Job 16:12-13

16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me. ¹ 

He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. ² 

He has made me his target;

16:13 his archers ³  surround me.

Without pity ⁴  he pierces ⁵  my kidneys

and pours out my gall ⁶  on the ground.

Psalms 50:22

50:22 Carefully consider this, you who reject God! ⁷ 

Otherwise I will rip you to shreds ⁸ 

and no one will be able to rescue you.

Jeremiah 5:6

5:6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.

Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.

Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities

and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. ⁹ 

For they have rebelled so much

and done so many unfaithful things. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 51:20-22

51:20 “Babylon, ¹¹  you are my war club, ¹² 

my weapon for battle.

I used you to smash nations. ¹³ 

I used you to destroy kingdoms.

51:21 I used you to smash horses and their riders. ¹⁴ 

I used you to smash chariots and their drivers.

51:22 I used you to smash men and women.

I used you to smash old men and young men.

I used you to smash young men and young women.

Daniel 2:40-44

2:40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces ¹⁵  all of these metals, ¹⁶  so it will break in pieces and crush the others. ¹⁷  2:41 In that you were seeing feet and toes ¹⁸  partly of wet clay ¹⁹  and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. Some of the strength of iron will be in it, for you saw iron mixed with wet clay. ²⁰  2:42 In that the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, the latter stages of this kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile. 2:43 And ²¹  in that you saw iron mixed with wet clay, so people will be mixed ²²  with one another ²³  without adhering to one another, just as ²⁴  iron does not mix with clay. 2:44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever.

Daniel 7:23

7:23 “This is what he told me: ²⁵ 

‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth

that will differ from all the other kingdoms.

It will devour all the earth

and will trample and crush it.

Micah 5:8

5:8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples.

They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,

like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,

which attacks when it passes through;

it rips its prey ²⁶  and there is no one to stop it. ²⁷ 

Hosea 6:1

Superficial Repentance Breeds False Assurance of God’s Forgiveness

6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!

He himself has torn us to pieces,

but he will heal us!

He has injured ²⁸  us,

but he will bandage our wounds!

[16:12]  ¹ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to shake.” In the Hiphil it means “to break; to shatter” (5:12; 15:4). The Pilpel means “to break in pieces,” and in the Poel in Jer 23:29 “to smash up.” So Job was living at ease, and God shattered his life.

[16:12]  ² tn Here is another Pilpel, now from פָּצַץ (patsats) with a similar meaning to the other verb. It means “to dash into pieces” and even scatter the pieces. The LXX translates this line, “he took me by the hair of the head and plucked it out.”

[16:13]  ³ tn The meaning of “his archers” is supported for רַבָּיו (rabbayv) in view of Jer 50:29. The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum Job, followed by several translations and commentators prefer “arrows.” They see this as a more appropriate figure without raising the question of who the archers might be (see 6:4). The point is an unnecessary distinction, for the figure is an illustration of the affliction that God has brought on him.

[16:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he does not pity,” but the clause is functioning adverbially in the line.

[16:13]  ⁵ tn The verb פָּלַח (palakh) in the Piel means “to pierce” (see Prov 7:23). A fuller comparison should be made with Lam 3:12-13.

[16:13]  ⁶ tn This word מְרֵרָתִי (mÿrerati, “my gall”) is found only here. It is close to the form in Job 13:26, “bitter things.” In Job 20:14 it may mean “poison.” The thought is also found in Lam 2:11.

[50:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “[you who] forget God.” “Forgetting God” here means forgetting about his commandments and not respecting his moral authority.

[50:22]  ⁸ sn Elsewhere in the psalms this verb is used (within a metaphorical framework) of a lion tearing its prey (see Pss 7:2; 17:12; 22:13).

[5:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “So a lion from the thicket will kill them. A wolf from the desert will destroy them. A leopard will watch outside their cities. Anyone who goes out from them will be torn in pieces.” However, it is unlikely that, in the context of judgment that Jeremiah has previously been describing, literal lions are meant. The animals are metaphorical for their enemies. Compare Jer 4:7.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their rebellions are so many and their unfaithful acts so numerous.”

[51:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “Media.” The referent is not identified in the text; the text merely says “you are my war club.” Commentators in general identify the referent as Babylon because Babylon has been referred to as a hammer in 50:23 and Babylon is referred to in v. 25 as a “destroying mountain” (compare v. 20d). However, S. R. Driver, Jeremiah, 317, n. c maintains that v. 24 speaks against this. It does seem a little inconsistent to render the vav consecutive perfect at the beginning of v. 24 as future while rendering those in vv. 20b-23 as customary past. However, change in person from second masculine singular (vv. 20b-23) to the second masculine plural in “before your very eyes” and its position at the end of the verse after “which they did in Zion” argue that a change in address occurs there. Driver has to ignore the change in person and take “before your eyes” with the verb “repay” at the beginning to maintain the kind of consistency he seeks. The vav (ו) consecutive imperfect can be used for either the customary past (GKC 335-36 §112.dd with cross reference back to GKC 331-32 §112.e) or the future (GKC 334 §112.x). Hence the present translation has followed the majority of commentaries (and English versions like TEV, NCV, CEV, NIrV) in understanding the referent as Babylon and v. 24 being a transition to vv. 25-26 (cf., e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 356-57, and J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 756-57). If the referent is understood as Media then the verbs in vv. 20-23 should all be translated as futures. See also the translator’s note on v. 24.

[51:20]  ¹² tn This Hebrew word (מַפֵּץ, mappets) only occurs here in the Hebrew Bible, but its meaning is assured from the use of the verbs that follow which are from the same root (נָפַץ, nafats) and there is a cognate noun מַפָּץ (mappats) that occurs in Ezek 9:2 in the sense of weapon of “smashing.”

[51:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “I smash nations with you.” This same structure is repeated throughout the series in vv. 20c-23.

[51:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “horse and its rider.” However, the terms are meant as generic or collective singulars (cf. GKC 395 §123.b) and are thus translated by the plural. The same thing is true of all the terms in vv. 21-23b. The terms in vv. 20c-d, 23c are plural.

[2:40]  ¹⁵ tc Theodotion and the Vulgate lack the phrase “and as iron breaks in pieces.”

[2:40]  ¹⁶ tn The Aramaic text does not have this word, but it has been added in the translation for clarity.

[2:40]  ¹⁷ tn The words “the others” are supplied from the context.

[2:41]  ¹⁸ tc The LXX lacks “and toes.”

[2:41]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “potter’s clay.”

[2:41]  ²⁰ tn Aram “clay of clay” (also in v. 43).

[2:43]  ²¹ tc The present translation reads the conjunction, with most medieval Hebrew MSS, LXX, Vulgate, and the Qere. The Kethib lacks the conjunction.

[2:43]  ²² sn The reference to people being mixed is usually understood to refer to intermarriage.

[2:43]  ²³ tn Aram “with the seed of men.”

[2:43]  ²⁴ tc The present translation reads הֵיךְ דִּי (hekh diy) rather than the MT הֵא־כְדִי (he’-khÿdi). It is a case of wrong word division.

[7:23]  ²⁵ tn Aram “thus he said.”

[5:8]  ²⁶ tn The words “its prey” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and there is no deliverer.”

[6:1]  ²⁸ tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”