1 Kings 9:8-9

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?’ 9:9 Others will then answer, ³  ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors ⁴  out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. ⁵  That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.’”

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. ⁶ 

1 Kings 7:21-22

7:21 He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right ⁷  side and called it Jakin; ⁸  he erected the other pillar on the left ⁹  side and called it Boaz. ¹⁰  7:22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the construction of the pillars was completed.

Jeremiah 22:8-9

22:8 “‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?” 22:9 The answer will come back, “It is because they broke their covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped and served other gods.”

Lamentations 2:15-17

ס (Samek)

2:15 All who passed by on the road

clapped their hands to mock you. ¹¹ 

They sneered and shook their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem.

“Ha! Is this the city they called ¹² 

‘The perfection of beauty, ¹³ 

the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ¹⁴ 

פ (Pe)

2:16 All your enemies

gloated over you. ¹⁵ 

They sneered and gnashed their teeth;

they said, “We have destroyed ¹⁶  her!

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

We have lived to see it!” ¹⁷ 

ע (Ayin)

2:17 The Lord has done what he planned;

he has fulfilled ¹⁸  his promise ¹⁹ 

that he threatened ²⁰  long ago: ²¹ 

He has overthrown you without mercy ²² 

and has enabled the enemy to gloat over you;

he has exalted your adversaries’ power. ²³ 

Lamentations 4:12

ל (Lamed)

4:12 Neither the kings of the earth

nor the people of the lands ²⁴  ever thought ²⁵ 

that enemy or foe would enter

the gates ²⁶  of Jerusalem. ²⁷ 

Ezekiel 14:23

14:23 They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Romans 2:5

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ²⁸  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ²⁹ 

[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.

[9:9]  ³ tn Heb “and they will say.”

[9:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[9:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they took hold of other gods and bowed down to them and served them.”

[9:2]  ⁶ sn In the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. See 1 Kgs 3:5.

[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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “of which they said.”

[2:15]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.

[2:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”

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

[2:16]  ¹⁷ 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.

[2:17]  ¹⁸ tn The verb בָּצַע (batsa’) has a broad range of meanings: (1) “to cut off, break off,” (2) “to injure” a person, (3) “to gain by violence,” (4) “to finish, complete” and (5) “to accomplish, fulfill” a promise.

[2:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “His word.” When used in collocation with the verb בָּצַע (batsa’, “to fulfill,” see previous tn), the accusative noun אִמְרָה (’imrah) means “promise.”

[2:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “commanded” or “decreed.” If a reference to prophetic oracles is understood, then “decreed” is preferable. If understood as a reference to the warnings in the covenant, then “threatened” is a preferable rendering.

[2:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “from days of old.”

[2:17]  ²² tn Heb “He has overthrown and has not shown mercy.” The two verbs חָרַס וְלֹא חָמָל (kharas vÿlo’ khamal) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its verbal sense and the second functions adverbially: “He has overthrown you without mercy.” וְלֹא חָמָל (vÿlo’ khamal) alludes to 2:2.

[2:17]  ²³ tn Heb “He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.” The term “horn” (קֶרֶן, qeren) normally refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Israel. This term is often used figuratively as a symbol of strength, usually in reference to the military might of an army (Deut 33:17; 1 Sam 2:1, 10; 2 Sam 22:3; Pss 18:3; 75:11; 89:18, 25; 92:11; 112:9; 1 Chr 25:5; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:3; Ezek 29:21), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” To lift up the horn often means to boast and to lift up someone else’s horn is to give victory or cause to boast.

[4:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “inhabitants of the mainland.”

[4:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they did not believe that.” The verb הֶאֱמִינוּ (he’eminu), Hiphil perfect 3rd person common plural from אָמַן (’aman, “to believe”), ordinarily is a term of faith and trust, but occasionally it functions cognitively: “to think that” (Job 9:16; 15:22; Ps 116:10; Lam 4:12) and “to be convinced that” (Ps 27:13) (HALOT 64 s.v. I אמן hif.1). The semantic relationship between “to believe” = “to think” is metonymical, that is, effect for cause.

[4:12]  ²⁶ sn The expression “to enter the gates” of a city is an idiom referring to the military conquest of that city. Ancient Near Eastern fortified cities typically featured double and sometimes triple city gates – the bulwark of the defense of the city. Because fortified cities were enclosed with protective walls, the Achilles tendon of every city was the city gates – the weak point in the defense and the perennial point of attack by enemies (e.g., Judg 5:8, 11; 1 Sam 17:52; Isa 29:6; Jer 17:27; 51:54; Ezek 21:20, 27; Mic 1:9, 12; Neh 1:3; 2:3, 13, 17).

[4:12]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:5]  ²⁸ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ²⁹ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”