13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine 1 you?
Or as one deceives 2 a man would you deceive him?
22:12 Many bulls 3 surround me;
powerful bulls of Bashan 4 hem me in.
22:13 They 5 open their mouths to devour me 6
like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 7
35:26 May those who want to harm me be totally embarrassed and ashamed! 8
May those who arrogantly taunt me be covered with shame and humiliation! 9
28:22 So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. 10
49:7 This is what the Lord,
the protector 11 of Israel, their Holy One, 12 says
to the one who is despised 13 and rejected 14 by nations, 15
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect, 16
princes will bow down,
because of the faithful Lord,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
1 tn The verb חָפַר (khafar) means “to search out, investigate, examine.” In the conditional clause the imperfect verb expresses the hypothetical case.
2 tn Both the infinitive and the imperfect of תָּלַל (talal, “deceive, mock”) retain the ה (he) (GKC 148 §53.q). But for the alternate form, see F. C. Fensham, “The Stem HTL in Hebrew,” VT 9 (1959): 310-11. The infinitive is used here in an adverbial sense after the preposition.
3 sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.
4 sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.
5 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
6 tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).
7 tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”
8 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones who rejoice over my harm.”
9 tn Heb “may they be clothed with shame and humiliation, the ones who magnify [themselves] against me.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 26 are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-25, where the negative particle אַל (’al) appears before the prefixed verbal forms, indicating they are jussives). The psalmist is calling down judgment on his enemies.
10 tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).
11 tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
12 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
13 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsaa reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”
14 tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”
15 tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).
16 tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.
17 sn Zechariah is only dramatizing what God had done historically (see the note on the word “cedars” in 11:1). The “one month” probably means just any short period of time in which three kings ruled in succession. Likely candidates are Elah, Zimri, Tibni (1 Kgs 16:8-20); Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem (2 Kgs 15:8-16); or Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:1–25:7).
18 tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22. Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.
19 tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said among themselves.”
20 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
21 sn Mark’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).
22 sn The passive voice verb be handed over does not indicate by whom, but other passages note the Jewish leadership and betrayal (9:22, 44).
23 sn See Luke 22:63; 23:11, 36.
24 tn Or “and insulted.” L&N 33.390 and 88.130 note ὑβρίζω (Jubrizw) can mean either “insult” or “mistreat with insolence.”
25 sn And spat on. Later Luke does not note this detail in the passion narrative in chaps. 22-23, but see Mark 14:65; 15:19; Matt 26:67; 27:30 where Jesus’ prediction is fulfilled.
26 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
27 tn This title, literally “official of the temple” (στρατηγὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ, strathgo" tou Jierou), referred to the commander of the Jewish soldiers who guarded and maintained order in the Jerusalem temple. Here, since the term is plural, it has been translated “officers of the temple guard” rather than “commanders of the temple guard,” since the idea of a number of commanders might be confusing to the modern English reader.
28 tn Or “a revolutionary.” This term can refer to one who stirs up rebellion: BDAG 594 s.v. λῃστής 2 has “revolutionary, insurrectionist, guerrilla” citing evidence from Josephus (J. W. 2.13.2-3 [2.253-254]). However, this usage generally postdates Jesus’ time. It does refer to a figure of violence. Luke uses the same term for the highwaymen who attack the traveler in the parable of the good Samaritan (10:30).
29 tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).
30 sn The irony in the statement Let him save himself is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross.
31 tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.
32 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”