Genesis 31:7

31:7 but your father has humiliated ¹  me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm.

Leviticus 26:26

26:26 When I break off your supply of bread, ²  ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, ³  and you will eat and not be satisfied.

Numbers 14:22

14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ⁴  me now these ten times, ⁵  and have not obeyed me, ⁶ 

Nehemiah 4:12

4:12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly ⁷  about all the schemes ⁸  they were plotting ⁹  against us.

Daniel 1:20

1:20 In every matter of wisdom and ¹⁰  insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times ¹¹  better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.

¹ tn This rare verb means “to make a fool of” someone. It involves deceiving someone so that their public reputation suffers (see Exod 8:25).

² tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).

³ tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”

⁴ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

⁵ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

⁶ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

⁷ tn Heb “ten times.”

⁸ tc The MT reads the anomalous מִכָּל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת (mikkol hammÿqomot, “from every place”) but the BHS editors propose כָּל־הַמְּזִמּוֹת (kol hammÿzimmot, “about every scheme”). The initial mem (מ) found in the MT may have been added accidentally due to dittography with the final mem (ם) on the immediately preceding word, and the MT qof (ק) may have arisen due to orthographic confusion with the similar looking zayin (ז). The emendation restores sense to the line in the MT, which makes little sense and features an abrupt change of referents: “Wherever you turn, they will be upon us!” The threat was not against the villagers living nearby but against those repairing the wall, as the following context indicates. See also the following note on the word “plotting.”

⁹ tc The MT reads תָּשׁוּבוּ (tashuvu, “you turn”) which is awkward contextually. The BHS editors propose emending to חָשְׁבוּ (hashÿvu, “they were plotting”) which harmonizes well with the context. This emendation involves mere orthographic confusion between similar looking ח (khet) and ת (tav), and the resultant dittography of middle vav (ו) in MT. See also the preceding note on the word “schemes.”

¹⁰ tc The MT lacks the conjunction, reading the first word in the phrase as a construct (“wisdom of insight”). While this reading is not impossible, it seems better to follow Theodotion, the Syriac, the Vulgate, and the Sahidic Coptic, all of which have the conjunction.

¹¹ tn Heb “hands.”