Deuteronomy 29:24-28

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 ¹  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. ²  29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ³  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 29:2

The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed

29:2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did ⁴  in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land.

Deuteronomy 7:20-22

7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets ⁵  among them until the very last ones who hide from you ⁶  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, ⁷  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.

Isaiah 26:11

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ⁸ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ⁹ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 40:2-3

40:2 The captain of the royal guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this place with this disaster. 40:3 Now he has brought it about. The Lord has done just as he threatened to do. This disaster has happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. ¹¹ 

Lamentations 2:16-17

פ (Pe)

2:16 All your enemies

gloated over you. ¹² 

They sneered and gnashed their teeth;

they said, “We have destroyed ¹³  her!

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

We have lived to see it!” ¹⁴ 

ע (Ayin)

2:17 The Lord has done what he planned;

he has fulfilled ¹⁵  his promise ¹⁶ 

that he threatened ¹⁷  long ago: ¹⁸ 

He has overthrown you without mercy ¹⁹ 

and has enabled the enemy to gloat over you;

he has exalted your adversaries’ power. ²⁰ 

[29:24]  ¹ tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

[29:26]  ² tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

[29:27]  ³ tn Heb “the entire curse.”

[29:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes “to your eyes,” but this is redundant in English style (cf. the preceding “you have seen”) and is omitted in the translation.

[7:20]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”

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

[26:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[40:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Because you [masc. pl.] sinned against the Lord and did not hearken to his voice [a common idiom for “obey him”], this thing has happened to you [masc. pl.].”

[2:16]  ¹² tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”

[2:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “We have swallowed!”

[2:16]  ¹⁴ 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.

[2:17]  ¹⁵ tn The verb בָּצַע (batsa’) has a broad range of meanings: (1) “to cut off, break off,” (2) “to injure” a person, (3) “to gain by violence,” (4) “to finish, complete” and (5) “to accomplish, fulfill” a promise.

[2:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “His word.” When used in collocation with the verb בָּצַע (batsa’, “to fulfill,” see previous tn), the accusative noun אִמְרָה (’imrah) means “promise.”

[2:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “commanded” or “decreed.” If a reference to prophetic oracles is understood, then “decreed” is preferable. If understood as a reference to the warnings in the covenant, then “threatened” is a preferable rendering.

[2:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from days of old.”

[2:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “He has overthrown and has not shown mercy.” The two verbs חָרַס וְלֹא חָמָל (kharas vÿlo’ khamal) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its verbal sense and the second functions adverbially: “He has overthrown you without mercy.” וְלֹא חָמָל (vÿlo’ khamal) alludes to 2:2.

[2:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.” 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; Ezek 29:21), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” To lift up the horn often means to boast and to lift up someone else’s horn is to give victory or cause to boast.