Proverbs 28:1

28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, ¹ 

but the righteous person is as confident ²  as a lion.

Isaiah 21:4-5

21:4 My heart palpitates, ³ 

I shake in fear; ⁴ 

the twilight I desired

has brought me terror.

21:5 Arrange the table,

lay out ⁵  the carpet,

eat and drink! ⁶ 

Get up, you officers,

smear oil on the shields! ⁷ 

Daniel 5:4-6

5:4 As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared ⁸  and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. ⁹  The king was watching the back ¹⁰  of the hand that was writing. 5:6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face ¹¹  and he became alarmed. ¹²  The joints of his hips gave way, ¹³  and his knees began knocking together.

[28:1]  ¹ sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.

[28:1]  ² tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”

[21:4]  ³ tn Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”

[21:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”

[21:5]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. KJV “watch in the watchtower”; ASV “set the watch”).

[21:5]  ⁶ tn The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.

[21:5]  ⁷ sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.

[5:5]  ⁸ tn Aram “came forth.”

[5:5]  ⁹ sn The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.

[5:5]  ¹⁰ tn While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”

[5:6]  ¹² tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”

[5:6]  ¹³ tn Aram “his loins went slack.”