Jeremiah 5:26

5:26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.

They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. ¹ 

They set deadly traps ²  to catch people.

Ezekiel 19:3-6

19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. ³ 

19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.

They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ⁴ 

19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.

She took another of her cubs ⁵  and made him a young lion.

19:6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

Habakkuk 1:15

1:15 The Babylonian tyrant ⁶  pulls them all up with a fishhook;

he hauls them in with his throw net. ⁷ 

When he catches ⁸  them in his dragnet,

he is very happy. ⁹ 

John 10:12

10:12 The hired hand, ¹⁰  who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons ¹¹  the sheep and runs away. ¹²  So the wolf attacks ¹³  the sheep and scatters them.

[5:26]  ¹ tn The meaning of the last three words is uncertain. The pointing and meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “hiding in ambush” is debated. BDB relates the form (כְּשַׁךְ, kÿshakh) to a root שָׁכַךְ (shakhakh), which elsewhere means “decrease, abate” (cf. BDB 1013 s.v. שָׁכַךְ), and notes that this is usually understood as “like the crouching of fowlers,” but they say this meaning is dubious. HALOT 1345 s.v. I שׁוֹר questions the validity of the text and offers three proposals; the second appears to create the least textual modification, i.e., reading כְּשַׂךְ (kesakh, “as in the hiding place of (bird catchers)”; for the word שַׂךְ (sakh) see HALOT 1236 s.v. שׂךְ 4 and compare Lam 2:6 for usage. The versions do not help. The Greek does not translate the first two words of the line. The proposal given in HALOT is accepted with some hesitancy.

[5:26]  ² tn Heb “a destroying thing.”

[19:3]  ³ tn Heb “a man.”

[19:4]  ⁴ sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).

[19:5]  ⁵ sn The identity of this second lion is unclear; the referent is probably Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. If the lioness is Hamutal, then Zedekiah is the lion described here.

[1:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.

[1:15]  ⁷ tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he gathers.”

[1:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.

[10:12]  ¹⁰ sn Jesus contrasts the behavior of the shepherd with that of the hired hand. This is a worker who is simply paid to do a job; he has no other interest in the sheep and is certainly not about to risk his life for them. When they are threatened, he simply runs away.

[10:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “leaves.”

[10:12]  ¹² tn Or “flees.”

[10:12]  ¹³ tn Or “seizes.” The more traditional rendering, “snatches,” has the idea of seizing something by force and carrying it off, which is certainly possible here. However, in the sequence in John 10:12, this action precedes the scattering of the flock of sheep, so “attacks” is preferable.