28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, 1
but the righteous person is as confident 2 as a lion.
21:4 My heart palpitates, 3
I shake in fear; 4
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
21:5 Arrange the table,
lay out 5 the carpet,
eat and drink! 6
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields! 7
5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared 8 and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. 9 The king was watching the back 10 of the hand that was writing. 5:6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face 11 and he became alarmed. 12 The joints of his hips gave way, 13 and his knees began knocking together.
1 sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.
2 tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”
3 tn Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”
4 tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”
5 tn The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. KJV “watch in the watchtower”; ASV “set the watch”).
6 tn The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.
7 sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.
8 tn Aram “came forth.”
9 sn The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.
10 tn While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.
11 tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”
12 tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”
13 tn Aram “his loins went slack.”