22:14 My strength drains away like water; 1
all my bones are dislocated;
my heart 2 is like wax;
it melts away inside me.
64:7 But God will shoot 3 at them;
suddenly they will be 4 wounded by an arrow. 5
64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. 6
All who see them will shudder, 7
112:10 When the wicked 8 see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration 9 and melt away;
the desire of the wicked will perish. 10
15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, 11
trembling will seize 12 the leaders of Moab,
and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.
7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho 23 to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel 24 ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.
13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, 27
every human heart loses its courage. 28
1 tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”
2 sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.
3 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.
4 tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.
5 tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
6 tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.
7 tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.
8 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).
9 tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.
10 tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).
11 tn This is a prophetic perfect.
12 tn This verb is imperfect tense.
13 tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.
14 tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”
15 tn Or “melting away because of.”
16 tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the
17 tn Heb “and what you did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, how you annihilated them.”
18 tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”
19 tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shÿvarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).
20 sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.
21 tn Or “army’s.”
22 tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”
23 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
24 map For the location of Bethel see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
25 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “they”; the referent (their territory) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”
28 tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).