2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,
so the people of Israel 1 will suffer dishonor for what they have done. 2
So will their kings and officials,
their priests and their prophets.
2:27 They say to a wooden idol, 3 ‘You are my father.’
They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ 4
Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. 5
Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’
2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt
with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame 6
because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful
and you will not gain any help from them. 7
20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. 8
Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.
They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.
Their disgrace will never be forgotten.
1 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
2 tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
3 tn Heb “wood…stone…”
4 sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”
5 tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”
6 tn Heb “with your hands on your head.” For the picture here see 2 Sam 13:19.
7 tn Heb “The
8 sn This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him (1:8, 19) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7), lament (vv. 7-10), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11), petition (v. 12), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26.