Exodus 9:33

9:33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth.

Job 11:13

11:13 “As for you, ¹  if you prove faithful, ² 

and if ³  you stretch out your hands toward him, ⁴ 

Psalms 28:2

28:2 Hear my plea for mercy when I cry out to you for help,

when I lift my hands ⁵  toward your holy temple! ⁶ 

Psalms 63:4

63:4 For this reason ⁷  I will praise you while I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands. ⁸ 

Psalms 68:31

68:31 They come with red cloth ⁹  from Egypt,

Ethiopia ¹⁰  voluntarily offers tribute ¹¹  to God.

Psalms 141:2

141:2 May you accept my prayer like incense,

my uplifted hands like the evening offering! ¹² 

Psalms 143:6

143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; ¹³ 

my soul thirsts for you in a parched ¹⁴  land. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 50:10

50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?

Who obeys ¹⁶  his servant?

Whoever walks in deep darkness, ¹⁷ 

without light,

should trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

Isaiah 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ¹⁸ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ¹⁹ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 2:8

2:8 Their land is full of worthless idols;

they worship ²¹  the product of their own hands,

what their own fingers have fashioned.

[11:13]  ¹ tn The pronoun is emphatic, designed to put Job in a different class than the hollow men – at least to raise the possibility of his being in a different class.

[11:13]  ² tn The Hebrew uses the perfect of כּוּן (kun, “establish”) with the object “your heart.” The verb can be translated “prepare, fix, make firm” your heart. To fix the heart is to make it faithful and constant, the heart being the seat of the will and emotions. The use of the perfect here does not refer to the past, but should be given a future perfect sense – if you shall have fixed your heart, i.e., prove faithful. Job would have to make his heart secure, so that he was no longer driven about by differing views.

[11:13]  ³ tn This half-verse is part of the protasis and not, as in the RSV, the apodosis to the first half. The series of “if” clauses will continue through these verses until v. 15.

[11:13]  ⁴ sn This is the posture of prayer (see Isa 1:15). The expression means “spread out your palms,” probably meaning that the one praying would fall to his knees, put his forehead to the ground, and spread out his hands in front of him on the ground.

[28:2]  ⁵ sn I lift my hands. Lifting one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer.

[28:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term דְּבִיר (dÿvir, “temple”) actually refers to the most holy place within the sanctuary.

[63:4]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “then.”

[63:4]  ⁸ sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).

[68:31]  ⁹ tn This noun, which occurs only here in the OT, apparently means “red cloth” or “bronze articles” (see HALOT 362 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NEB “tribute”). Traditionally the word has been taken to refer to “nobles” (see BDB 365 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NIV “envoys”). Another option would be to emend the text to הַשְׁמַנִּים (hashmannim, “the robust ones,” i.e., leaders).

[68:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Cush.”

[68:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “causes its hands to run,” which must mean “quickly stretches out its hands” (to present tribute).

[141:2]  ¹² tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”

[143:6]  ¹³ tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.

[143:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.

[143:6]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[50:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[50:10]  ¹⁷ tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.

[50:1]  ¹⁸ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ¹⁹ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ²⁰ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[2:8]  ²¹ tn Or “bow down to” (NIV, NRSV).