3:2 Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.” 1 (Selah) 2
4:2 You men, 3 how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? 4
How long 5 will you love what is worthless 6
and search for what is deceptive? 7 (Selah)
22:7 All who see me taunt 8 me;
they mock me 9 and shake their heads. 10
22:8 They say, 11
“Commit yourself 12 to the Lord!
Let the Lord 13 rescue him!
Let the Lord 14 deliver him, for he delights in him.” 15
42:10 My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, 16
as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 17
4:3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”
4:4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!
35:10 “‘You said, “These two nations, these two lands 23 will be mine, and we will possess them,” 24 – although the Lord was there –
1 tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”
2 sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.
3 tn Heb “sons of man.”
4 tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”
5 tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
6 tn Heb “emptiness.”
7 tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.
8 tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”
9 tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.
10 sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.
11 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.
12 tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גלל here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the
13 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the
14 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the
15 tn That is, “for he [the
16 tc Heb “with a shattering in my bones my enemies taunt me.” A few medieval Hebrew
17 sn “Where is your God?” The enemies ask this same question in v. 3.
18 tn Heb “brothers.”
19 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
20 tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The present translation follows the MT, but the text may be corrupt. H. G. M. Williamson (Ezra, Nehemiah [WBC], 213-14) translates these words as “Will they commit their cause to God?” suggesting that MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”) should be emended to לֵאלֹהִים (lelohim, “to God”), a proposal also found in the apparatus of BHS. In his view later scribes altered the phrase out of theological motivations. J. Blenkinsopp’s translation is similar: “Are they going to leave it all to God?” (Ezra–Nehemiah [OTL], 242-44). However, a problem for this view is the absence of external evidence to support the proposed emendation. The sense of the MT reading may be the notion that the workers – if left to their own limited resources – could not possibly see such a demanding and expensive project through to completion. This interpretation understands the collocation עָזַב (’azav, “to leave”) plus לְ (lÿ, “to”) to mean “commit a matter to someone,” with the sense in this verse “Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves?”
21 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
22 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
23 sn The reference is to Israel and Judah.
24 tn Heb “it.”
25 tn Aram “hand.” So also in v. 17.
26 sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.
27 tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א2 B L W Θ 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA27 puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
28 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
29 tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
30 tn Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.
31 tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said.”
32 tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.
33 sn An allusion to Ps 22:8.