Psalms 55:12-13

55:12 Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me,

or else I could bear it;

it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me,

or else I could hide from him.

55:13 But it is you, a man like me,

my close friend in whom I confided.

Jeremiah 4:30

4:30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction,

you accomplish nothing by wearing a beautiful dress,

decking yourself out in jewels of gold,

and putting on eye shadow!

You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.

Your lovers spurn you.

They want to kill you. 10 

Jeremiah 30:14

30:14 All your allies have abandoned you. 11 

They no longer have any concern for you.

For I have attacked you like an enemy would.

I have chastened you cruelly.

For your wickedness is so great

and your sin is so much. 12 

Lamentations 1:19

ק (Qof)

1:19 I called for my lovers, 13 

but they had deceived me.

My priests and my elders

perished in the city.

Truly they had 14  searched for food

to 15  keep themselves 16  alive. 17 

Ezekiel 23:22-25

23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, 18  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, 19  Shoa, 20  and Koa, 21  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will attack 22  you with weapons, 23  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; 24  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; 25  they will punish you according to their laws. 23:25 I will direct 26  my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, 27  and your survivors will die 28  by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire.

Revelation 17:12-17

17:12 The 29  ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority 30  as kings with the beast for one hour. 17:13 These kings 31  have a single intent, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 17:14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying 32  the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”

17:15 Then 33  the angel 34  said to me, “The waters you saw (where the prostitute is seated) are peoples, multitudes, 35  nations, and languages. 17:16 The 36  ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They 37  will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. 38  17:17 For God has put into their minds 39  to carry out his purpose 40  by making 41  a decision 42  to give their royal power 43  to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. 44 


tn Or “for.”

tn Heb “[who] magnifies against me.” See Pss 35:26; 38:16.

sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.

tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.”

tn Heb “my close friend, one known by me.”

tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership which was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.

tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.

tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”

tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.

10 tn Heb “they seek your life.”

11 tn Heb “forgotten you.”

12 tn Heb “attacked you like…with the chastening of a cruel one because of the greatness of your iniquity [and because] your sins are many.” The sentence has been broken down to conform to contemporary English style and better poetic scansion.

13 sn The term “lovers” is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis), comparing Jerusalem’s false gods and political alliance with Assyria to a woman’s immoral lovers. The prophet Hosea uses similar imagery (Hos 2:5, 7, 10, 13).

14 tn Here the conjunction כּי (ki) functions in (1) a temporal sense in reference to a past event, following a perfect: “when” (BDB 473 s.v. 2.a; cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or (2) a concessive sense, following a perfect: “although” (Pss 21:12; 119:83; Mic 7:8; Nah 1:10; cf. BDB 473 s.v. 2.c.β) or (3) with an intensive force, introducing a statement with emphasis: “surely, certainly” (BDB 472 s.v. 1.e). The present translation follows the third option.

15 tn The vav (ו) prefixed to וַיָשִׁיבוּ (vayashivu) introduces a purpose clause: “they sought food for themselves, in order to keep themselves alive.”

16 tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) functions as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life) (e.g., Gen 44:30; Exod 21:23; 2 Sam 14:7; Jon 1:14). When used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), the Hiphil הָשִׁיב (hashiv) of שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) may mean “to preserve a person’s life,” that is, to keep a person alive (Lam 1:14, 19).

17 tc The LXX adds καὶ οὐχ εὗρον (kai ouc Jeuron, “but they did not find it”). This is probably an explanatory scribal gloss, indicated to explicate what appeared to be ambiguous. The LXX often adds explanatory glosses in many OT books.

18 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

19 sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.

20 sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

21 sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

22 tn Heb “come against.”

23 tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

24 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

25 tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

26 tn Heb “give.”

27 tn Heb “they will remove.”

28 tn Heb “fall.”

29 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

30 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

31 tn The word “kings” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the referent.

32 tn See BDAG 636 s.v. μετά A.2.a.α.

33 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

34 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

35 tn Grk “and multitudes,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here and before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

36 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

37 tn A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

38 tn The final clause could also be turned into an adverbial clause of means: “They will consume her flesh by burning her with fire.”

39 tn Grk “hearts.”

40 tn Or “his intent.”

41 tn The infinitive ποιῆσαι (poihsai) was translated here as giving the logical means by which God’s purpose was carried out.

42 tn On this term BDAG 203 s.v. γνώμη 4 states, “declaration, decision, resolution…of God Rv 17:17.”

43 tn For this translation see BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a, “kingship, royal power, royal rule.

44 tn Or “completed.”