Hosea 11:6

11:6 A sword will flash in their cities,

it will destroy the bars of their city gates,

and will devour them in their fortresses.

Job 18:7

18:7 His vigorous steps ¹  are restricted, ² 

and his own counsel throws him down. ³ 

Isaiah 30:3

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Jeremiah 7:24

7:24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. ⁴ 

Micah 6:16

6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,

and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; ⁵ 

you follow their policies. ⁶ 

Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, ⁷ 

the city’s ⁸  inhabitants will be taunted derisively, ⁹ 

and nations will mock all of you.” ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “the steps of his vigor,” the genitive being the attribute.

² tn The verb צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be cramped; to be straitened; to be hemmed in.” The trouble has hemmed him in, so that he cannot walk with the full, vigorous steps he had before. The LXX has “Let the meanest of men spoil his goods.”

³ tn The LXX has “causes him to stumble,” which many commentators accept; but this involves the transposition of the three letters. The verb is שָׁלַךְ (shalakh, “throw”) not כָּשַׁל (kashal, “stumble”).

⁴ tn Or “They went backward and not forward”; Heb “They were to the backward and not to the forward.” The two phrases used here appear nowhere else in the Bible and the latter preposition plus adverb elsewhere is used temporally meaning “formerly” or “previously.” The translation follows the proposal of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 57. Another option is “they turned their backs to me, not their faces,” understanding the line as a variant of a line in 2:27.

⁵ tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”

⁶ tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.

⁸ tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.

¹⁰ tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).