1 Kings 9:8

9:8 This temple will become a heap of ruins; ¹  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, ²  saying, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

1 Kings 9:2

9:2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, in the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ 

1 Kings 7:20-21

7:20 On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around. ⁴  7:21 He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right ⁵  side and called it Jakin; ⁶  he erected the other pillar on the left ⁷  side and called it Boaz. ⁸ 

Lamentations 2:15-16

ס (Samek)

2:15 All who passed by on the road

clapped their hands to mock you. ⁹ 

They sneered and shook their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem.

“Ha! Is this the city they called ¹⁰ 

‘The perfection of beauty, ¹¹ 

the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ¹² 

פ (Pe)

2:16 All your enemies

gloated over you. ¹³ 

They sneered and gnashed their teeth;

they said, “We have destroyed ¹⁴  her!

Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.

We have lived to see it!” ¹⁵ 

Micah 6:16

6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,

and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; ¹⁶ 

you follow their policies. ¹⁷ 

Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, ¹⁸ 

the city’s ¹⁹  inhabitants will be taunted derisively, ²⁰ 

and nations will mock all of you.” ²¹ 

[9:8]  ¹ tn Heb “and this house will be high [or elevated].” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”

[9:8]  ² tn Heb “hiss,” or perhaps “whistle.” This refers to a derisive sound one would make when taunting an object of ridicule.

[9:2]  ³ sn In the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. See 1 Kgs 3:5.

[7:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the capitals on the two pillars, also above, close beside the bulge which was beside the latticework, two hundred pomegranates in rows around, on the second capital.” The precise meaning of the word translated “bulge” is uncertain.

[7:21]  ⁷ tn Or “south.”

[7:21]  ⁸ sn The name Jakin appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”

[7:21]  ⁹ tn Or “north.”

[7:21]  ¹⁰ sn The meaning of the name Boaz is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בעז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name as בְּעֹז (be’oz, “in strength”) and to understand it as completing the verbal form on the first pillar. Taking the words together and reading from right to left, one can translate the sentence, “he establishes [it] in strength.”

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).

[2:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “of which they said.”

[2:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.

[2:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.

[2:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”

[2:16]  ¹² tn Heb “We have swallowed!”

[2:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.

[6:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”

[6:16]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.

[6:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.

[6:16]  ¹⁸ tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).