38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; 1
like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
5:22 The wicked 2 will be captured by his 3 own iniquities, 4
and he will be held 5 by the cords of his own sin. 6
נ (Nun)
1:14 My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; 7
they are fastened together by his hand.
He has placed his yoke 8 on my neck; 9
he has sapped my strength. 10
The Lord 11 has handed me over 12
to those whom I cannot resist.
9:1 I saw the sovereign One 13 standing by the altar 14 and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, 15 so the thresholds shake!
Knock them down on the heads of all the people, 16
and I will kill the survivors 17 with the sword.
No one will be able to run away; 18
no one will be able to escape. 19
9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, 20
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from me 21 at the bottom of the sea,
from there 22 I would command the Sea Serpent 23 to bite them.
9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, 24
from there 25 I will command the sword to kill them.
I will not let them out of my sight;
they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” 26
1 tn Heb “pass over my head.”
2 tn The suffix on the verb is the direct object suffix; “the wicked” is a second object by apposition: They capture him, the wicked. Since “the wicked” is not found in the LXX, it could be an old scribal error; or the Greek translator may have simply smoothed out the sentence. C. H. Toy suggests turning the sentence into a passive idea: “The wicked will be caught in his iniquities” (Proverbs [ICC], 117).
3 tn The word is the subject of the clause, but the pronominal suffix has no clear referent. The suffix is proleptic, referring to the wicked.
4 tn Heb “his own iniquities will capture the wicked.” The translation shifts the syntax for the sake of smoothness and readability.
5 sn The lack of discipline and control in the area of sexual gratification is destructive. The one who plays with this kind of sin will become ensnared by it and led to ruin.
6 tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically: “his own iniquities will capture the wicked, by the cords of his own sin will he be held.”
7 tc The consonantal text נשקד על פּשעי (nsqd ’l ps’y) is vocalized by the MT as נִשְׂקַד עֹל פְּשָׁעַי (nisqad ’ol pÿsha’ay, “my transgression is bound by a yoke”); but the ancient versions (LXX, Aramaic Targum, Latin Vulgate, Syriac Peshitta) and many medieval Hebrew
8 tc The MT reads עָלוּ (’alu, “they went up”), Qal perfect 3rd person common plural from עָלָה (’alah, “to go up”). However, several important recensions of the LXX reflect an alternate vocalization tradition: Lucian and Symmachus both reflect a Vorlage of עֻלּוֹ (’ullo, “his yoke”), the noun עֹל (’ol, “yoke”) + 3rd person masculine singular suffix. The Lucianic recension was aimed at bringing the LXX into closer conformity to the Hebrew; therefore, this is an important textual witness. Internal evidence favors the readings of Lucian and Symmachus as well: the entire stanza focuses on the repeated theme of the “yoke” of the
9 tn Heb “his yoke is upon my neck.”
10 tn Heb “he has caused my strength to stumble.” The phrase הִכְשִׁיל כֹּחִי (hikhshil kokhi, “He has made my strength stumble”) is an idiom that means “to weaken, make feeble.”
11 tc Here the MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”), the perpetual Qere reading for יהוה (YHWH, “Yahweh”), but a multitude of Hebrew
12 tn Heb “The
13 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
14 sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.
15 tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.
16 tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”
17 tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.
18 tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”
19 tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”
20 tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”
21 tn Heb “from before my eyes.”
22 tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).
23 sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the
24 tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”
25 tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).
26 tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”