16:9 His 4 anger has torn me 5 and persecuted 6 me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks 7 his eyes on me.
16:10 People 8 have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn; 9
they unite 10 together against me.
22:7 All who see me taunt 11 me;
they mock me 12 and shake their heads. 13
22:13 They 14 open their mouths to devour me 15
like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 16
22:17 I can count 17 all my bones;
my enemies 18 are gloating over me in triumph. 19
ס (Samek)
2:15 All who passed by on the road
clapped their hands to mock you. 20
They sneered and shook their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem.
“Ha! Is this the city they called 21
‘The perfection of beauty, 22
the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” 23
פ (Pe)
2:16 All your enemies
gloated over you. 24
They sneered and gnashed their teeth;
they said, “We have destroyed 25 her!
Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.
We have lived to see it!” 26
1 tn Heb “all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua [at] Makkedah [in] peace.”
2 tc Heb “No man.” The lamed (ל) prefixed to אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is probably dittographic (note the immediately preceding יִשְׂרָאֵל [isra’el] which ends in lamed, ל); cf. the LXX.
3 tn Heb “no man sharpened [or perhaps, “pointed”] his tongue against the sons of Israel.” Cf. NEB “not a man of the Israelites suffered so much as a scratch on his tongue,” which understands “sharpened” as “scratched” (referring to a minor wound). Most modern translations understand the Hebrew expression “sharpened his tongue” figuratively for opposition or threats against the Israelites.
4 tn The referent of these pronouns in v. 9 (“his anger…he has gnashed…his teeth…his eyes”) is best taken as God.
5 sn The figure used now is that of a wild beast. God’s affliction of Job is compared to the attack of such an animal. Cf. Amos 1:11.
6 tn The verb שָׂטַם (satam) is translated “hate” in the RSV, but this is not accepted by very many. Many emend it to שָׁמט (shamat), reading “and he dropped me” (from his mouth). But that suggests escape. D. J. A. Clines notes that usage shows it reflects ongoing hatred represented by an action such as persecution or attack (Job [WBC], 370).
7 tn The verb is used of sharpening a sword in Ps 7:12; here it means “to look intently” as an animal looks for prey. The verse describes God’s relentless pursuit of Job.
8 tn “People” is supplied; the Hebrew verb is third plural. The colon reads, “they have opened against me with [the preposition is instrumental] their mouth.” The gestures here follow the animal imagery; they reflect destructive opposition and attack (see Ps 22:13 among others).
9 tn This is an “insult” or a “reproach.”
10 tn The verb יִתְמַלָּאוּן (yitmalla’un) is taken from מָלֵא (male’), “to be full,” and in this stem, “to pile up; to press together.” The term has a military connotation, such as “to mobilize” (see D. W. Thomas, “ml'w in Jeremiah 4:5 : a military term,” JJS 3 [1952]: 47-52). Job sees himself surrounded by enemies who persecute him and mock him.
11 tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”
12 tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.
13 sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.
14 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
15 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).
16 tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”
17 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.
18 tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”
20 tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).
21 tn Heb “of which they said.”
22 tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.
23 tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.
24 tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”
25 tn Heb “We have swallowed!”
26 tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.