Isaiah 59:10

59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,

we grope like those who cannot see; ¹ 

we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.

Though others are strong, we are like dead men. ² 

Jeremiah 4:19-20

4:19 I said, ³ 

“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ⁴ 

I writhe in anguish.

Oh, the pain in my heart! ⁵ 

My heart pounds within me.

I cannot keep silent.

For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ⁶ 

the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ⁷ 

4:20 I see ⁸  one destruction after another taking place,

so that the whole land lies in ruins.

I see our ⁹  tents suddenly destroyed,

their ¹⁰  curtains torn down in a mere instant. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem! ¹² 

Sound the trumpet ¹³  in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks ¹⁴  out of the north;

it will bring great destruction. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 8:16

8:16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses

is already being heard in the city of Dan.

The sound of the neighing of their stallions ¹⁶ 

causes the whole land to tremble with fear.

They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it!

They are coming to destroy ¹⁷  the cities and everyone who lives in them!”

Hosea 5:8

The Prophet’s Declaration of Judgment

5:8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah!

Sound the trumpet in Ramah!

Sound the alarm in Beth Aven! ¹⁸ 

Tremble in fear, ¹⁹  O Benjamin!

Hosea 8:1

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

8:1 Sound the alarm! ²⁰ 

An eagle ²¹  looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me, ²² 

and have rebelled against my law.

Amos 3:6

3:6 If an alarm sounds ²³  in a city, do people not fear? ²⁴ 

If disaster overtakes a ²⁵  city, is the Lord not responsible? ²⁶ 

Habakkuk 1:6-10

1:6 Look, I am about to empower ²⁷  the Babylonians,

that ruthless ²⁸  and greedy ²⁹  nation.

They sweep across the surface ³⁰  of the earth,

seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;

they decide for themselves what is right. ³¹ 

1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more alert ³²  than wolves in the desert. ³³ 

Their horses ³⁴  gallop, ³⁵ 

their horses come a great distance;

like a vulture ³⁶  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ³⁷ 

1:9 All of them intend ³⁸  to do violence;

every face is determined. ³⁹ 

They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. ⁴⁰ 

1:10 They mock kings

and laugh at rulers.

They laugh at every fortified city;

they build siege ramps ⁴¹  and capture them.

Habakkuk 3:6

3:6 He takes his battle position ⁴²  and shakes ⁴³  the earth;

with a mere look he frightens ⁴⁴  the nations.

The ancient mountains disintegrate; ⁴⁵ 

the primeval hills are flattened.

He travels on the ancient roads. ⁴⁶ 

[59:10]  ¹ tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”

[59:10]  ² tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”

[4:19]  ³ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the Lord’s promise of judgment to Jeremiah’s lament concerning it.

[4:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”

[4:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”

[4:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[4:19]  ⁷ tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “the battle cry [to] my soul.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).

[4:20]  ⁸ tn The words, “I see” are not in the text here or at the beginning of the third line. They are supplied in the translation to show that this is Jeremiah’s vision of what will happen as a result of the invasion announced in 4:5-9, 11-17a.

[4:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “my.” This is probably not a reference to Jeremiah’s own tents since he foresees the destruction of the whole land. Jeremiah so identifies with the plight of his people that he sees the destruction of their tents as though they were his very own. It would probably lead to confusion to translate literally and it is not uncommon in Hebrew laments for the community or its representative to speak of the community as an “I.” See for example the interchange between first singular and first plural pronouns in Ps 44:4-8.

[4:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my.”

[4:20]  ¹¹ tn It is not altogether clear what Jeremiah intends by the use of this metaphor. In all likelihood he means that the defenses of Israel’s cities and towns have offered no more resistance than nomads’ tents. However, in light of the fact that the word “tent” came to be used generically for a person’s home (cf. 1 Kgs 8:66; 12:16), it is possible that Jeremiah is here referring to the destruction of their homes and the resultant feeling of homelessness and loss of even elementary protection. Given the lack of certainty the present translation is rather literal here.

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”

[6:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[6:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

[6:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.

[8:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his stallions.”

[8:16]  ¹⁷ tn The words “They are coming to destroy” are not in the text. They are inserted to break up a long sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.

[5:8]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on the place name Beth Aven in 4:15.

[5:8]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads the anomalous אַחֲרֶיךָ בִּנְיָמִין (’akharekha binyamin, “behind you, O Benjamin”), a reading followed by many English versions. The LXX reads ἐξέστη (exesth) which might reflect an alternate textual tradition of הַחֲרִדוּ בִּנְיָמִין (hakharidu binyamin, “Tremble in fear, O Benjamin”); the verb form would be a Hiphil imperative 2nd person masculine plural from חָרַד (kharad, “to tremble, be terrified”; BDB 353 s.v. חָרַד). For discussion of this textual problem, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:236.

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”

[8:1]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[8:1]  ²² tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”

[3:6]  ²³ tn Heb “If the ram’s horn is blown.”

[3:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “tremble” (NASB, NIV, NCV); or “shake.”

[3:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “is in”; NIV, NCV, NLT “comes to.”

[3:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “has the Lord not acted?”

[1:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”

[1:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.

[1:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the open spaces.”

[1:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “from him his justice, even his lifting up, goes out.” In this context שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) probably has the nuance “authority.” See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 150.

[1:8]  ³² tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).

[1:8]  ³³ tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.

[1:8]  ³⁴ tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”

[1:8]  ³⁵ tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).

[1:8]  ³⁶ tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.

[1:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “come.”

[1:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”

[1:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”

[1:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they heap up dirt.” This is a reference to the piling up of earthen ramps in the process of laying siege to a fortified city.

[3:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “he stands.”

[3:6]  ⁴³ tn This verb has been traditionally understood as “measure” (from מוּד, mud), but the immediately following context (vv. 6b-7) favors the meaning “shake” from מָוד (mavd; see HALOT 555 s.v.).

[3:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”

[3:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”

[3:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “ancient ways [or, “doings”] are his.” The meaning of this line is unclear. Traditionally it has been translated, “his ways are eternal.” However, in this context (see vv. 3, 7) it is more likely that the line speaks of the Lord taking the same route as in the days of Moses and Deborah (see Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 154.