Exodus 9:9

9:9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out and fester ¹  on both people and animals in all the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 15:26

15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey ²  the Lord your God, and do what is right ³  in his sight, and pay attention ⁴  to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all ⁵  the diseases ⁶  that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” ⁷ 

Exodus 15:2

15:2 The Lord ⁸  is my strength and my song, ⁹ 

and he has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise him, ¹⁰ 

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ¹¹  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ¹²  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ¹³  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Job 2:7

Job’s Integrity in Suffering

2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted ¹⁴  Job with a malignant ulcer ¹⁵  from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 38:3-7

38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment; ¹⁷ 

I am deprived of health because of my sin. ¹⁸ 

38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; ¹⁹ 

like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.

38:5 My wounds ²⁰  are infected and starting to smell, ²¹ 

because of my foolish sins. ²² 

38:6 I am dazed ²³  and completely humiliated; ²⁴ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ²⁵ 

and my whole body is sick. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 38:21

38:21 ²⁷  Isaiah ordered, “Let them take a fig cake and apply it to the ulcerated sore and he will get well.”

[9:9]  ¹ tn The word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin) means “boils.” It may be connected to an Arabic cognate that means “to be hot.” The illness is associated with Job (Job 2:7-8) and Hezekiah (Isa 38:21); it has also been connected with other skin diseases described especially in the Law. The word connected with it is אֲבַעְבֻּעֹת (’ava’bu’ot); this means “blisters, pustules” and is sometimes translated as “festering.” The etymology is debated, whether from a word meaning “to swell up” or “to overflow” (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:359).

[15:26]  ² tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of שָׁמַע (shama’). The meaning of the verb is idiomatic here because it is followed by “to the voice of Yahweh your God.” When this is present, the verb is translated “obey.” The construction is in a causal clause. It reads, “If you will diligently obey.” Gesenius points out that the infinitive absolute in a conditional clause also emphasizes the importance of the condition on which the consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[15:26]  ³ tn The word order is reversed in the text: “and the right in his eyes you do,” or, “[if] you do what is right in his eyes.” The conditional idea in the first clause is continued in this clause.

[15:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “give ear.” This verb and the next are both perfect tenses with the vav (ו) consecutive; they continue the sequence of the original conditional clause.

[15:26]  ⁵ tn The substantive כָּל־ (kol, “all of”) in a negative clause can be translated “none of.”

[15:26]  ⁶ sn The reference is no doubt to the plagues that Yahweh has just put on them. These will not come on God’s true people. But the interesting thing about a conditional clause like this is that the opposite is also true – “if you do not obey, then I will bring these diseases.”

[15:26]  ⁷ tn The form is רֹפְאֶךָ (rofÿ’ekha), a participle with a pronominal suffix. The word is the predicate after the pronoun “I”: “I [am] your healer.” The suffix is an objective genitive – the Lord heals them.

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yah.” Moses’ poem here uses a short form of the name Yahweh, traditionally rendered in English by “the LORD.”

[15:2]  ⁹ tn The word וְזִמְרָת (vÿzimrat) is problematic. It probably had a suffix yod (י) that was accidentally dropped because of the yod (י) on the divine name following. Most scholars posit another meaning for the word. A meaning of “power” fits the line fairly well, forming a hendiadys with strength – “strength and power” becoming “strong power.” Similar lines are in Isa 12:2 and Ps 118:14. Others suggest “protection” or “glory.” However, there is nothing substantially wrong with “my song” in the line – only that it would be a nicer match if it had something to do with strength.

[15:2]  ¹⁰ tn The word נָוָה (navah) occurs only here. It may mean “beautify, adorn” with praises (see BDB 627 s.v.). See also M. Dahood, “Exodus 15:2: ‘anwehu and Ugaritic snwt,” Bib 59 (1979): 260-61; and M. Klein, “The Targumic Tosefta to Exodus 15:2,” JJS 26 (1975): 61-67; and S. B. Parker, “Exodus 15:2 Again,” VT 21 (1971): 373-79.

[20:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ¹² tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ¹³ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[2:7]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is נָכָה (nakhah, “struck, smote”); it can be rendered in this context as “afflicted.”

[2:7]  ¹⁵ sn The general consensus is that Job was afflicted with a leprosy known as elephantiasis, named because the rough skin and the swollen limbs are animal-like. The Hebrew word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin, “boil”) can indicate an ulcer as well. Leprosy begins with such, but so do other diseases. Leprosy normally begins in the limbs and spreads, but Job was afflicted everywhere at once. It may be some other disease also characterized by such a malignant ulcer. D. J. A. Clines has a thorough bibliography on all the possible diseases linked to this description (Job [WBC], 48). See also HALOT 1460 s.v. שְׁחִין.

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “crown.”

[38:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.

[38:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”

[38:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “pass over my head.”

[38:5]  ²⁰ sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

[38:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

[38:5]  ²² tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

[38:6]  ²³ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[38:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

[38:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[38:21]  ²⁷ tc If original to Isaiah 38, vv. 21-22 have obviously been misplaced in the course of the text’s transmission, and would most naturally be placed here, between Isa 38:6 and 38:7. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8, where these verses are placed at this point in the narrative, not at the end. Another possibility is that these verses were not in the original account, and a scribe, familiar with the 2 Kgs version of the story, appended vv. 21-22 to the end of the account in Isaiah 38.