn Or “righteous.” The oppressed individuals mentioned in 1:4 are probably in view here.
19 tn Or “will be preserved.” In the immediate context this probably refers to physical preservation through both the present oppression and the coming judgment (see Hab 3:16-19).
20 tn Or “loyalty”; or “integrity.” The Hebrew word אֱמוּנָה (’emunah) has traditionally been translated “faith,” but the term nowhere else refers to “belief” as such. When used of human character and conduct it carries the notion of “honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness.” The antecedent of the suffix has been understood in different ways. It could refer to God’s faithfulness, but in this case one would expect a first person suffix (the original form of the LXX has “my faithfulness” here). Others understand the “vision” to be the antecedent. In this case the reliability of the prophecy is in view. For a statement of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 111-12. The present translation assumes that the preceding word “[the person of] integrity” is the antecedent. In this case the
21 tn Heb “Indeed wine betrays a proud man and he does not dwell.” The meaning of the last verb, “dwell,” is uncertain. Many take it as a denominative of the noun נָוָה (navah, “dwelling place”). In this case it would carry the idea, “he does not settle down,” and would picture the drunkard as restless (cf. NIV “never at rest”; NASB “does not stay at home”). Some relate the verb to an Arabic cognate and translate the phrase as “he will not succeed, reach his goal.”
22 tn Heb “who opens wide like Sheol his throat.” Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in a physical sense, meaning “throat,” which in turn is figurative for the appetite. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 11-12.
23 sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead. In ancient Canaanite thought Death was a powerful god whose appetite was never satisfied. In the OT Sheol/Death, though not deified, is personified as greedy and as having a voracious appetite. See Prov 30:15-16; Isa 5:14; also see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 168.
24 tn Heb “he gathers for himself.”
25 tn Heb “he collects for himself.”
26 tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.
27 tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.
28 tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).
29 tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
30 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context, which involves the reversal of expected roles.
31 sn The point of the statement the one who humbles himself will be exalted is humility and the reversal imagery used to underline it is common: Luke 1:52-53; 6:21; 10:15; 18:14.
32 tn Grk “Now it happened that one.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
33 tn Grk “to eat bread,” an idiom for participating in a meal.
34 tn Grk “a ruler of the Pharisees.” He was probably a synagogue official.
35 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
36 sn Watching…closely is a graphic term meaning to lurk and watch; see Luke 11:53-54.
37 tn Grk “And Simon.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
38 tn Grk “answering, Simon said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation to “Simon answered.”
39 tn The word ἐπιστάτης is a term of respect for a person of high status (see L&N 87.50).
40 tn The expression “at your word,” which shows Peter’s obedience, stands first in the Greek clause for emphasis.
41 tn Or “let down.”