Psalms 31:13

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ¹ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ² 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Isaiah 24:17-18

24:17 Terror, pit, and snare

are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! ³ 

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ⁴ 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ⁵  are opened up ⁶ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

Jeremiah 6:25

6:25 Do not go out into the countryside.

Do not travel on the roads.

For the enemy is there with sword in hand. ⁷ 

They are spreading terror everywhere.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 20:3

20:3 But the next day Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. When he did, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not ‘Pashhur’ but ‘Terror is Everywhere.’ ⁹ 

Jeremiah 46:5

46:5 What do I see?” ¹⁰  says the Lord. ¹¹ 

“The soldiers ¹²  are terrified.

They are retreating.

They have been defeated.

They are overcome with terror; ¹³ 

they desert quickly

without looking back.

Amos 9:1-4

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ¹⁴  standing by the altar ¹⁵  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ¹⁶  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹⁷ 

and I will kill the survivors ¹⁸  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹⁹ 

no one will be able to escape. ²⁰ 

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ²¹ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ²²  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ²³  I would command the Sea Serpent ²⁴  to bite them.

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ²⁵ 

from there ²⁶  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ²⁷ 

[31:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ² tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[24:17]  ³ tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.

[24:18]  ⁴ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ⁶ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[6:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “For the enemy has a sword.”

[6:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “Terror is all around!”

[20:3]  ⁹ tn This name is translated rather than transliterated to aid the reader in understanding this name and connect it clearly with the explanation that follows in the next verse. For a rather complete discussion on the significance of this name and an attempt to explain it as a pun on the name “Pashhur” see J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (NICOT), 455, n. 35.

[46:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).

[46:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.” This phrase, which is part of a messenger formula (i.e., that the words that are spoken are from him), are actually at the end of the verse. They have been put here for better poetic balance and to better identify the “I.”

[46:5]  ¹² tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”

[46:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “terror is all around.”

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ¹⁵ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[9:3]  ²² tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ²³ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ²⁴ sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.

[9:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”