Job 16:4

16:4 I also could speak 1  like you,

if 2  you were in my place;

I could pile up 3  words against you

and I could shake my head at you. 4 

Psalms 22:7-8

22:7 All who see me taunt 5  me;

they mock me 6  and shake their heads. 7 

22:8 They say, 8 

“Commit yourself 9  to the Lord!

Let the Lord 10  rescue him!

Let the Lord 11  deliver him, for he delights in him.” 12 

Matthew 27:39

27:39 Those 13  who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads

1 tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.

2 tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).

3 tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).

4 sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).

5 tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

6 tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

7 sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

8 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.

9 tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גלל here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the Lord.”

10 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

11 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

12 tn That is, “for he [the Lord] delights in him [the psalmist].” For other cases where the expression “delight in” refers to God’s delight in a person, see Num 14:8; 1 Kgs 10:9; Pss 18:19; 40:8.

13 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.