Psalms 107:34

107:34 and a fruitful land into a barren place, ¹ 

because of the sin of its inhabitants.

Isaiah 14:20

14:20 You will not be buried with them, ² 

because you destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

Isaiah 51:9

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ³ 

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash ⁴  the Proud One? ⁵ 

Did you not ⁶  wound the sea monster? ⁷ 

Jeremiah 48:4

48:4 “Moab will be crushed.

Her children will cry out in distress. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 51:8

51:8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed. ⁹ 

Cry out in mourning over it!

Get medicine for her wounds!

Perhaps she can be healed!

Zephaniah 1:18

1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth ¹⁰  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ¹¹ 

Indeed, ¹²  he will bring terrifying destruction ¹³  on all who live on the earth.” ¹⁴ 

[107:34]  ¹ tn Heb “a salty land.”

[14:20]  ² tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).

[51:9]  ³ tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.

[51:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”

[51:9]  ⁵ tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).

[51:9]  ⁶ tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”

[51:9]  ⁷ tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.

[48:4]  ⁸ tc The reading here follows the Qere צְעִירֶיהָ (tsÿ’ireha) which is the same noun found in Jer 14:3 in the sense of “servants.” Here it refers to the young ones, i.e., the children (cf. the use of the adjective BDB 859 s.v. I צָעִיר 2 and see Gen 43:33). Many of the modern commentaries and a few of the modern English versions follow the Greek version and read “their cry is heard as far as Zoar” (reading צֹעֲרָה, tso’arah; see, for example, J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 699, n. 4, and BDB 858 s.v. צֹעַר). However, that leaves the verb with an indefinite subject (the verb is active 3rd plural not passive) not otherwise identified in the preceding context. Many of the modern English versions such as NRSV, NJPS, NIV retain the Hebrew as the present translation has done. In this case the masculine plural noun furnishes a logical subject for the verb.

[51:8]  ⁹ tn The verbs in this verse and the following are all in the Hebrew perfect tense, a tense that often refers to a past action or a past action with present results. However, as the translator’s notes have indicated, the prophets use this tense to view the actions as if they were as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The stance here is ideal, viewed as already accomplished.

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ¹⁴ tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).