1 Samuel 15:27-28

15:27 When Samuel turned to leave, Saul ¹  grabbed the edge of his robe and it tore. 15:28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to one of your colleagues who is better than you!

1 Samuel 15:1

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. ² 

1 Samuel 11:1-2

Saul Comes to the Aid of Jabesh

11:1 ³ Nahash ⁴  the Ammonite marched ⁵  against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.”

11:2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!”

1 Samuel 13:15-19

13:15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal ⁶  to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ⁷  Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men. 13:16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash. ⁸  13:17 Raiding bands went out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One band turned toward the road leading to Ophrah by the land of Shual; 13:18 another band turned toward the road leading to Beth Horon; and yet another band turned toward the road leading to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboim in the direction of the desert.

13:19 A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.”

Jeremiah 13:1-11

An Object Lesson from Ruined Linen Shorts

13:1 The Lord said to me, “Go and buy some linen shorts ⁹  and put them on. ¹⁰  Do not put them in water.” ¹¹  13:2 So I bought the shorts as the Lord had told me to do ¹²  and put them on. ¹³  13:3 Then the Lord spoke to me again and said, ¹⁴  13:4 “Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing ¹⁵  and go at once ¹⁶  to Perath. ¹⁷  Bury the shorts there ¹⁸  in a crack in the rocks.” 13:5 So I went and buried them at Perath ¹⁹  as the Lord had ordered me to do. 13:6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to Perath and get ²⁰  the shorts I ordered you to bury there.” 13:7 So I went to Perath and dug up ²¹  the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found ²²  that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.

13:8 Then the Lord said to me, ²³  13:9 “I, the Lord, say: ²⁴  ‘This shows how ²⁵  I will ruin the highly exalted position ²⁶  in which Judah and Jerusalem ²⁷  take pride. 13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. ²⁸  They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance ²⁹  to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So ³⁰  they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing. 13:11 For,’ I say, ³¹  ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah ³²  tightly ³³  to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. ³⁴  But they would not obey me.

Jeremiah 19:10-11

19:10 The Lord continued, ³⁵  “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you. 19:11 Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, ³⁶  ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. ³⁷  I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. ³⁸  The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ ³⁹ 

Ezekiel 24:19-25

24:19 Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?”

24:20 So I said to them: “The word of the Lord came to me: 24:21 Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary – the source of your confident pride, ⁴⁰  the object in which your eyes delight, ⁴¹  and your life’s passion. ⁴²  Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die ⁴³  by the sword. 24:22 Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lip or eat food brought by others. ⁴⁴  24:23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot ⁴⁵  for your iniquities ⁴⁶  and groan among yourselves. 24:24 Ezekiel will be an object lesson for you; you will do all that he has done. When it happens, then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’

24:25 “And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take ⁴⁷  from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, ⁴⁸  as well as their sons and daughters: ⁴⁹ 

Hosea 12:10

12:10 I spoke to the prophets;

I myself revealed many visions; ⁵⁰ 

I spoke in parables ⁵¹  through ⁵²  the prophets.”

[15:27]  ¹ tn Heb “he,” but Saul is clearly the referent. A Qumran ms and the LXX include the name “Saul” here.

[15:1]  ² tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

[11:1]  ³ tc 4QSam^a and Josephus (Ant. 6.68-71) attest to a longer form of text at this point. The addition explains Nahash’s practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the MT. The NRSV adopts this reading, with the following English translation: “Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh-gilead.” This reading should not be lightly dismissed; it may in fact provide a text superior to that of the MT and the ancient versions. But the external evidence for it is so limited as to induce caution; the present translation instead follows the MT. However, for a reasonable case for including this reading in the text see the discussions in P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 199, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 103.

[11:1]  ⁴ sn The name “Nahash” means “serpent” in Hebrew.

[11:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “went up and camped”; NIV, NRSV “went up and besieged.”

[13:15]  ⁶ tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal….”

[13:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).

[13:16]  ⁸ tn The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses in v.16 indicates synchronic action.

[13:1]  ⁹ tn The term here (אֵזוֹר, ’ezor) has been rendered in various ways: “girdle” (KJV, ASV), “waistband” (NASB), “waistcloth” (RSV), “sash” (NKJV), “belt” (NIV, NCV, NLT), and “loincloth” (NAB, NRSV, NJPS, REB). The latter is more accurate according to J. M. Myers, “Dress and Ornaments,” IDB 1:870, and W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:399. It was a short, skirt-like garment reaching from the waist to the knees and worn next to the body (cf. v. 9). The modern equivalent is “shorts” as in TEV/GNB, CEV.

[13:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “upon your loins.” The “loins” were the midriff of the body from the waist to the knees. For a further discussion including the figurative uses see, IDB, “Loins,” 3:149.

[13:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “Do not ever put them in water,” i.e., “Do not even wash them.”

[13:2]  ¹² tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord.”

[13:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “upon your loins.” The “loins” were the midriff of the body from the waist to the knees. For a further discussion including the figurative uses see R. C. Dentan, “Loins,” IDB 3:149-50.

[13:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying.”

[13:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “which are upon your loins.” See further the notes on v. 1.

[13:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Get up and go.” The first verb is not literal but is idiomatic for the initiation of an action.

[13:4]  ¹⁷ tn There has been a great deal of debate about whether the place referred to here is a place (Parah [= Perath] mentioned in Josh 18:23, modern Khirbet Farah, near a spring ’ain Farah) about three and a half miles from Anathoth which was Jeremiah’s home town or the Euphrates River. Elsewhere the word “Perath” always refers to the Euphrates but it is either preceded by the word “river of” or there is contextual indication that the Euphrates is being referred to. Because a journey to the Euphrates and back would involve a journey of more than 700 miles (1,100 km) and take some months, scholars both ancient and modern have questioned whether “Perath” refers to the Euphrates here and if it does whether a real journey was involved. Most of the attempts to identify the place with the Euphrates involve misguided assumptions that this action was a symbolic message to Israel about exile or the corrupting influence of Assyria and Babylon. However, unlike the other symbolic acts in Jeremiah (and in Isaiah and Ezekiel) the symbolism is not part of a message to the people but to Jeremiah; the message is explained to him (vv. 9-11) not the people. In keeping with some of the wordplays that are somewhat common in Jeremiah it is likely that the reference here is to a place, Parah, which was near Jeremiah’s hometown, but whose name would naturally suggest to Jeremiah later in the Lord’s explanation in vv. 9-11 Assyria-Babylon as a place connected with Judah’s corruption (see the notes on vv. 9-10). For further discussion the reader should consult the commentaries, especially W. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:396 and W. McKane, Jeremiah (ICC), 1:285-92 who take opposite positions on this issue.

[13:4]  ¹⁸ sn The significance of this act is explained in vv. 9-10. See the notes there for explanation.

[13:5]  ¹⁹ tc The translation reads בִּפְרָתָה (bifratah) with 4QJer^a as noted in W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:393 instead of בִּפְרָת (bifrat) in the MT.

[13:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Get from there.” The words “from there” are not necessary to the English sentence. They would lead to a redundancy later in the verse, i.e., “from there…bury there.”

[13:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “dug and took.”

[13:7]  ²² tn Heb “And behold.”

[13:8]  ²³ tn Heb “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying.”

[13:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.”

[13:9]  ²⁵ tn In a sense this phrase which is literally “according to thus” or simply “thus” points both backward and forward: backward to the acted out parable and forward to the explanation which follows.

[13:9]  ²⁶ tn Many of the English versions have erred in rendering this word “pride” or “arrogance” with the resultant implication that the Lord is going to destroy Israel’s pride, i.e., humble them through the punishment of exile. However, BDB 144-45 s.v. גָּאוֹן 1 is more probably correct when they classify this passage among those that deal with the “‘majesty, excellence’ of nations, their wealth, power, magnificence of buildings….” The closest parallels to the usage here are in Zech 10:11 (parallel to scepter of Egypt); Ps 47:4 (47:5 HT; parallel to “our heritage” = “our land”); Isa 14:11; and Amos 8:7. The term is further defined in v. 11 where it refers to their special relationship and calling. To translate it “pride” or “arrogance” also ruins the wordplay on “ruin” (נִשְׁחַת [nishkhat] in v. 7 and אַשְׁחִית [’ashkhit] in v. 9).

[13:9]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[13:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to listen to my words.”

[13:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and [they follow] after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[13:10]  ³⁰ tn The structure of this verse is a little unusual. It consists of a subject, “this wicked people” qualified by several “which” clauses preceding a conjunction and a form which would normally be taken as a third person imperative (a Hebrew jussive; וִיהִי, vihi). This construction, called casus pendens by Hebrew grammarians, lays focus on the subject, here calling attention to the nature of Israel’s corruption which makes it rotten and useless to God. See GKC 458 §143.d for other examples of this construction.

[13:11]  ³¹ tn The words “I say” are “Oracle of the Lord” in Hebrew, and are located at the end of this statement in the Hebrew text rather than the beginning. However, they are rendered in the first person and placed at the beginning for smoother English style.

[13:11]  ³² tn Heb “all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah.”

[13:11]  ³³ tn It would be somewhat unnatural in English to render the play on the word translated here “cling tightly” and “bound tightly” in a literal way. They are from the same root word in Hebrew (דָּבַק, davaq), a word that emphasizes the closest of personal relationships and the loyalty connected with them. It is used, for example, of the relationship of a husband and a wife and the loyalty expected of them (cf. Gen 2:24; for other similar uses see Ruth 1:14; 2 Sam 20:2; Deut 11:22).

[13:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I bound them…in order that they might be to me for a people and for a name and for praise and for honor.” The sentence has been separated from the preceding and an equivalent idea expressed which is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[19:10]  ³⁵ tn The words “And the Lord continued” are not in the text. However, they are necessary to take us clearly back to the flow of the narrative begun in vv. 1-2 and interrupted by the long speech in vv. 3-9.

[19:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” For this title see the study note on 2:19. The translation attempts to avoid the confusion of embedding quotes within quotes by reducing this one to an indirect quote.

[19:11]  ³⁷ tn The adverb “Thus” or “Like this” normally points back to something previously mentioned. See, e.g., Exod 29:35; Num 11:15; 15:11; Deut 25:9.

[19:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Like this I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks the vessel of a potter which is not able to be repaired.”

[19:11]  ³⁹ sn See Jer 7:22-23 for parallels.

[24:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”

[24:21]  ⁴¹ sn Heb “the delight of your eyes.” Just as Ezekiel was deprived of his beloved wife (v. 16, the “desire” of his “eyes”) so the Lord would be forced to remove the object of his devotion, the temple, which symbolized his close relationship to his covenant people.

[24:21]  ⁴² tn Heb “the object of compassion of your soul.” The accentuation in the traditional Hebrew text indicates that the descriptive phrases (“the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion”) modify the preceding “my sanctuary.”

[24:21]  ⁴³ tn Heb “fall.”

[24:22]  ⁴⁴ tn See v. 17.

[24:23]  ⁴⁵ tn The same verb appears in 4:17 and 33:10.

[24:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “in your punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

[24:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”

[24:25]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” here and refers to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.

[24:25]  ⁴⁹ tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.

[12:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “I myself multiplied vision[s]”; cf. NASB “I gave numerous visions.”

[12:10]  ⁵¹ tn There is debate whether אֲדַמֶּה (’adammeh, Piel imperfect 1st person common singular) is derived from I דָמָה (damah, “similitude, parable”) or II דָמָה (“oracle of doom”). The lexicons favor the former (BDB 198 s.v. I דָּמָה 1; HALOT 225-26 s.v. I דמה). Most translators favor “parables” (cf. KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV, NJPS), but a few opt for “oracles of doom” (cf. NRSV, TEV, CEV).

[12:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “by the hand of”; KJV, ASV “by the ministry of.”