Job 9:31

9:31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit ¹ 

and my own clothes abhor me.

Job 30:19

30:19 He has flung me into the mud,

and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.

Psalms 38:5-7

38:5 My wounds ²  are infected and starting to smell, ³ 

because of my foolish sins. ⁴ 

38:6 I am dazed ⁵  and completely humiliated; ⁶ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ⁷ 

and my whole body is sick. ⁸ 

Lamentations 3:16

ו (Vav)

3:16 He ground ⁹  my teeth in gravel;

he trampled ¹⁰  me in the dust.

Malachi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ¹¹  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ¹²  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

Malachi 2:1

The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message

2:1 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.

Colossians 4:13

4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ¹³  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

¹ tn The pointing in the MT gives the meaning “pit” or “ditch.” A number of expositors change the pointing to שֻׁחוֹת (shukhot) to obtain the equivalent of שֻׂחוֹת (sukhot) / סֻחוֹת (sukhot): “filth” (Isa 5:25). This would make the contrast vivid – Job has just washed with pure water and soap, and now God plunges him into filth. M. H. Pope argues convincingly that the word “pit” in the MT includes the idea of “filth,” making the emendation unnecessary (“The Word sahat in Job 9:31,” JBL 83 [1964]: 269-78).

² sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

³ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

⁴ tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

⁵ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

⁶ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

⁷ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

⁸ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

⁹ tn Heb “crushed.”

¹⁰ tn The Hiphil stem of כָּפַשׁ (kafash) means “to tread down” or “make someone cower.” It is rendered variously: “trampled me in the dust” (NIV), “covered me with ashes” (KJV, NKJV), “ground me into the dust” (NJPS), “made me cower in ashes” (RSV, NRSV), “rubbed my face in the ground” (TEV) and “rubbed me in the dirt” (CEV).

¹¹ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

¹² tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

¹³ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.