Discovery BoxJeremiah 9:12
Context“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? 2
Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? 3
Why does the land lie in ruins?
Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”
Jeremiah 14:4
Context14:4 They are dismayed because the ground is cracked 4
because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers, too, are dismayed
and bury their faces in their hands.
Jeremiah 14:22
Context14:22 Do any of the worthless idols 5 of the nations cause rain to fall?
Do the skies themselves send showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? 6
So we put our hopes in you 7
because you alone do all this.”
Leviticus 26:19
Context26:19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze.
Deuteronomy 28:23
Context28:23 The 8 sky 9 above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron.
Isaiah 5:6
Context5:6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, 10
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
Joel 1:16-20
Context1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! 11
There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! 12
1:17 The grains of seed 13 have shriveled beneath their shovels. 14
Storehouses have been decimated
and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up.
1:18 Listen to the cattle groan! 15
The herds of livestock wander around in confusion 16
because they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, 17
for fire 18 has burned up 19 the grassy pastures, 20
flames have razed 21 all the trees in the fields.
1:20 Even the wild animals 22 cry out to you; 23
for the river beds 24 have dried up;
fire has destroyed 25 the grassy pastures. 26
Amos 4:7
Context4:7 “I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. 27
I gave rain to one city, but not to another.
One field 28 would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.
Haggai 1:11
Context1:11 Moreover, I have called for a drought that will affect the fields, the hill country, the grain, new wine, fresh olive oil, and everything that grows from the ground; it also will harm people, animals, and everything they produce.’” 29
[9:12] 1 tn The words, “I said” are not in the text. It is not clear that a shift in speaker has taken place. However, the words of the verse are very unlikely to be a continuation of the
[9:12] 2 tn Heb “Who is the wise man that he may understand this?”
[9:12] 3 tn Heb “And [who is the man] to whom the mouth of the
[14:4] 4 tn For the use of the verb “is cracked” here see BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare the usage in Jer 51:56 where it refers to broken bows. The form is a relative clause without relative pronoun (cf., GKC 486-87 §155.f). The sentence as a whole is related to the preceding through a particle meaning “because of” or “on account of.” Hence the subject and verb have been repeated to make the connection.
[14:22] 5 tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel), often translated “vanities”, is a common pejorative epithet for idols or false gods. See already in 8:19 and 10:8.
[14:22] 6 tn Heb “Is it not you, O
[14:22] 7 tn The rhetorical negatives are balanced by a rhetorical positive.
[28:23] 8 tc The MT reads “Your.” The LXX reads “Heaven will be to you.”
[28:23] 9 tn Or “heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[5:6] 10 tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.
[1:16] 11 tn Heb “Has not the food been cut off right before our eyes?” This rhetorical question expects an affirmative answer; the question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarity and emphasis.
[1:16] 12 tn Heb “joy and gladness from the house of our God?” Verse 16b is a continuation of the rhetorical question begun in v. 16a, but has been translated as an affirmative statement to make the meaning clear. The words “There is no longer any” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[1:17] 13 tn Heb “seed.” The phrase “the grains of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
[1:17] 14 tc This line is textually uncertain. The MT reads “the seed shrivels in their shovels/clods.” One Qumran manuscript (4QXXIIc) reads “the heifers decay in [their] s[talls].” LXX reads “the heifers leap in their stalls.”
[1:18] 15 tn Heb “how the cattle groan!”
[1:18] 16 tn Heb “the herds of cattle are confused.” The verb בּוּךְ (bukh, “be confused”) sometimes refers to wandering aimlessly in confusion (cf. Exod 14:3).
[1:19] 17 tn The phrase “for help” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[1:19] 18 sn Fire here and in v. 20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3).
[1:19] 19 tn Heb “consumed.” This entire line is restated at the end of v. 20.
[1:19] 20 tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”
[1:19] 21 tn Heb “a flame has set ablaze.” This fire was one of the effects of the drought.
[1:20] 22 tn Heb “beasts of the field.”
[1:20] 23 tn Heb “long for you.” Animals of course do not have religious sensibilities as such; they do not in any literal sense long for Yahweh. Rather, the language here is figurative (metonymy of cause for effect). The animals long for food and water (so BDB 788 s.v. עָרַג), the ultimate source of which is Yahweh.
[1:20] 24 tn Heb “sources of water.”
[1:20] 26 tn Heb “the pastures of the wilderness.”
[4:7] 27 sn Rain…three months before the harvest refers to the rains of late March-early April.
[4:7] 28 tn Heb “portion”; KJV, ASV “piece”; NASB “part.” The same word occurs a second time later in this verse.
[1:11] 29 tn Heb “all the labor of hands” (similar KJV, NASB, NIV); cf. NAB “all that is produced by hand.”
