Isaiah 30:28

30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river ¹ 

that reaches one’s neck.

He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; ² 

he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. ³ 

Job 41:2

41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose,

or pierce its jaw with a hook?

Psalms 32:9

32:9 Do not be ⁴  like an unintelligent horse or mule, ⁵ 

which will not obey you

unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 29:4

29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws

and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales.

I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways,

and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.

Ezekiel 38:4

38:4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with shields of different types, ⁷  all of them armed with swords.

Amos 4:2

4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ⁸ 

“Certainly the time is approaching ⁹ 

when you will be carried away ¹⁰  in baskets, ¹¹ 

every last one of you ¹²  in fishermen’s pots. ¹³ 

[30:28]  ¹ tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.

[30:28]  ² tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.

[30:28]  ³ tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.

[32:9]  ⁴ tn The verb form is plural (i.e., “do not all of you be”); the psalmist addresses the whole group.

[32:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “like a horse, like a mule without understanding.”

[32:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “with a bridle and bit, its [?] to hold, not to come near to you.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun עֲדִי (’adiy) is uncertain. Normally the word refers to “jewelry,” so some suggest the meaning “trappings” here (cf. NASB). Some emend the form to לְחֵיהֶם (lÿkhehem, “their jawbones”) but it is difficult to see how the present Hebrew text, even if corrupt, could have derived from this proposed original reading. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 265) takes the form from an Arabic root and translates “whose gallop.” Cf. also NRSV “whose temper must be curbed.”

[38:4]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew text mentions two different types of shields here.

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”

[4:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “baskets” is uncertain. The translation follows the suggestion of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (130-32): “shields” (cf. NEB); “ropes”; “thorns,” which leads to the most favored interpretation, “hooks” (cf. NASB “meat hooks”; NIV, NRSV “hooks”); “baskets,” and (derived from “baskets”) “boats.” Against the latter, it is unlikely that Amos envisioned a deportation by boat for the inhabitants of Samaria! See also the note on the expression “fishermen’s pots” later in this verse.

[4:2]  ¹² tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”

[4:2]  ¹³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression translated “in fishermen’s pots” is uncertain. The translation follows that of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (132-33): “thorns,” understood by most modern interpreters to mean (by extension) “fishhooks” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV); “boats,” but as mentioned in the previous note on the word “baskets,” a deportation of the Samaritans by boat is geographically unlikely; and “pots,” referring to a container used for packing fish (cf. NEB “fish-baskets”). Paul (p. 134) argues that the imagery comes from the ancient fishing industry. When hauled away into exile, the women of Samaria will be like fish packed and transported to market.