Numbers 24:18

24:18 Edom will be a possession,

Seir, ¹  his enemies, will also be a possession;

but Israel will act valiantly.

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ² When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ³  he did not go as at the other times ⁴  to seek for omens, ⁵  but he set his face ⁶  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 2:7-8

2:7 Next will be ⁷  the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. 2:8 Those numbered in his division are 57,400.

Job 34:25-29

34:25 Therefore, he knows their deeds,

he overthrows them ⁸  in the night ⁹ 

and they are crushed.

34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness, ¹⁰ 

in a place where people can see, ¹¹ 

34:27 because they have turned away from following him,

and have not understood ¹²  any of his ways,

34:28 so that they caused ¹³  the cry of the poor

to come before him,

so that he hears ¹⁴  the cry of the needy.

34:29 But if God ¹⁵  is quiet, who can condemn ¹⁶  him?

If he hides his face, then who can see him?

Yet ¹⁷  he is over the individual and the nation alike, ¹⁸ 

Psalms 107:39-40

107:39 As for their enemies, ¹⁹  they decreased in number and were beaten down,

because of painful distress ²⁰  and suffering.

107:40 He would pour ²¹  contempt upon princes,

and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.

Isaiah 23:9

23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –

to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty, ²² 

to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

Ezekiel 29:15

29:15 It will be the most insignificant of the kingdoms; it will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations.

Micah 7:10

7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.

They say ²³  to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them. ²⁴ 

Then they will be trampled down ²⁵ 

like mud in the streets.

Luke 1:51-52

1:51 He has demonstrated power ²⁶  with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance ²⁷  of their hearts.

1:52 He has brought down the mighty ²⁸  from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; ²⁹ 

[24:18]  ¹ sn Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom (Deut 33:2), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.

[24:1]  ² sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ³ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ⁵ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ⁶ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

[2:7]  ⁷ tn This part has been supplied; the text simply has “the tribe of Zebulun.”

[34:25]  ⁸ tn The direct object “them” is implied and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:25]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term “night” is an accusative of time.

[34:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “under wicked men,” or “under wickednesses.” J. C. Greenfield shows that the preposition can mean “among” as well (“Prepositions B Tachat in Jes 57:5,” ZAW 32 [1961]: 227). That would allow “among wicked men.” It could also be “instead of” or even “in return for [their wickedness]” which is what the RSV does.

[34:26]  ¹¹ tn The text simply uses רֹאִים (ro’im): “[in the place where there are] seers,” i.e., spectators.

[34:27]  ¹² tn The verb הִשְׂכִּילוּ (hiskilu) means “to be prudent; to be wise.” From this is derived the idea of “be wise in understanding God’s will,” and “be successful because of prudence” – i.e., successful with God.

[34:28]  ¹³ tn The verse begins with the infinitive construct of בּוֹא (bo’, “go”), showing the result of their impious actions.

[34:28]  ¹⁴ tn The verb here is an imperfect; the clause is circumstantial to the preceding clause, showing either the result, or the concomitant action.

[34:29]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:29]  ¹⁶ tn The verb in this position is somewhat difficult, although it does make good sense in the sentence – it is just not what the parallelism would suggest. So several emendations have been put forward, for which see the commentaries.

[34:29]  ¹⁷ tn The line simply reads “and over a nation and over a man together.” But it must be the qualification for the points being made in the previous lines, namely, that even if God hides himself so no one can see, yet he is still watching over them all (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 222).

[34:29]  ¹⁸ tn The word translated “alike” (Heb “together”) has bothered some interpreters. In the reading taken here it is acceptable. But others have emended it to gain a verb, such as “he visits” (Beer), “he watches over” (Duhm), “he is compassionate” (Kissane), etc. But it is sufficient to say “he is over.”

[107:39]  ¹⁹ tn The words “As for their enemies” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Without such clarification, one might think that v. 39 refers to those just mentioned in v. 38 as objects of divine blessing, which would contradict the point just emphasized by the psalmist. The structure of vv. 33-42 is paneled (A-B-A-B). In vv. 33-34 the psalmist describes God’s judgment upon his enemies (perhaps those who had enslaved his people). In vv. 35-38 he contrasts this judgment with the divine blessing poured out on God’s people. (See the note on the word “people” in v. 35.) In vv. 39-40 he contrasts this blessing with the judgment experienced by enemies, before returning in vv. 41-42 to the blessing experienced by God’s people.

[107:39]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from the oppression of calamity.”

[107:40]  ²¹ tn The active participle is understood as past durative here, drawing attention to typical action in a past time frame. However, it could be taken as generalizing (in which case one should translate using the English present tense), in which case the psalmist moves from narrative to present reality. Perhaps the participial form appears because the statement is lifted from Job 12:21.

[23:9]  ²² tn Heb “the pride of all the beauty.”

[7:10]  ²³ tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”

[7:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[1:51]  ²⁶ tn Or “shown strength,” “performed powerful deeds.” The verbs here switch to aorist tense through 1:55. This is how God will act in general for his people as they look to his ultimate deliverance.

[1:51]  ²⁷ tn Grk “in the imaginations of their hearts.” The psalm rebukes the arrogance of the proud, who think that power is their sovereign right. Here διανοίᾳ (dianoia) can be understood as a dative of sphere or reference/respect.

[1:52]  ²⁸ tn Or “rulers.”

[1:52]  ²⁹ tn Or “those of humble position”