Psalms 119:83

119:83 For ¹  I am like a wineskin ²  dried up in smoke. ³ 

I do not forget your statutes.

Isaiah 13:8

13:8 They panic –

cramps and pain seize hold of them

like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.

They look at one another in astonishment;

their faces are flushed red. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 8:21

8:21 My heart is crushed because my dear people ⁵  are being crushed. ⁶ 

I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 30:6

30:6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ⁸ 

Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?

Why then do I see all these strong men

grabbing their stomachs in pain like ⁹  a woman giving birth?

And why do their faces

turn so deathly pale?

Lamentations 4:8

ח (Khet)

4:8 Now their appearance ¹⁰  is darker than soot;

they are not recognized in the streets.

Their skin has shriveled on their bones;

it is dried up, like tree bark.

Nahum 2:10

2:10 Destruction, devastation, and desolation! ¹¹ 

Their hearts faint, ¹² 

their knees tremble, ¹³ 

each stomach churns, ¹⁴  each face ¹⁵  turns ¹⁶  pale! ¹⁷ 

[119:83]  ¹ tn Or “even though.”

[119:83]  ² tn The Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20).

[119:83]  ³ tn Heb “in the smoke.”

[13:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

[8:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “Because of the crushing of the daughter of my people I am crushed.”

[8:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “I go about in black [i.e., mourning clothes]. Dismay has seized me.”

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”

[30:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.

[4:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their outline” or “their form.” The Hebrew noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “outline, form”) is related to the Phoenician noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “something gazed at”), and Aramaic verb תָּאַר (ta’ar, “to gaze at”). It is used in reference to the form of a woman (Gen 29:17; Deut 21:11; 1 Sam 25:3; Esth 2:7) and of a man (Gen 39:11; Judg 8:18; 1 Sam 16:18; 28:14; 1 Kgs 1:6; 1 Chr 17:17; Isa 52:14; 53:2). Here it is used in a metonymical sense: “appearance.”

[2:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Emptiness and devastation and being laid waste.” Several English versions attempt to reproduce the assonance, alliteration, and paronomasia of three similarly sounding Hebrew words: בּוּקַָה וּמְבוּקָה וּמְבֻלָּקָה (buqah umÿvuqah umÿvullaqah; NJPS “Desolation, devastation, and destruction!”; NRSV: “Devastation, desolation, and destruction!”).

[2:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and melting heart.”

[2:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and tottering of knees.”

[2:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and shaking in all of the loins.”

[2:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all of their faces.”

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “gather” or “withdraw.” The Piel perfect קִבְּצוּ (qibbÿtsu) from קָבַץ (qavats, “to gather”) may be nuanced in the intensive sense “to gather glow; to glow [in excitement]” (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ pi. 4) or the privative sense “to take away, withdraw” (BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ Pi.3). The phrase קִבְּצוּ פָארוּר (qibbÿtsu pa’rur) is very difficult; it occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 which also describes the fearful facial reaction to an invading army. It probably means: (1) to grow red in fear; (2) to grow pale in fear; or (3) to turn ashen in fear. This difficult phrase may be translated by the modern English idioms: “every face grows pale” or “every face flushes red in fear.”

[2:10]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term פָּארוּר (pa’rur) occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 where it also describes a fearful facial reaction. The meaning of פָּארוּר is debated and numerous etymologies have been suggested: (1) From פָּרוּר (parur, “cooking pot”; HALOT 964 s.v. פָּרוּר): LXX τὸ πρόσωπον πάντων ὡς πρόσκαυμα ξύτρας (to proswpon pantwn Jw" proskauma xutra", “all their faces are like a blackened/burned pot”); Vulgate et facies omnium sicut nigredo ollae (“all their faces are like a black pot”); Targum Jonathan (“covered with black like a pot”). This approach is adopted by the KJV and AV: “the faces of them all gather blackness.” (2) From פְּאֵר (pÿ’er, “beauty”). Taking קָבַץ (qavats) in a private sense (“gather in”), several scholars propose: “to draw in beauty, withdraw color,” hence: “their faces grow pale” (NASB, NIV); see K&D 26:192-93; A. Haldar, Studies in the Book of Nahum, 59. (3) From פָּרַר (parar, “break in pieces”). Due to fear, their faces have gathered wrinkles. (4) From IV פּרר (“to boil”), related to Arabic ’pr and Syriac npr (“to boil”): “their faces glow red in excitement” (HALOT 860 s.v.). (5) From פּאר (“grey, ash grey”): “their faces turn grey” (J. J. Gluck, “parur – paárur: A Case of Biblical Paronomasia,” OTWSA 12 [1969]: 21-26). The NJPS translation appears to adopt this approach: “all faces turn ashen.”