Leviticus 26:17

26:17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.

Deuteronomy 28:25

Curses by Defeat and Deportation

28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Deuteronomy 32:30

32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them,

and two pursue ten thousand;

unless their Rock had delivered them up,

and the Lord had handed them over?

Isaiah 30:17

30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier;

at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away,

until the remaining few are as isolated

as a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on a hill.”

Isaiah 59:2

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.


tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (zaavah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿvaah, “terror”).

tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿarah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.

tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.

tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”