2 Kings 22:16-17
Context22:16 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read. 1 22:17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices 2 to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. 3 My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’”
2 Kings 22:19
Context22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit 4 and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. 5 You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord.
2 Kings 23:26
Context23:26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 6
2 Kings 23:2
Context23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud 7 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.
2 Kings 1:13
Context1:13 The king 8 sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell 9 on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours.
Ezra 9:6-7
Context9:6 I prayed, 10
“O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens. 9:7 From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and 11 priests, have been delivered over by the local kings 12 to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time.
Ezra 9:13
Context9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint 13 toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this.
Nehemiah 9:26-27
Context9:26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. 14 They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies. 9:27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from 15 their adversaries.
Psalms 60:1
ContextFor the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 17 a prayer 18 of David written to instruct others. 19 It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down 20 12,000 Edomites 21 in the Valley of Salt. 22
60:1 O God, you have rejected us. 23
You suddenly turned on us in your anger. 24
Please restore us! 25
Psalms 79:5-6
Context79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 26
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 27 burn like fire?
79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, 28
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! 29
Jeremiah 44:6
Context44:6 So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.’
Lamentations 1:12-15
Contextל (Lamed)
1:12 Is it nothing to you, 30 all you who pass by on the road? 31
Look and see!
Is there any pain like mine?
The Lord 32 has afflicted me, 33
he 34 has inflicted it on me
when 35 he burned with anger. 36
מ (Mem)
into my bones, and it overcame 38 them.
He spread out a trapper’s net 39 for my feet;
he made me turn back.
He has made me desolate;
I am faint all day long.
נ (Nun)
1:14 My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; 40
they are fastened together by his hand.
He has placed his yoke 41 on my neck; 42
he has sapped my strength. 43
The Lord 44 has handed me over 45
to those whom I cannot resist.
ס (Samek)
1:15 He rounded up 46 all my mighty ones; 47
The Lord 48 did this 49 in 50 my midst.
He summoned an assembly 51 against me
to shatter my young men.
The Lord has stomped like grapes 52
the virgin daughter, Judah. 53
Lamentations 2:3-5
Contextג (Gimel)
2:3 In fierce anger 54 he destroyed 55
the whole army 56 of Israel.
He withdrew his right hand 57
as the enemy attacked. 58
He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob; 59
it consumed everything around it. 60
ד (Dalet)
2:4 He prepared his bow 61 like an enemy;
his right hand was ready to shoot. 62
Like a foe he killed everyone,
even our strong young men; 63
he has poured out his anger like fire
on the tent 64 of Daughter Zion.
ה (He)
2:5 The Lord, 65 like an enemy,
destroyed 66 Israel.
He destroyed 67 all her palaces;
he ruined her 68 fortified cities.
He made everyone in Daughter Judah
mourn and lament. 69
Lamentations 3:42-45
Context3:42 “We 70 have blatantly rebelled; 71
you 72 have not forgiven.”
ס (Samek)
3:43 You shrouded yourself 73 with anger and then pursued us;
you killed without mercy.
3:44 You shrouded yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
3:45 You make us like filthy scum 74
in the estimation 75 of the nations.
Lamentations 5:7
Context5:7 Our forefathers 76 sinned and are dead, 77
but we 78 suffer 79 their punishment. 80
Ezekiel 22:31
Context22:31 So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, 81 declares the sovereign Lord.”
Daniel 9:11-12
Context9:11 “All Israel has broken 82 your law and turned away by not obeying you. 83 Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened 84 in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. 85 9:12 He has carried out his threats 86 against us and our rulers 87 who were over 88 us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!
Zephaniah 2:1-3
Context2:1 Bunch yourselves together like straw, 89 you undesirable 90 nation,
2:2 before God’s decree becomes reality 91 and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, 92
before the Lord’s raging anger 93 overtakes 94 you –
before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!
2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, 95 all you humble people 96 of the land who have obeyed his commands! 97
Strive to do what is right! 98 Strive to be humble! 99
Maybe you will be protected 100 on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.
Matthew 23:30-32
Context23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, 101 we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors!
Acts 7:52
Context7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors 102 not persecute? 103 They 104 killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, 105 whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! 106
[22:16] 1 tn Heb “all the words of the scroll which the king of Judah has read.”
[22:17] 2 tn Or “burned incense.”
[22:17] 3 tn Heb “angering me with all the work of their hands.” The translation assumes that this refers to idols they have manufactured (note the preceding reference to “other gods,” as well as 19:18). However, it is possible that this is a general reference to their sinful practices, in which case one might translate, “angering me by all the things they do.”
[22:19] 4 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”
[22:19] 5 tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.
[23:26] 6 tn Heb “Yet the
[23:2] 7 tn Heb “read in their ears.”
[1:13] 8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:13] 9 tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”
[9:7] 11 tc The MT lacks “and” here, but see the LXX and Vulgate.
[9:7] 12 tn Heb “the kings of the lands.”
[9:13] 13 tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).
[9:26] 14 tn Heb “they cast your law behind their backs.”
[9:27] 15 tn Heb “from the hand of” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “from the power of.”
[60:1] 16 sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.
[60:1] 17 tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.
[60:1] 18 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
[60:1] 20 tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.
[60:1] 21 tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).
[60:1] 22 sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.
[60:1] 23 sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.
[60:1] 24 tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”
[60:1] 25 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
[79:5] 26 tn Heb “How long, O
[79:5] 27 tn Or “jealous anger.”
[79:6] 28 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
[79:6] 29 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
[1:12] 30 tc The Heb לוֹא אֲלֵיכֶם (lo’ ’alekhem, “not to you”) is awkward and often considered corrupt but there is no textual evidence yet adduced to certify a more original reading.
[1:12] 31 tn The line as it stands is imbalanced, such that the reference to the passersby may belong here or as a vocative with the following verb translated “look.”
[1:12] 32 tn Heb “He.” The personal pronoun “he” and the personal name “the
[1:12] 33 tn Heb “which was afflicted on me.” The Polal of עָלַל (’alal) gives the passive voice of the Polel. The Polel of the verb עָלַל (’alal) occurs ten times in the Bible, appearing in agricultural passages for gleaning or some other harvest activity and also in military passages. Jer 6:9 plays on this by comparing an attack to gleaning. The relationship between the meaning in the two types of contexts is unclear, but the very neutral rendering “to treat” in some dictionaries and translations misses the nuance appropriate to the military setting. Indeed it is not at all feasible in a passage like Judges 20:45 where “they treated them on the highway” would make no sense but “they mowed them down on the highway” would fit the context. Accordingly the verb is sometimes rendered “treat” or “deal severely,” as HALOT 834 s.v. poel.3 suggests for Lam 3:51, although simply suggesting “to deal with” in Lam 1:22 and 2:20. A more injurious nuance is given to the translation here and in 1:22; 2:20 and 3:51.
[1:12] 34 sn The delay in naming the Lord as cause is dramatic. The natural assumption upon hearing the passive verb in the previous line, “it was dealt severely,” might well be the pillaging army, but instead the Lord is named as the tormentor.
[1:12] 35 tn Heb “in the day of.” The construction בְּיוֹם (bÿyom, “in the day of”) is a common Hebrew idiom, meaning “when” or “on the occasion of” (e.g., Gen 2:4; Lev 7:35; Num 3:1; Deut 4:15; 2 Sam 22:1; Pss 18:1; 138:3; Zech 8:9).
[1:12] 36 tn Heb “on the day of burning anger.”
[1:13] 37 tn Heb “He sent fire from on high.” Normally God sends fire from heaven. The idiom מִמָּרוֹם (mimmarom, “from on high”) can still suggest the location but as an idiom may focus on the quality of the referent. For example, “to speak from on high” means “to presume to speak as if from heaven” = arrogantly (Ps 73:8); “they fight against me from on high” = proudly (Ps 56:3) (BDB 928-29 s.v. מָרוֹם). As a potential locative, מִמָּרוֹם (mimmarom, “from on high”) designates God as the agent; idiomatically the same term paints him as pitiless.
[1:13] 38 tc The MT reads וַיִּרְדֶּנָּה (vayyirdennah, “it prevailed against them”), representing a vav (ו) consecutive + Qal preterite 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person feminine plural suffix from רָדָה (radah, “to prevail”). The LXX κατήγαγεν αὐτό (kathgagen auto, “it descended”) reflects an alternate vocalization tradition of וַיֹּרִדֶנָּה (vayyoridennah, “it descended against them”), representing a vav (ו) consecutive + Hiphil preterite 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person feminine plural suffix from יָרָד (yarad, “to go down”), or הֹרִידָהּ (horidah, “it descended against her”), a Hiphil perfect ms + 3rd person feminine singular suffix from from יָרָד (yarad, “to go down”). Internal evidence favors the MT. The origin of the LXX vocalization can be explained by the influence of the preceding line, “He sent down fire from on high.”
[1:13] 39 tn Heb “net.” The term “trapper’s” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.
[1:14] 40 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
[1:14] 41 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
[1:14] 42 tn Heb “his yoke is upon my neck.”
[1:14] 43 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.”
[1:14] 44 tc Here the MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”), the perpetual Qere reading for יהוה (YHWH, “Yahweh”), but a multitude of Hebrew
[1:14] 45 tn Heb “The
[1:15] 46 tn The verb סָלַה (salah) occurs only twice in OT; once in Qal (Ps 119:118) and once here in Piel. It is possibly a by-form of סָלַל (salal, “to heap up”). It may also be related to Aramaic סלא (sl’) meaning “to throw away” and Assyrian salu/shalu meaning “to hurl (away)” (AHw 1152) or “to kick up dust, shoot (arrows), reject, throw away?” (CAD 17:272). With people as its object shalu is used of people casting away their children, specifically meaning selling them on the market. The LXX translates סָלַה (salah) as ἐξῆρεν (exhren, “to remove, lead away”). Thus God is either (1) heaping them up (dead) in the city square, (2) putting them up for sale in the city square, or (3) leading them out of the city (into exile or to deprive it of defenders prior to attack). The English “round up” could accommodate any of these and is also a cattle term, which fits well with the use of the word “bulls” (see following note).
[1:15] 47 tn Heb “bulls.” Metaphorically, bulls may refer to mighty ones, leaders or warriors. F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp (Lamentations [IBC], 69) insightfully suggests that the Samek stanza presents an overarching dissonance by using terms associated with a celebratory feast (bulls, assembly, and a winepress) in sentences where God is abusing the normally expected celebrants, i.e. the “leaders” are the sacrifice.
[1:15] 48 tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the
[1:15] 49 tn The verb is elided and understood from the preceding colon. Naming “my Lord” as the subject of the verb late, as it were, emphasizes the irony of the action taken by a person in this position.
[1:15] 50 tc The MT reads the preposition בּ (bet, “in”) prefixed to קִרְבִּי (qirbi, “my midst”): בְּקִרְבִּי (bÿkirbi, “in my midst”); however, the LXX reads ἐκ μέσου μου (ek mesou mou) which may reflect a Vorlage of the preposition מִן (min, “from”): מִקִּרְבִּי (miqqirbi, “from my midst”). The LXX may have chosen ἐκ to accommodate understanding סִלָּה (sillah) as ἐξῆρεν (exhren, “to remove, lead away”). The textual deviation may have been caused by an unusual orthographic confusion.
[1:15] 51 tn Heb “an assembly.” The noun מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “assembly”) is normally used in reference to the annual religious festive assemblies of Israel (Ezek 45:17; Hos 9:5; Zeph 3:18; Zech 8:19), though a number of English versions take this “assembly” to refer to the invading army which attacks the city (e.g., NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).
[1:15] 52 tn Heb “a winepress he has stomped.” The noun גַּת (gat, “winepress”) functions as an adverbial accusative of location: “in a winepress.” The translation reflects the synecdoche that is involved – one stomps the grapes that are in the winepress, not the winepress itself.
[1:15] 53 sn The expression the virgin daughter, Judah is used as an epithet, i.e. Virgin Judah or Maiden Judah, further reinforcing the feminine anthrpomorphism.
[2:3] 54 tc The MT reads אַף (’af, “anger”), while the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate) reflect אַפּוֹ (’appo, “His anger”). The MT is the more difficult reading syntactically, while the ancient versions are probably smoothing out the text.
[2:3] 55 tn Heb “cut off, scattered.”
[2:3] 56 tn Heb “every horn of Israel.” 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, 17; Ezek 29:21) (BDB 901 s.v. 2), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” Cutting off the “horn” is a figurative expression for destroying warriors (Jer 48:25; Ps 75:10 [HT 11]).
[2:3] 57 tn Heb “he caused his right hand to turn back.” The implication in such contexts is that the
[2:3] 58 tn Heb “from the presence of the enemy.” This figurative expression refers to the approach of the attacking army.
[2:3] 59 tn Heb “he burned in Jacob like a flaming fire.”
[2:3] 60 tn Or “He burned against Jacob, like a raging fire consumes all around.”
[2:4] 61 tn Heb “bent His bow.” When the verb דָּרַךְ (darakh) is used with the noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “archer-bow”), it means “to bend [a bow]” to string it in preparation for shooting arrows (1 Chr 5:18; 8:40; 2 Chr 14:7; Jer 50:14, 29; 51:3). This idiom is used figuratively to describe the assaults of the wicked (Pss 11:2; 37:14) and the judgments of the
[2:4] 62 tn Heb “His right hand is stationed.”
[2:4] 63 tn Heb “the ones who were pleasing to the eye.”
[2:4] 64 tn The singular noun אֹהֶל (’ohel, “tent”) may function as a collective, referring to all tents in Judah. A parallel expression occurs in verse 2 using the plural: “all the dwellings of Jacob” (כָּל־נְאוֹת יַעֲקֹב, kol-nÿ’ot ya’aqov). The singular “tent” matches the image of “Daughter Zion.” On the other hand, the singular “the tent of Daughter Zion” might be a hyperbolic synecdoche of container (= tent) for contents (= inhabitants of Zion).
[2:5] 65 tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the
[2:5] 66 tn Heb “swallowed up.”
[2:5] 67 tn Heb “swallowed up.”
[2:5] 68 tn Heb “his.” For consistency this has been translated as “her.”
[2:5] 69 tn Heb “He increased in Daughter Judah mourning and lamentation.”
[3:42] 70 tn The Heb emphasiszes the pronoun “We – we have sinned….” Given the contrast with the following, it means “For our part, we have sinned….” A poetic reading in English would place vocal emphasis on “we” followed by a short pause.
[3:42] 71 tn Heb “We have revolted and we have rebelled.” The two verbs פָשַׁעְנוּ וּמָרִינוּ (pasha’nu umarinu, “we have revolted and we have rebelled”) form a verbal hendiadys in which the synonyms emphasize the single idea.
[3:42] 72 tn The Heb emphasiszes the pronoun “You – you have not forgiven.” Given the contrast with the preceding, it means “For your part, you have not forgiven.” A poetic reading in English would place vocal emphasis on “you” followed by a short pause.
[3:43] 73 tn Heb “covered.” The object must be supplied either from the next line (“covered yourself”) or from the end of this line (“covered us”).
[3:45] 74 tn Heb “offscouring and refuse.” The two nouns סְחִי וּמָאוֹס (sÿkhi uma’os) probably form a nominal hendiadys, in which the first noun functions as an adjective and the second retains its full nominal sense: “filthy refuse,” i.e., “filthy scum.”
[3:45] 75 tn Heb “in the midst of.”
[5:7] 76 tn Heb “fathers,” but here the term also refers to “forefathers,” i.e., more distant ancestors.
[5:7] 77 tn Heb “and are no more.”
[5:7] 78 tc The Kethib is written אֲנַחְנוּ (’anakhnu, “we”) but the Qere reads וַאֲנַחְנוּ (va’anakhnu, “but we”). The Qere is supported by many medieval Hebrew
[5:7] 80 tn Heb “their iniquities.” The noun עָוֹן (’avon) has a broad range of meanings, including: (1) iniquity, (2) guilt of iniquity, and (3) consequence or punishment for iniquity (cause-effect metonymical relation). The context suggests that “punishment for sin” is most appropriate here (e.g., Gen 4:13; 19:15; Exod 28:38, 43; Lev 5:1, 17; 7:18; 10:17; 16:22; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19; 22:16; 26:39, 41, 43; Num 5:31; 14:34; 18:1, 23; 30:15; 1 Sam 25:24; 28:10; 2 Sam 14:9; 2 Kgs 7:9; Job 10:14; Pss 31:11; 69:28; 106:43; Prov 5:22; Isa 5:18; 30:13; 40:2; 53:6, 11; 64:5, 6; Jer 51:6; Lam 4:22; 5:7; Ezek 4:4-6, 17; 7:16; 14:10; 18:19-20; 21:30, 34; 24:23; 32:27; 35:5; 39:23; 44:10, 12).
[22:31] 81 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
[9:11] 82 tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.
[9:11] 83 tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”
[9:11] 84 tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.
[9:12] 86 tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”
[9:12] 87 tn Heb “our judges.”
[9:12] 88 tn Heb “who judged.”
[2:1] 89 tn The Hebrew text combines a Hitpolel imperative of קָשַׁשׁ (qashash) with a Qal imperative of the same root. Elsewhere this root appears in the polel stem with the meaning “gather stubble.” Zephaniah’s command is ironic, implying the people are like stubble or straw. As such, they are vulnerable to the Lord’s fiery judgment that will quickly consume them (see 1:18). See Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 96.
[2:1] 90 tn Some relate this word to an Aramaic cognate meaning “to be ashamed.” With the negative particle it would then mean “unashamed” (cf. NIV “shameful”; NRSV “shameless”). However, elsewhere in biblical Hebrew the verb means “to desire,” or with the negative particle “undesirable.” Cf. also NEB “unruly.”
[2:2] 91 tn Heb “before the giving birth of a decree.” For various alternative readings, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 187-88.
[2:2] 92 tn The second half of the line reads literally, “like chaff it passes by a day.” The translation above assumes the “day” is the brief time God is giving the nation to repent. The comparison of this quickly passing opportunity to chaff is consistent with the straw imagery of v. 1.
[2:2] 93 tn Heb “the fury of the anger of the
[2:2] 94 tn Heb “comes upon.” This phrase occurs twice in this verse.
[2:3] 95 tn Heb “seek the
[2:3] 96 tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.
[2:3] 97 tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”
[2:3] 98 tn Heb “Seek what is right.”
[2:3] 99 tn Heb “Seek humility.”
[2:3] 100 tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”
[23:30] 101 tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).
[7:52] 102 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
[7:52] 103 sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.
[7:52] 104 tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
[7:52] 105 sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.
[7:52] 106 sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).