Joshua 10:3-4

10:3 So King Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem sent this message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon: 10:4 “Come to my aid ¹  so we can attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

Psalms 2:1-4

Psalm 2 ² 

2:1 Why ³  do the nations rebel? ⁴ 

Why ⁵  are the countries ⁶  devising ⁷  plots that will fail? ⁸ 

2:2 The kings of the earth ⁹  form a united front; ¹⁰ 

the rulers collaborate ¹¹ 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ¹² 

2:3 They say, ¹³  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ¹⁴ 

Let’s free ourselves from ¹⁵  their ropes!”

2:4 The one enthroned ¹⁶  in heaven laughs in disgust; ¹⁷ 

the Lord taunts ¹⁸  them.

Psalms 83:1-3

Psalm 83 ¹⁹ 

A song, a psalm of Asaph.

83:1 O God, do not be silent!

Do not ignore us! ²⁰  Do not be inactive, O God!

83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;

those who hate you are hostile. ²¹ 

83:3 They carefully plot ²²  against your people,

and make plans to harm ²³  the ones you cherish. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 26:11

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ²⁵ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ²⁶ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ²⁷ 

Isaiah 43:2

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ²⁸  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ²⁹  you.

Isaiah 43:5-7

43:5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

From the east I will bring your descendants;

from the west I will gather you.

43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’

and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’

Bring my sons from distant lands,

and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,

43:7 everyone who belongs to me, ³⁰ 

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed – yes, whom I made!

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Come up to me and help me.”

[2:1]  ² sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.

[2:1]  ³ tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).

[2:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.

[2:2]  ⁹ sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).

[2:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[2:3]  ¹³ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “throw off from us.”

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).

[2:4]  ¹⁷ tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”

[83:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 83. The psalmist asks God to deliver Israel from the attacks of foreign nations. Recalling how God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of Deborah and Gideon, he prays that the hostile nations would be humiliated.

[83:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “do not be deaf.”

[83:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.

[83:3]  ²² tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”

[83:3]  ²³ tn Heb “and consult together against.”

[83:3]  ²⁴ tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”

[26:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[43:2]  ²⁸ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[43:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “everyone who is called by my name” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).