2 Kings 22:20

22:20 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. ¹  You will not have to witness ²  all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.

2 Kings 23:30

23:30 His servants transported his dead body ³  from Megiddo in a chariot and brought it to Jerusalem, where they buried him in his tomb. The people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, poured olive oil on his head, ⁴  and made him king in his father’s place.

2 Kings 23:2

23:2 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 ⁵  all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.

2 Kings 1:1

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. ⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 4:2

4:2 So I considered ⁷  those who are dead and gone ⁸ 

more fortunate than those who are still alive. ⁹ 

Isaiah 57:1

57:1 The godly ¹⁰  perish,

but no one cares. ¹¹ 

Honest people disappear, ¹² 

when no one ¹³  minds ¹⁴ 

that the godly ¹⁵  disappear ¹⁶  because of ¹⁷  evil. ¹⁸ 

Lamentations 4:9

ט (Tet)

4:9 Those who died by the sword ¹⁹  are better off

than those who die of hunger, ²⁰ 

those who ²¹  waste away, ²² 

struck down ²³  from lack of ²⁴  food. ²⁵ 

Luke 23:28

23:28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, ²⁶  do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves ²⁷  and for your children.

[22:20]  ¹ tn Heb “Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace.”

[22:20]  ² tn Heb “your eyes will not see.”

[23:30]  ³ tn Heb “him, dead.”

[23:30]  ⁴ tn Or “anointed him.”

[23:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “read in their ears.”

[1:1]  ⁶ sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.

[4:2]  ⁷ tn The verb שָׁבַח (shavakh) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “to praise; to laud”; and (2) “to congratulate” (HALOT 1387 s.v. I שׁבח; BDB 986 s.v. II שָׁבַח). The LXX translated it as ἐπῄνεσα (ephnesa, “I praised”). The English versions reflect the range of possible meanings: “praised” (KJV, ASV, Douay); “congratulated” (MLB, NASB); “declared/judged/accounted/thought…fortunate/happy” (NJPS, NEB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NAB).

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the dead who had already died.”

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the living who are alive.”

[57:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”

[57:1]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”

[57:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.

[57:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”

[57:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ¹⁷ tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).

[57:1]  ¹⁸ tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.

[4:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “those pierced of the sword.” The genitive-construct denotes instrumentality: “those pierced by the sword” (חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב, khalle-kherev). The noun חָלָל (khalal) refers to a “fatal wound” and is used substantivally to refer to “the slain” (Num 19:18; 31:8, 19; 1 Sam 17:52; 2 Sam 23:8, 18; 1 Chr 11:11, 20; Isa 22:2; 66:16; Jer 14:18; 25:33; 51:49; Lam 4:9; Ezek 6:7; 30:11; 31:17, 18; 32:20; Zeph 2:12).

[4:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those slain of hunger.” The genitive-construct denotes instrumentality: “those slain by hunger,” that is, those who are dying of hunger.

[4:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “who…” The antecedent of the relative pronoun שֶׁהֵם (shehem, “who”) are those dying of hunger in the previous line: מֵחַלְלֵי רָעָב (mekhalle ra’av, “those slain of hunger”).

[4:9]  ²² tn Heb “they flow away.” The verb זוּב (zuv, “to flow, gush”) is used figuratively here, meaning “to pine away” or “to waste away” from hunger. See also the next note.

[4:9]  ²³ tn Heb “pierced through and through.” The term מְדֻקָּרִים (mÿduqqarim), Pual participle masculine plural from דָּקַר (daqar, “to pierce”), is used figuratively. The verb דָּקַר (daqar, “to pierce”) usually refers to a fatal wound inflicted by a sword or spear (Num 25:8; Judg 9:54; 1 Sam 31:4; 1 Chr 10:4; Isa 13:15; Jer 37:10; 51:4; Zech 12:10; 13:3). Here, it describes people dying from hunger. This is an example of hypocatastasis: an implied comparison between warriors being fatally pierced by sword and spear and the piercing pangs of hunger and starvation. Alternatively “those who hemorrhage (זוּב [zuv, “flow, gush”]) [are better off] than those pierced by lack of food” in parallel to the structure of the first line.

[4:9]  ²⁴ tn The preposition מִן (min, “from”) denotes deprivation: “from lack of” something (BDB 580 s.v. 2.f; HALOT 598 s.v. 6).

[4:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “produce of the field.”

[23:28]  ²⁶ sn The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation.

[23:28]  ²⁷ sn Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves. Judgment now comes on the nation (see Luke 19:41-44) for this judgment of Jesus. Ironically, they mourn the wrong person – they should be mourning for themselves.