Discovery BoxLamentations 2:3-4
Contextג (Gimel)
2:3 In fierce anger 1 he destroyed 2
the whole army 3 of Israel.
He withdrew his right hand 4
as the enemy attacked. 5
He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob; 6
it consumed everything around it. 7
ד (Dalet)
2:4 He prepared his bow 8 like an enemy;
his right hand was ready to shoot. 9
Like a foe he killed everyone,
even our strong young men; 10
he has poured out his anger like fire
on the tent 11 of Daughter Zion.
Deuteronomy 32:21-25
Context32:21 They have made me jealous 12 with false gods, 13
enraging me with their worthless gods; 14
so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, 15
with a nation slow to learn 16 I will enrage them.
32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,
and it burns to lowest Sheol; 17
it consumes the earth and its produce,
and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
32:23 I will increase their 18 disasters,
I will use up my arrows on them.
32:24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; 19
I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,
along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.
32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,
and terror will do so inside;
they will destroy 20 both the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
Job 30:30
Context30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; 21
my body 22 is hot with fever. 23
Psalms 22:14
Context22:14 My strength drains away like water; 24
all my bones are dislocated;
my heart 25 is like wax;
it melts away inside me.
Psalms 31:10
Context31:10 For my life nears its end in pain;
my years draw to a close as I groan. 26
My strength fails me because of 27 my sin,
and my bones become brittle. 28
Psalms 102:3-5
Context102:3 For my days go up in smoke, 29
and my bones are charred like a fireplace. 30
102:4 My heart is parched 31 and withered like grass,
for I am unable 32 to eat food. 33
102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin. 34
Nahum 1:6
Context1:6 No one can withstand 35 his indignation! 36
No one can resist 37 his fierce anger! 38
His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire,
boulders are broken up 39 as he approaches. 40
Habakkuk 3:16
Context3:16 I listened and my stomach churned; 41
the sound made my lips quiver.
My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, 42
and I shook as I tried to walk. 43
I long 44 for the day of distress
to come upon 45 the people who attack us.
Habakkuk 3:2
Context3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; 46
I am awed, 47 Lord, by what you accomplished. 48
In our time 49 repeat those deeds; 50
in our time reveal them again. 51
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! 52
Habakkuk 1:8
Context1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards
and more alert 53 than wolves in the desert. 54
their horses come a great distance;
like a vulture 57 they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. 58
Hebrews 12:29
Context12:29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire. 59
[2:3] 1 tc The MT reads אַף (’af, “anger”), while the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate) reflect אַפּוֹ (’appo, “His anger”). The MT is the more difficult reading syntactically, while the ancient versions are probably smoothing out the text.
[2:3] 2 tn Heb “cut off, scattered.”
[2:3] 3 tn Heb “every horn of Israel.” The term “horn” (קֶרֶן, qeren) normally refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Israel. This term is often used figuratively as a symbol of strength, usually in reference to the military might of an army (Deut 33:17; 1 Sam 2:1, 10; 2 Sam 22:3; Pss 18:3; 75:11; 89:18, 25; 92:11; 112:9; 1 Chr 25:5; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:3, 17; Ezek 29:21) (BDB 901 s.v. 2), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” Cutting off the “horn” is a figurative expression for destroying warriors (Jer 48:25; Ps 75:10 [HT 11]).
[2:3] 4 tn Heb “he caused his right hand to turn back.” The implication in such contexts is that the
[2:3] 5 tn Heb “from the presence of the enemy.” This figurative expression refers to the approach of the attacking army.
[2:3] 6 tn Heb “he burned in Jacob like a flaming fire.”
[2:3] 7 tn Or “He burned against Jacob, like a raging fire consumes all around.”
[2:4] 8 tn Heb “bent His bow.” When the verb דָּרַךְ (darakh) is used with the noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “archer-bow”), it means “to bend [a bow]” to string it in preparation for shooting arrows (1 Chr 5:18; 8:40; 2 Chr 14:7; Jer 50:14, 29; 51:3). This idiom is used figuratively to describe the assaults of the wicked (Pss 11:2; 37:14) and the judgments of the
[2:4] 9 tn Heb “His right hand is stationed.”
[2:4] 10 tn Heb “the ones who were pleasing to the eye.”
[2:4] 11 tn The singular noun אֹהֶל (’ohel, “tent”) may function as a collective, referring to all tents in Judah. A parallel expression occurs in verse 2 using the plural: “all the dwellings of Jacob” (כָּל־נְאוֹת יַעֲקֹב, kol-nÿ’ot ya’aqov). The singular “tent” matches the image of “Daughter Zion.” On the other hand, the singular “the tent of Daughter Zion” might be a hyperbolic synecdoche of container (= tent) for contents (= inhabitants of Zion).
[32:21] 15 sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.
[32:21] 16 tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”
[32:21] 17 tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).
[32:21] 18 tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).
[32:21] 19 tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”
[32:22] 22 tn Or “to the lowest depths of the earth”; cf. NAB “to the depths of the nether world”; NIV “to the realm of death below”; NLT “to the depths of the grave.”
[32:23] 29 tn Heb “upon them.”
[32:24] 36 tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).
[32:25] 43 tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.
[30:30] 50 tn The MT has “become dark from upon me,” prompting some editions to supply the verb “falls from me” (RSV, NRSV), or “peels” (NIV).
[30:30] 51 tn The word “my bones” may be taken as a metonymy of subject, the bony framework indicating the whole body.
[30:30] 52 tn The word חֹרֶב (khorev) also means “heat.” The heat in this line is not that of the sun, but obviously a fever.
[22:14] 57 tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”
[22:14] 58 sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.
[31:10] 64 tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”
[31:10] 65 tn Heb “stumbles in.”
[31:10] 66 tn Heb “grow weak.”
[102:3] 71 tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”
[102:3] 72 tn The Hebrew noun מוֹ־קֵד (mo-qed, “fireplace”) occurs only here, in Isa 33:14 (where it refers to the fire itself), and perhaps in Lev 6:2.
[102:4] 78 tn Heb “struck, attacked.”
[102:4] 80 sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.
[102:5] 85 tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.
[1:6] 92 tn Heb “stand before” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT). The Hebrew verb עָמַד (’amad, “stand”) here denotes “to resist, withstand.” It is used elsewhere of warriors taking a stand in battle to hold their ground against enemies (Judg 2:14; Josh 10:8; 21:44; 23:9; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 11:16; Amos 2:15). It is also used of people trying to protect their lives from enemy attack (Esth 8:11; 9:16). Like a mighty warrior, the
[1:6] 93 tn Heb “Who can stand before his indignation?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer; it is translated here as an emphatic denial. The Hebrew noun זַעַם (za’am, “indignation, curse”) connotes the angry wrath or indignant curse of God (Isa 10:5, 25; 13:5; 26:20; 30:27; Jer 10:10; 15:17; 50:25; Ezek 21:36; 22:24, 31; Hab 3:12; Zeph 3:8; Pss 38:4; 69:25; 78:49; 102:11; Lam 2:6; Dan 8:19; 11:36). It depicts anger expressed in the form of punishment (HALOT 276 s.v.; TWOT 1:247).
[1:6] 94 tn Heb “Who can rise up against…?” The verb יָקוּם (yaqum, “arise”) is here a figurative expression connoting resistance. Although the adversative sense of בְּ (bet) with יָקוּם (yaqum, “against him”) is attested, denoting hostile action taken against one’s enemy (Mic 7:6; Ps 27:12), the locative sense (“before him”) is preferred due to the parallelism with לִפְנֵי (lifney, “before him”).
[1:6] 95 tn Heb “Who can rise up against the heat of his anger?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer which is translated as an emphatic denial to clarify the point.
[1:6] 96 tn Or “burst into flames.” The Niphal perfect נִתְּצוּ (nittÿtsu) from נָתַץ (natats, “to break up, throw down”) may denote “are broken up” or “are thrown down.” The BHS editors suggest emending the MT’s נִתְּצוּ (nittÿtsu) to נִצְּתּוּ (nitsÿtu, Niphal perfect from יָצַת [yatsat, “to burn, to kindle, to burst into flames”]): “boulders burst into flames.” This merely involves the simple transposition of the second and third consonants. This emendation is supported by a few Hebrew
[1:6] 97 tn Heb “before him” (so NAB, NIV, TEV).
[3:16] 99 tn Heb “my insides trembled.”
[3:16] 100 tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”
[3:16] 101 tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.
[3:16] 102 tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).
[3:16] 103 tn Heb “to come up toward.”
[3:2] 106 tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”
[3:2] 107 tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw,
[3:2] 109 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] 110 tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).
[3:2] 111 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] 112 tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”
[1:8] 113 tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).
[1:8] 114 tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.
[1:8] 115 tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”
[1:8] 116 tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).
[1:8] 117 tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.
[1:8] 118 tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:29] 120 sn A quotation from Deut 4:24; 9:3.
