Deuteronomy 28:37

28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.

Deuteronomy 29:23-28

29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. ¹  29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ²  all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ³  29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ⁴  written in this scroll. 29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”

Deuteronomy 29:1

Narrative Interlude

29:1 (28:69) ⁵  These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 9:7-8

The History of Israel’s Stubbornness

9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget ⁷  – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. ⁸  9:8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you.

Deuteronomy 9:2

9:2 They include the Anakites, ⁹  a numerous ¹⁰  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?”

Deuteronomy 7:20-22

7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets ¹¹  among them until the very last ones who hide from you ¹²  perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 7:22 He, ¹³  the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you.

Psalms 44:13-14

44:13 You made us ¹⁴  an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ¹⁵ 

44:14 You made us ¹⁶  an object of ridicule ¹⁷  among the nations;

foreigners treat us with contempt. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 44:16

44:16 before the vindictive enemy

who ridicules and insults me. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 79:4

79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 65:15-16

65:15 Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones. ²¹ 

The sovereign Lord will kill you,

but he will give his servants another name.

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ²² 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ²³ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ²⁴ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 24:9

24:9 I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ²⁶  That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 25:18

25:18 I made Jerusalem ²⁸  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ²⁹  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ³⁰  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ³¹  Such is already becoming the case! ³² 

Jeremiah 26:6

26:6 If you do not obey me, ³³  then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. ³⁴  And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”

Jeremiah 29:18

29:18 I will chase after them with war, ³⁵  starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them.

Jeremiah 42:18

42:18 For ³⁶  the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ³⁷  says, ‘If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem. ³⁸  You will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. ³⁹  You will never see this place again.’ ⁴⁰ 

Jeremiah 44:12

44:12 I will see to it that all the Judean remnant that was determined to go ⁴¹  and live in the land of Egypt will be destroyed. Here in the land of Egypt they will fall in battle ⁴²  or perish from starvation. People of every class ⁴³  will die in war or from starvation. They will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. ⁴⁴ 

Jeremiah 44:22

44:22 Finally the Lord could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses. ⁴⁵ 

Lamentations 2:15-16

ס (Samek)

2:15 All who passed by on the road

clapped their hands to mock you. ⁴⁶ 

They sneered and shook their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem.

“Ha! Is this the city they called ⁴⁷ 

‘The perfection of beauty, ⁴⁸ 

the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ⁴⁹ 

פ (Pe)

2:16 All your enemies

gloated over you. ⁵⁰ 

They sneered and gnashed their teeth;

they said, “We have destroyed ⁵¹  her!

Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.

We have lived to see it!” ⁵² 

Lamentations 4:15

ס (Samek)

4:15 People cry to them, “Turn away! You are unclean!

Turn away! Turn away! Don’t touch us!”

So they have fled and wander about;

but the nations say, ⁵³  “They may not stay here any longer.”

Ezekiel 5:15

5:15 You will be ⁵⁴  an object of scorn and taunting, ⁵⁵  a prime example of destruction ⁵⁶  among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury. ⁵⁷  I, the Lord, have spoken!

Daniel 9:11

9:11 “All Israel has broken ⁵⁸  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ⁵⁹  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ⁶⁰  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ⁶¹ 

[29:23]  ¹ tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.

[29:24]  ² tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

[29:26]  ³ tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

[29:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “the entire curse.”

[29:1]  ⁵ sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[29:1]  ⁶ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[9:7]  ⁷ tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.

[9:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise in the following verse with both “him” and “he”). See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:2]  ⁹ sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

[9:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[7:20]  ¹¹ tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).

[7:20]  ¹² tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”

[7:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 7:19.

[44:13]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.”

[44:14]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a proverb,” or “[the subject of] a mocking song.”

[44:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a shaking of the head among the peoples.” Shaking the head was a derisive gesture (see Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15).

[44:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the voice of one who ridicules and insults, from the face of an enemy and an avenger.” See Ps 8:2.

[79:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.

[65:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “you will leave your name for an oath to my chosen ones.”

[65:16]  ²² tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ²³ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”

[24:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “an object of reproach in peoples’ proverbs…an object of ridicule in people’s curses.” The alternate translation treats the two pairs which are introduced without vavs (ו) but are joined by vavs as examples of hendiadys. This is very possible here but the chain does not contain this pairing in 25:18; 29:18.

[24:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I will make them for a terror for disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, for a reproach and for a proverb, for a taunt and a curse in all the places which I banish them there.” The complex Hebrew sentence has been broken down into equivalent shorter sentences to conform more with contemporary English style.

[25:18]  ²⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:18]  ²⁹ tn The words “I made” and “drink it” are not in the text. The text from v. 18 to v. 26 contains a list of the nations that Jeremiah “made drink it.” The words are supplied in the translation here and at the beginning of v. 19 for the sake of clarity. See also the note on v. 26.

[25:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in order to make them a ruin, an object of…” The sentence is broken up and the antecedents are made specific for the sake of clarity and English style.

[25:18]  ³¹ tn See the study note on 24:9 for explanation.

[25:18]  ³² tn Heb “as it is today.” This phrase would obviously be more appropriate after all these things had happened as is the case in 44:6, 23 where the verbs referring to these conditions are past. Some see this phrase as a marginal gloss added after the tragedies of 597 b.c. or 586 b.c. However, it may refer here to the beginning stages where Judah has already suffered the loss of Josiah, of its freedom, of some of its temple treasures, and of some of its leaders (Dan 1:1-3. The different date for Jehoiakim there is due to the different method of counting the king’s first year; the third year there is the same as the fourth year in 25:1).

[26:6]  ³³ tn 26:4-6 are all one long sentence containing a long condition with subordinate clauses (vv. 4-5) and a compound consequence in v. 6: Heb “If you will not obey me by walking in my law…by paying attention to the words of the prophets which…and you did not pay heed, then I will make…and I will make…” The sentence has been broken down in conformity to contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to reflect all the subordinations in the English translation.

[26:6]  ³⁴ sn See the study note on Jer 7:13.

[29:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “with the sword.”

[42:18]  ³⁶ tn Or “Indeed.”

[42:18]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study note on 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title.

[42:18]  ³⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[42:18]  ³⁹ tn See the study note on 24:9 and the usage in 29:22 for the meaning and significance of this last phrase.

[42:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “land.” The reference is, of course, to the land of Judah.

[44:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they set their face to go.” Compare 44:11 and 42:14 and see the translator’s note at 42:15.

[44:12]  ⁴² tn Heb “fall by the sword.”

[44:12]  ⁴³ tn Or “All of them without distinction,” or “All of them from the least important to the most important”; Heb “From the least to the greatest.” See the translator’s note on 42:1 for the meaning of this idiom.

[44:12]  ⁴⁴ tn See the study note on 24:9 and the usage in 29:22 for the meaning and significance of this last phrase.

[44:22]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “And/Then the Lord could no longer endure because of the evil of your deeds [and] because of the detestable things that you did and [or so] your land became a desolation and a waste and an occasion of a curse without inhabitant as this day.” The sentence has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style, but an attempt has been made to preserve the causal and consequential connections.

[2:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).

[2:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “of which they said.”

[2:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.

[2:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.

[2:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”

[2:16]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “We have swallowed!”

[2:16]  ⁵² tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.

[4:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “They say among the nations.”

[5:15]  ⁵⁴ tc This reading is supported by the versions and by the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QEzek). Most Masoretic Hebrew mss read “it will be,” but if the final he (ה) is read as a mater lectionis, as it can be with the second masculine singular perfect, then they are in agreement. In either case the subject refers to Jerusalem.

[5:15]  ⁵⁵ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. A related verb means “revile, taunt” (see Ps 44:16).

[5:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “discipline and devastation.” These words are omitted in the Old Greek. The first term pictures Jerusalem as a recipient or example of divine discipline; the second depicts her as a desolate ruin (see Ezek 6:14).

[5:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “in anger and in fury and in rebukes of fury.” The heaping up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of God’s anger.

[9:11]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ⁶⁰ 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.

[9:11]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “him.”