2 Samuel 12:17

12:17 The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.

Job 16:15

16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, ¹ 

and buried ²  my horn ³  in the dust;

Isaiah 22:12

22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,

for shaved heads and sackcloth. ⁴ 

Isaiah 58:5-8

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ⁵ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ⁶ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ⁷  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ⁸ 

I want you ⁹  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ¹⁰ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

58:7 I want you ¹¹  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ¹² 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ¹³ 

58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ¹⁴ 

your restoration will quickly arrive; ¹⁵ 

your godly behavior ¹⁶  will go before you,

and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ¹⁷ 

Joel 1:13

1:13 Get dressed ¹⁸  and lament, you priests!

Wail, you who minister at the altar!

Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God,

because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings

to the temple of your God anymore. ¹⁹ 

[16:15]  ¹ sn The language is hyperbolic; Job is saying that the sackcloth he has put on in his lamentable state is now stuck to his skin as if he had stitched it into the skin. It is now a habitual garment that he never takes off.

[16:15]  ² tn The Poel עֹלַלְתִּי (’olalti) from עָלַל (’alal, “to enter”) has here the meaning of “to thrust in.” The activity is the opposite of “raising high the horn,” a picture of dignity and victory.

[16:15]  ³ tn There is no English term that captures exactly what “horn” is meant to do. Drawn from the animal world, the image was meant to convey strength and pride and victory. Some modern commentators have made other proposals for the line. Svi Rin suggested from Ugaritic that the verb be translated “lower” or “dip” (“Ugaritic – Old Testament Affinities,” BZ 7 [1963]: 22-33).

[22:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.” See the note at 15:2.

[58:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ⁷ tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[58:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ⁹ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”

[58:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”

[58:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.

[58:8]  ¹⁷ sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.

[1:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “put on.” There is no object present in the Hebrew text, but many translations assume “sackcloth” to be the understood object of the verb “put on.” Its absence in the Hebrew text of v. 13 is probably due to metrical considerations. The meter here is 3 + 3, and that has probably influenced the prophet’s choice of words.

[1:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”