Genesis 37:35

37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by ¹  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ²  So Joseph’s ³  father wept for him.

Psalms 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ⁴  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ⁵ 

I ⁶  refused to be comforted.

Isaiah 22:4

22:4 So I say:

“Don’t look at me! ⁷ 

I am weeping bitterly.

Don’t try ⁸  to console me

concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” ⁹ 

[37:35]  ¹ tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.

[37:35]  ² tn Heb “and he said, ‘Indeed I will go down to my son mourning to Sheol.’” Sheol was viewed as the place where departed spirits went after death.

[37:35]  ³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[77:2]  ⁴ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ⁶ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[22:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “look away from me” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[22:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “don’t hurry” (so NCV).

[22:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “the daughter of my people.” “Daughter” is here used metaphorically to express the speaker’s emotional attachment to his people, as well as their vulnerability and weakness.