Discovery BoxGenesis 9:1-29
Context9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. 1 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 2 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 3 As I gave you 4 the green plants, I now give 5 you everything.
9:4 But 6 you must not eat meat 7 with its life (that is, 8 its blood) in it. 9 9:5 For your lifeblood 10 I will surely exact punishment, 11 from 12 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 13 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 14 since the man was his relative. 15
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 16
by other humans 17
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 18
God 19 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 20 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 21 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 22 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 23 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. 24 9:11 I confirm 25 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 26 be wiped out 27 by the waters of a flood; 28 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 29 of the covenant I am making 30 with you 31 and every living creature with you, a covenant 32 for all subsequent 33 generations: 9:13 I will place 34 my rainbow 35 in the clouds, and it will become 36 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 37 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 38 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 39 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 40 all living things. 41 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 42 the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”
9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things 43 that are on the earth.”
9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 44 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 45
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, 46 began to plant a vineyard. 47 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself 48 inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 49 saw his father’s nakedness 50 and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 51 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 52 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 53 he learned 54 what his youngest son had done 55 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 58
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 59 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 60
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 61
May he live 62 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 9:29 The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.
Genesis 2:1
Context2:1 The heavens and the earth 63 were completed with everything that was in them. 64
Genesis 3:19
Context3:19 By the sweat of your brow 65 you will eat food
until you return to the ground, 66
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” 67
Job 15:20-27
Context15:20 All his days 68 the wicked man suffers torment, 69
throughout the number of the years
that 70 are stored up for the tyrant. 71
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill 72 his ears;
in a time of peace marauders 73 attack him.
15:22 He does not expect 74 to escape from darkness; 75
he is marked for the sword; 76
15:23 he wanders about – food for vultures; 77
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand. 78
15:24 Distress and anguish 79 terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready to launch an attack, 80
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God, 81
and vaunts himself 82 against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him 83
with a thick, strong shield! 84
15:27 Because he covered his face with fat, 85
and made 86 his hips bulge with fat, 87
Job 20:19-27
Context20:19 For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; 88
he has seized a house which he did not build. 89
20:20 For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite; 90
he does not let anything he desires 91 escape. 92
20:21 “Nothing is left for him to devour; 93
that is why his prosperity does not last. 94
20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, 95
distress 96 overtakes him.
the full force of misery will come upon him. 97
20:23 “While he is 98 filling his belly,
God 99 sends his burning anger 100 against him,
and rains down his blows upon him. 101
20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
then an arrow 102 from a bronze bow pierces him.
20:25 When he pulls it out 103 and it comes out of his back,
the gleaming point 104 out of his liver,
terrors come over him.
20:26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; 105
a fire which has not been kindled 106
will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.
20:27 The heavens reveal his iniquity;
the earth rises up against him.
Psalms 73:18-20
Context73:18 Surely 107 you put them in slippery places;
you bring them down 108 to ruin.
73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!
Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! 109
73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. 110
O Lord, when you awake 111 you will despise them. 112
Isaiah 21:2-4
Context21:2 I have received a distressing message: 113
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 114
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; 115
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed 116 by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
I shake in fear; 118
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
[9:2] 1 tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.
[9:2] 2 tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.
[9:3] 3 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 4 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 5 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 8 tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.
[9:4] 9 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:5] 10 tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
[9:5] 11 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
[9:5] 12 tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
[9:5] 13 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 15 tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
[9:6] 16 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 17 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 18 sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.
[9:6] 19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 20 sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).
[9:8] 21 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 22 tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
[9:9] 23 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
[9:10] 24 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 25 tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
[9:11] 28 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 30 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
[9:12] 31 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 32 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 33 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 34 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
[9:13] 35 sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
[9:13] 36 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 37 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 38 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:15] 40 tn Heb “to destroy.”
[9:16] 42 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
[9:18] 44 sn The concluding disjunctive clause is parenthetical. It anticipates the following story, which explains that the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants through Canaan, were cursed because they shared the same moral abandonment that their ancestor displayed. See A. van Selms, “The Canaanites in the Book of Genesis,” OTS 12 (1958): 182-213.
[9:19] 45 tn Heb “was scattered.” The verb פָּצָה (patsah, “to scatter” [Niphal, “to be scattered”]) figures prominently in story of the dispersion of humankind in chap. 11.
[9:20] 46 sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
[9:20] 47 tn Or “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard”; Heb “and Noah, a man of the ground, began and he planted a vineyard.”
[9:21] 48 tn The Hebrew verb גָּלָה (galah) in the Hitpael verbal stem (וַיִּתְגַּל, vayyitggal) means “to uncover oneself” or “to be uncovered.” Noah became overheated because of the wine and uncovered himself in the tent.
[9:22] 49 sn For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.
[9:22] 50 tn Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6-11, 15-19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24-28).
[9:23] 51 tn The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?
[9:23] 52 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
[9:24] 53 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
[9:24] 55 tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
[9:25] 56 sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.
[9:25] 57 sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
[9:25] 58 tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.
[9:26] 59 tn Heb “blessed be.”
[9:26] 60 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 61 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 62 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
[2:1] 63 tn See the note on the phrase “the heavens and the earth” in 1:1.
[2:1] 64 tn Heb “and all the host of them.” Here the “host” refers to all the entities and creatures that God created to populate the world.
[3:19] 65 tn The expression “the sweat of your brow” is a metonymy, the sweat being the result of painful toil in the fields.
[3:19] 66 sn Until you return to the ground. The theme of humankind’s mortality is critical here in view of the temptation to be like God. Man will labor painfully to provide food, obviously not enjoying the bounty that creation promised. In place of the abundance of the orchard’s fruit trees, thorns and thistles will grow. Man will have to work the soil so that it will produce the grain to make bread. This will continue until he returns to the soil from which he was taken (recalling the creation in 2:7 with the wordplay on Adam and ground). In spite of the dreams of immortality and divinity, man is but dust (2:7), and will return to dust. So much for his pride.
[3:19] 67 sn In general, the themes of the curse oracles are important in the NT teaching that Jesus became the cursed one hanging on the tree. In his suffering and death, all the motifs are drawn together: the tree, the sweat, the thorns, and the dust of death (see Ps 22:15). Jesus experienced it all, to have victory over it through the resurrection.
[15:20] 68 tn Heb “all the days of the wicked, he suffers.” The word “all” is an adverbial accusative of time, stating along with its genitives (“of the days of a wicked man”) how long the individual suffers. When the subject is composed of a noun in construct followed by a genitive, the predicate sometimes agrees with the genitive (see GKC 467 §146.a).
[15:20] 69 tn The Hebrew term מִתְחוֹלֵל (mitkholel) is a Hitpolel participle from חִיל (khil, “to tremble”). It carries the idea of “torment oneself,” or “be tormented.” Some have changed the letter ח (khet) for a letter ה (he), and obtained the meaning “shows himself mad.” Theodotion has “is mad.” Syriac (“behave arrogantly,” apparently confusing Hebrew חול with חלל; Heidi M. Szpek, Translation Technique in the Peshitta to Job [SBLDS], 277), Symmachus, and Vulgate have “boasts himself.” But the reading of the MT is preferable.
[15:20] 70 tn It is necessary, with Rashi, to understand the relative pronoun before the verb “they are stored up/reserved.”
[15:20] 71 tn This has been translated with the idea of “oppressor” in Job 6:23; 27:13.
[15:21] 72 tn The word “fill” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.
[15:21] 73 tn The word שׁוֹדֵד (shoded) means “a robber; a plunderer” (see Job 12:6). With the verb bo’ the sentence means that the robber pounces on or comes against him (see GKC 373 §118.f). H. H. Rowley observes that the text does not say that he is under attack, but that the sound of fears is in his ears, i.e., that he is terrified by thoughts of this.
[15:22] 74 tn This is the meaning of the Hiphil imperfect negated: “he does not believe” or “he has no confidence.” It is followed by the infinitive construct functioning as the direct object – he does not expect to return (to escape) from darkness.
[15:22] 75 sn In the context of these arguments, “darkness” probably refers to calamity, and so the wicked can expect a calamity that is final.
[15:22] 76 tn Heb “he is watched [or waited for] by the sword.” G. R. Driver reads it, “he is marked down for the sword” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 78). Ewald suggested “laid up for the sword.” Ball has “looks for the sword.” The MT has a passive participle from צָפָה (tsafah, “to observe, watch”) which can be retained in the text; the meaning of the form can then be understood as the result of the inspection (E. Dhorme, Job, 217).
[15:23] 77 tn The MT has “he wanders about for food – where is it?” The LXX has “he has been appointed for food for vultures,” reading אַיָּה (’ayyah, “vulture”) for אַיֵּה (’ayyeh, “where is it?”). This would carry on the thought of the passage – he sees himself destined for the sword and food for vultures. Many commentators follow this reading while making a number of smaller changes in נֹדֵד (noded, “wandering”) such as נִתַּן (nittan, “is given”), נוֹעַד (no’ad, “is appointed”), נוֹדַע (noda’, “is known”), or something similar. The latter involves no major change in consonants. While the MT “wandering” may not be as elegant as some of the other suggestions, it is not impossible. But there is no reading of this verse that does not involve some change. The LXX has “and he has been appointed for food for vultures.”
[15:23] 78 tn This line is fraught with difficulties (perceived or real), which prompt numerous suggestions. The reading of the MT is “he knows that a day of darkness is fixed in his hand,” i.e., is certain. Many commentators move “day of darkness” to the next verse, following the LXX. Then, suggestions have been offered for נָכוֹן (nakhon, “ready”), such as נֵכֶר (nekher, “disaster”); and for בְּיָדוֹ (bÿyado, “in his hand”) a number of ideas – לְאֵיד (lÿ’ed, “calamity”) or פִּידוֹ (pido, “his disaster”). Wright takes this last view and renders it “he knows that misfortune is imminent,” leaving the “day of darkness” to the next verse.
[15:24] 79 tn If “day and darkness” are added to this line, then this verse is made into a tri-colon – the main reason for transferring it away from the last verse. But the newly proposed reading follows the LXX structure precisely, as if that were the approved construction. The Hebrew of MT has “distress and anguish terrify him.”
[15:24] 80 tn This last colon is deleted by some, moved to v. 26 by others, and the NEB puts it in brackets. The last word (translated here as “launch an attack”) occurs only here. HALOT 472 s.v. כִּידוֹר links it to an Arabic root kadara, “to rush down,” as with a bird of prey. J. Reider defines it as “perturbation” from the same root (“Etymological Studies in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 2 [1952]: 127).
[15:25] 81 sn The symbol of the outstretched hand is the picture of attempting to strike someone, or shaking a fist at someone; it is a symbol of a challenge or threat (see Isa 5:25; 9:21; 10:4).
[15:25] 82 tn The Hitpael of גָּבַר (gavar) means “to act with might” or “to behave like a hero.” The idea is that the wicked boldly vaunts himself before the
[15:26] 83 tn Heb “he runs against [or upon] him with the neck.” The RSV takes this to mean “with a stiff neck.” Several commentators, influenced by the LXX’s “insolently,” have attempted to harmonize with some idiom for neck (“outstretched neck,” for example). Others have made more extensive changes. Pope and Anderson follow Tur-Sinai in accepting “with full battle armor.” But the main idea seems to be that of a headlong assault on God.
[15:26] 84 tn Heb “with the thickness of the bosses of his shield.” The bosses are the convex sides of the bucklers, turned against the foe. This is a defiant attack on God.
[15:27] 85 sn This verse tells us that he is not in any condition to fight, because he is bloated and fat from luxurious living.
[15:27] 86 tn D. W. Thomas defends a meaning “cover” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah). See “Translating Hebrew `asah,” BT 17 [1966]: 190-93.
[15:27] 87 tn The term פִּימָה (pimah), a hapax legomenon, is explained by the Arabic fa’ima, “to be fat.” Pope renders this “blubber.” Cf. KJV “and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.”
[20:19] 88 tc The verb indicates that after he oppressed the poor he abandoned them to their fate. But there have been several attempts to improve on the text. Several have repointed the text to get a word parallel to “house.” Ehrlich came up with עֹזֵב (’ozev, “mud hut”), Kissane had “hovel” (similar to Neh 3:8). M. Dahood did the same (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 306-7). J. Reider came up with עֶזֶב (’ezev, the “leavings”), what the rich were to leave for the poor (“Contributions to the Scriptural text,” HUCA 24 [1952/53]: 103-6). But an additional root עָזַב (’azav) is questionable. And while the text as it stands is general and not very striking, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Dhorme reverses the letters to gain בְּעֹז (bÿ’oz, “with force [or violence]”).
[20:19] 89 tn The last clause says, “and he did not build it.” This can be understood in an adverbial sense, supplying the relative pronoun to the translation.
[20:20] 90 tn Heb “belly,” which represents his cravings, his desires and appetites. The “satisfaction” is actually the word for “quiet; peace; calmness; ease.” He was driven by greedy desires, or he felt and displayed an insatiable greed.
[20:20] 91 tn The verb is the passive participle of the verb חָמַד (khamad) which is one of the words for “covet; desire.” This person is controlled by his desires; there is no escape. He is a slave.
[20:20] 92 tn The verb is difficult to translate in this line. It basically means “to cause to escape; to rescue.” Some translate this verb as “it is impossible to escape”; this may work, but is uncertain. Others translate the verb in the sense of saving something else: N. Sarna says, “Of his most cherished possessions he shall save nothing” (“The Interchange of the Preposition bet and min in Biblical Hebrew,” JBL 78 [1959]: 315-16). The RSV has “he will save nothing in which he delights”; NIV has “he cannot save himself by his treasure.”
[20:21] 93 tn Heb “for his eating,” which is frequently rendered “for his gluttony.” It refers, of course, to all the desires he has to take things from other people.
[20:21] 94 sn The point throughout is that insatiable greed and ruthless plundering to satisfy it will be recompensed with utter and complete loss.
[20:22] 95 tn The word שָׂפַק (safaq) occurs only here; it means “sufficiency; wealth; abundance (see D. W. Thomas, “The Text of Jesaia 2:6 and the Word sapaq,” ZAW 75 [1963]: 88-90).
[20:22] 96 tn Heb “there is straightness for him.” The root צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be narrowed in straits, to be in a bind.” The word here would have the idea of pressure, stress, trouble. One could say he is in a bind.
[20:22] 97 tn Heb “every hand of trouble comes to him.” The pointing of עָמֵל (’amel) indicates it would refer to one who brings trouble; LXX and Latin read an abstract noun עָמָל (’amal, “trouble”) here.
[20:23] 98 tn D. J. A. Clines observes that to do justice to the three jussives in the verse, one would have to translate “May it be, to fill his belly to the full, that God should send…and rain” (Job [WBC], 477). The jussive form of the verb at the beginning of the verse could also simply introduce a protasis of a conditional clause (see GKC 323 §109.h, i). This would mean, “if he [God] is about to fill his [the wicked’s] belly to the full, he will send….” The NIV reads “when he has filled his belly.” These fit better, because the context is talking about the wicked in his evil pursuit being cut down.
[20:23] 99 tn “God” is understood as the subject of the judgment.
[20:23] 100 tn Heb “the anger of his wrath.”
[20:23] 101 tn Heb “rain down upon him, on his flesh.” Dhorme changes עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon him”) to “his arrows”; he translates the line as “he rains his arrows upon his flesh.” The word בִּלְחוּמוֹ (bilkhumo,“his flesh”) has been given a wide variety of translations: “as his food,” “on his flesh,” “upon him, his anger,” or “missiles or weapons of war.”
[20:24] 102 tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.
[20:25] 103 tn The MT has “he draws out [or as a passive, “it is drawn out/forth”] and comes [or goes] out of his back.” For the first verb שָׁלַף (shalaf, “pull, draw”), many commentators follow the LXX and use שֶׁלַח (shelakh, “a spear”). It then reads “and a shaft comes out of his back,” a sword flash comes out of his liver.” But the verse could also be a continuation of the preceding.
[20:25] 104 tn Possibly a reference to lightnings.
[20:26] 105 tn Heb “all darkness is hidden for his laid up things.” “All darkness” refers to the misfortunes and afflictions that await. The verb “hidden” means “is destined for.”
[20:26] 106 tn Heb “not blown upon,” i.e., not kindled by man. But G. R. Driver reads “unquenched” (“Hebrew notes on the ‘Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach’,” JBL 53 [1934]: 289).
[73:18] 107 tn The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.
[73:18] 108 tn Heb “cause them to fall.”
[73:19] 109 tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”
[73:20] 110 tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.
[73:20] 111 sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.
[73:20] 112 tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.
[21:2] 113 tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
[21:2] 114 sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
[21:3] 115 tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”
[21:3] 116 tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”
