Isaiah 32:18-19

32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,

in secure homes,

and in safe, quiet places. ¹ 

32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed ² 

and the city is annihilated, ³ 

Genesis 7:1

7:1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. ⁴ 

Genesis 7:16

7:16 Those that entered were male and female, ⁵  just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

Exodus 12:22-23

12:22 Take a branch of hyssop, ⁶  dip it in the blood that is in the basin, ⁷  and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out ⁸  the door of his house until morning. 12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ⁹  the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer ¹⁰  to enter your houses to strike you. ¹¹ 

Psalms 32:7

32:7 You are my hiding place;

you protect me from distress.

You surround me with shouts of joy from those celebrating deliverance. ¹²  (Selah)

Psalms 91:4

91:4 He will shelter you ¹³  with his wings; ¹⁴ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 18:10

18:10 The name of the Lord ¹⁶  is like ¹⁷  a strong tower; ¹⁸ 

the righteous person runs ¹⁹  to it and is set safely on high. ²⁰ 

Ezekiel 11:16

11:16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little ²¹  sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’

Matthew 23:37

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²²  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²³  How often I have longed ²⁴  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁵  you would have none of it! ²⁶ 

[32:18]  ¹ tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”

[32:19]  ² tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (vÿyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.

[32:19]  ³ tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “for you I see [as] godly before me in this generation.” The direct object (“you”) is placed first in the clause to give it prominence. The verb “to see” here signifies God’s evaluative discernment.

[7:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”

[12:22]  ⁶ sn The hyssop is a small bush that grows throughout the Sinai, probably the aromatic herb Origanum Maru L., or Origanum Aegyptiacum. The plant also grew out of the walls in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 4:33). See L. Baldensperger and G. M. Crowfoot, “Hyssop,” PEQ 63 (1931): 89-98. A piece of hyssop was also useful to the priests because it worked well for sprinkling.

[12:22]  ⁷ tn The Greek and the Vulgate translate סַף (saf, “basin”) as “threshold.” W. C. Kaiser reports how early traditions grew up about the killing of the lamb on the threshold (“Exodus,” EBC 2:376).

[12:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “and you, you shall not go out, a man from the door of his house.” This construction puts stress on prohibiting absolutely everyone from going out.

[12:23]  ⁹ tn The first of the two clauses begun with perfects and vav consecutives may be subordinated to form a temporal clause: “and he will see…and he will pass over,” becomes “when he sees…he will pass over.”

[12:23]  ¹⁰ tn Here the form is the Hiphil participle with the definite article. Gesenius says this is now to be explained as “the destroyer” although some take it to mean “destruction” (GKC 406 §126.m, n. 1).

[12:23]  ¹¹ tn “you” has been supplied.

[32:7]  ¹² tn Heb “[with] shouts of joy of deliverance you surround me.”

[91:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).

[91:4]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”

[18:10]  ¹⁶ sn The “name of the Lord” is a metonymy of subject. The “name” here signifies not the personal name “Yahweh,” for that would be redundant in the expression “the name of Yahweh,” but the attributes of the Lord (cf. Exod 34:5-7) – here his power to protect.

[18:10]  ¹⁷ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a tower of strength,” with “strength” regarded as attributive by most English versions. The metaphor “strong tower” indicates that God is a secure refuge. The figure is qualified in the second colon.

[18:10]  ¹⁹ sn The metaphor of “running” to the Lord refers to a whole-hearted and unwavering trust in God’s protection (e.g., Isa 40:31).

[18:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “is high” or “is inaccessible.” This military-type expression stresses the effect of the trust – security, being out of danger (see HALOT 1305 s.v. שׂגב). Other scriptures will supply the ways that God actually protects people who trust him.

[11:16]  ²¹ tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).

[23:37]  ²² sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ²³ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ²⁴ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ²⁶ tn Grk “you were not willing.”