Judges 21:13

21:13 The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed. ¹ 

Psalms 103:9-10

103:9 He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry. ² 

103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; ³ 

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. ⁴ 

Isaiah 1:9

1:9 If the Lord who commands armies ⁵  had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly become like Sodom, ⁶ 

we would have become like Gomorrah.

Jeremiah 14:7

14:7 Then I said, ⁷ 

“O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name ⁸ 

even though our sins speak out against us. ⁹ 

Indeed, ¹⁰  we have turned away from you many times.

We have sinned against you.

Lamentations 3:32

3:32 Though he causes us ¹¹  grief, he then has compassion on us ¹² 

according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. ¹³ 

Habakkuk 3:2

3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; ¹⁴ 

I am awed, ¹⁵  Lord, by what you accomplished. ¹⁶ 

In our time ¹⁷  repeat those deeds; ¹⁸ 

in our time reveal them again. ¹⁹ 

But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! ²⁰ 

[21:13]  ¹ tn Heb “And all the assembly sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the cliff of Rimmon and they proclaimed to them peace.”

[103:9]  ² tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).

[103:10]  ³ tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”

[103:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.

[1:9]  ⁶ tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.

[14:7]  ⁷ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. However, it cannot be a continuation of the Lord’s speech and the people have consistently refused to acknowledge their sin. The fact that the prayer here and in vv. 19-22 are followed by an address from God to Jeremiah regarding prayer (cf. 4:11 and the interchanges there between God and Jeremiah and 15:1) also argues that the speaker is Jeremiah. He is again identifying with his people (cf. 8:18-9:2). Here he takes up the petition part of the lament which often contains elements of confession of sin and statements of trust. In 14:1-6 God portrays to Jeremiah the people’s lamentable plight instead of their describing it to him. Here Jeremiah prays what they should pray. The people are strangely silent throughout.

[14:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “Act for the sake of your name.” The usage of “act” in this absolute, unqualified sense cf. BDB 794 s.v. עָוֹשָׂה Qal.I.r and compare the usage, e.g., in 1 Kgs 8:32 and 39. For the nuance of “for the sake of your name” compare the usage in Isa 48:9 and Ezek 20:9, 14.

[14:7]  ⁹ tn Or “bear witness against us,” or “can be used as evidence against us,” to keep the legal metaphor. Heb “testify against.”

[14:7]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can scarcely be causal here; it is either intensive (BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) or concessive (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c). The parallel usage in Gen 18:20 argues for the intensive force as does the fact that the concessive has already been expressed by אִם (’im).

[3:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Although he has caused grief.” The word “us” is added in the translation.

[3:32]  ¹² tn Heb “He will have compassion.” The words “on us” are added in the translation.

[3:32]  ¹³ tc The Kethib preserves the singular form חַסְדּוֹ (khasdo, “his kindness”), also reflected in the LXX and Aramaic Targum. The Qere reads the plural form חֲסָדָיו (khasadayv, “his kindnesses”) which is reflected in the Latin Vulgate.

[3:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”

[3:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw, Lord, what you accomplished” (cf. NEB).

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your work.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).

[3:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).

[3:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”