35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;
they gathered together to ambush me. 1
They tore at me without stopping to rest. 2
35:16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly, 3
and tried to bite me. 4
69:12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;
drunkards mock me in their songs. 5
23:18 But they all shouted out together, 20 “Take this man 21 away! Release Barabbas for us!”
23:39 One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t 26 you the Christ? 27 Save yourself and us!”
1 tn Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones” ?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[כְ] (kÿnokhÿrim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 114; DNWSI 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. NASB “smiters”; NEB, NRSV “ruffians”; NIV “attackers”).
2 tn Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.
3 tc The MT reads “as profane [ones] of mockers of food,” which is nonsensical. The present translation assumes (1) an emendation of בְּחַנְפֵי (bÿkhanfey, “as profane men”) to בְּחַנְפִי (bekhanfiy, “when I tripped”; preposition + Qal infinitive construct from II חָנַף [“limp”] + first common singular pronominal suffix) and (2) an emendation of לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג (la’agey ma’og, “mockers of food”) to עָגוּ[ם]לַעְגָּ (la’gam ’agu, “[with] taunting they taunted”; masculine plural noun with enclitic mem + Qal perfect third common plural from לַּעַג [la’ag, “taunt”]).
4 tn Heb “gnashing at me with their teeth.” The infinitive absolute adds a complementary action – they gnashed with their teeth as they taunted.
5 tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
7 tn For the translation of ῥάπισμα (rJapisma), see L&N 19.4.
8 sn The purple cloak probably refers to a military garment which had the color of royal purple, and thus resembled a king’s robe. The soldiers did this to Jesus as a form of mockery in view of the charges that he was a king (cf. 15:2).
9 tn Or “weaving.”
10 sn The crown may have been made from palm spines or some other thorny plant common in Israel. In placing the crown of thorns on his head, the soldiers were unwittingly symbolizing God’s curse on humanity (cf. Gen 3:18) being placed on Jesus. Their purpose would have been to mock Jesus’ claim to be a king; the crown of thorns would have represented the “radiant corona” portrayed on the heads of rulers on coins and other artifacts in the 1st century.
11 tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”
12 tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.
13 tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.
14 tn The aorist tense is taken consummatively here.
15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
16 sn See the note on Crucify in 15:13.
17 tn This term also appears in v. 2.
18 tn Grk “behold, I” A transitional use of ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.
19 tn Grk “nothing did I find in this man by way of cause.” The reference to “nothing” is emphatic.
20 tn Grk “together, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.
21 tn Grk “this one.” The reference to Jesus as “this man” is pejorative in this context.
22 tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).
23 sn The irony in the statement Let him save himself is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross.
24 tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.
25 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
26 tc Most
27 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
28 tn Grk “becoming jealous.” The participle ζηλώσαντες (zhlwsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. So elsewhere in Acts (5:17; 7:9; 13:45).
29 tn Literally ἀγοραῖος (agoraio") refers to the crowd in the marketplace, although BDAG 14-15 s.v. ἀγοραῖος 1 gives the meaning, by extension, as “rabble.” Such a description is certainly appropriate in this context. L&N 15.127 translates the phrase “worthless men from the streets.”
30 tn On this term, which is a NT hapax legomenon, see BDAG 745 s.v. ὀχλοποιέω.
31 tn BDAG 458 s.v. θορυβέω 1 has “set the city in an uproar, start a riot in the city” for the meaning of ἐθορύβουν (eqoruboun) in this verse.
32 sn The attack took place at Jason’s house because this was probably the location of the new house church.
33 tn Grk “them”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
34 tn BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2 has “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly προάγειν εἰς τὸν δ. Ac 17:5.”
35 sn A saying attributed to the poet Epimenides of Crete (6th century