Exodus 7:21

7:21 When the fish ¹  that were in the Nile died, the Nile began ²  to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood ³  everywhere in the land of Egypt!

Numbers 11:5

11:5 We remember ⁴  the fish we used to eat ⁵  freely ⁶  in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.

Ezekiel 47:10

47:10 Fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to En-eglaim they will spread nets. They will catch many kinds of fish, like the fish of the Great Sea. ⁷ 

Habakkuk 1:15

1:15 The Babylonian tyrant ⁸  pulls them all up with a fishhook;

he hauls them in with his throw net. ⁹ 

When he catches ¹⁰  them in his dragnet,

he is very happy. ¹¹ 

¹ tn The first clause in this verse begins with a vav disjunctive, introducing a circumstantial clause to the statement that the water stank. The vav (ו) consecutive on the next verb shows that the smell was the result of the dead fish in the contaminated water. The result is then expressed with the vav beginning the clause that states that they could not drink it.

² tn The preterite could be given a simple definite past translation, but an ingressive past would be more likely, as the smell would get worse and worse with the dead fish.

³ tn Heb “and there was blood.”

⁴ tn The perfect tense here expresses the experience of a state of mind.

⁵ tn The imperfect tense would here be the customary imperfect, showing continual or incomplete action in past time.

⁶ tn The adverb “freely” is from the word חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”), from which is derived the noun “grace.” The word underscores the idea of “free, without cost, for no reason, gratis.” Here the simple sense is “freely,” without any cost. But there may be more significance in the choice of the words in this passage, showing the ingratitude of the Israelites to God for His deliverance from bondage. To them now the bondage is preferable to the salvation – this is what angered the Lord.

⁷ sn The Great Sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea (also in vv. 15, 19, 20).

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he gathers.”

¹¹ tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.