Psalms 32:9

32:9 Do not be ¹  like an unintelligent horse or mule, ² 

which will not obey you

unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. ³ 

Proverbs 26:3

26:3 A whip for the horse and a bridle for the donkey,

and a rod for the backs of fools! ⁴ 

Proverbs 29:1

29:1 The one who stiffens his neck ⁵  after numerous rebukes ⁶ 

will suddenly be destroyed ⁷  without remedy. ⁸ 

Isaiah 51:20

51:20 Your children faint;

they lie at the head of every street

like an antelope in a snare.

They are left in a stupor by the Lord’s anger,

by the battle cry of your God. ⁹ 

Isaiah 53:7

53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, ¹⁰ 

but he did not even open his mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,

like a sheep silent before her shearers,

he did not even open his mouth. ¹¹ 

Lamentations 3:27-30

3:27 It is good for a man ¹² 

to bear ¹³  the yoke ¹⁴  while he is young. ¹⁵ 

י (Yod)

3:28 Let a person ¹⁶  sit alone in silence,

when the Lord ¹⁷  is disciplining him. ¹⁸ 

3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust; ¹⁹ 

perhaps there is hope.

3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; ²⁰ 

let him have his fill of insults.

Hosea 10:11

Fertility Imagery: Plowing, Sowing, and Reaping

10:11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain;

I myself put a fine yoke ²¹ on her neck.

I will harness Ephraim.

Let Judah plow! ²² 

Let Jacob break up ²³  the unplowed ground for himself!

[32:9]  ¹ tn The verb form is plural (i.e., “do not all of you be”); the psalmist addresses the whole group.

[32:9]  ² tn Heb “like a horse, like a mule without understanding.”

[32:9]  ³ tn Heb “with a bridle and bit, its [?] to hold, not to come near to you.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun עֲדִי (’adiy) is uncertain. Normally the word refers to “jewelry,” so some suggest the meaning “trappings” here (cf. NASB). Some emend the form to לְחֵיהֶם (lÿkhehem, “their jawbones”) but it is difficult to see how the present Hebrew text, even if corrupt, could have derived from this proposed original reading. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 265) takes the form from an Arabic root and translates “whose gallop.” Cf. also NRSV “whose temper must be curbed.”

[26:3]  ⁴ sn A fool must be disciplined by force like an animal – there is no reasoning. The fool is as difficult to manage as the donkey or horse.

[29:1]  ⁵ tn The idiom “to harden the neck” (מַקְשֶׁה־עֹרֶף, maqsheh-’oref) is the idea of resisting the rebukes and persisting in obstinacy (e.g., Exod 32:9). The opposite of a “stiff neck” would be the bending back, i.e., submission.

[29:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew construction is אִישׁ תּוֹכָחוֹת (’ish tokhakhot, “a man of rebukes”), meaning “a man who has (or receives) many rebukes.” This describes a person who is deserving of punishment and who has been given many warnings. The text says, then, “a man of rebukes hardening himself.”

[29:1]  ⁷ sn The stubborn person refuses to listen; he will suddenly be destroyed when the calamity strikes (e.g., Prov 6:15; 13:18; 15:10).

[29:1]  ⁸ tn Or “healing” (NRSV).

[51:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who are full of the anger of the Lord, the shout [or “rebuke”] of your God.”

[53:7]  ¹⁰ tn The translation assumes the Niphal is passive; another option is take the clause (note the subject + verb pattern) as concessive and the Niphal as reflexive, “though he humbled himself.”

[53:7]  ¹¹ sn This verse emphasizes the servant’s silent submission. The comparison to a sheep does not necessarily suggest a sacrificial metaphor. Sheep were slaughtered for food as well as for sacrificial rituals, and טֶבַח (tevakh) need not refer to sacrificial slaughter (see Gen 43:16; Prov 7:22; 9:2; Jer 50:27; note also the use of the related verb in Exod 21:37; Deut 28:31; 1 Sam 25:11).

[3:27]  ¹² tn See note at 3:1 on the Hebrew term for “man” here.

[3:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “that he bear.”

[3:27]  ¹⁴ sn Jeremiah is referring to the painful humiliation of subjugation to the Babylonians, particularly to the exile of the populace of Jerusalem. The Babylonians and Assyrians frequently used the phrase “bear the yoke” as a metaphor: their subjects were made as subservient to them as yoked oxen were to their masters. Because the Babylonian exile would last for seventy years, only those who were in their youth when Jerusalem fell would have any hope of living until the return of the remnant. For the middle-aged and elderly, the yoke of exile would be insufferable; but those who bore this “yoke” in their youth would have hope.

[3:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in his youth.” The preposition ב (bet) functions in a temporal sense: “when.”

[3:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “him.” The speaking voice in this chapter continues to be that of the גֶּבֶר (gever, “man”). The image of female Jerusalem in chs. 1-2 was fluid, being able to refer to the city or its inhabitants, both female and male. So too the “defeated soldier” or “everyman” (see note at 3:1 on “man”) is fluid and can represent any member of the Jewish community, male and female. This line especially has a proverbial character which can be extended to any person, hence the translation. But masculine pronouns are otherwise maintained reflecting the Hebrew grammatical system and the speaking voice of the poem.

[3:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “has laid it on him.” The verb נָטַל (natal) is used 4 times in Biblical Hebrew; the related noun refers to heaviness or a burden. The entry of BDB 642 s.v. is outdated while HALOT 694 s.v. נטל is acceptable for the Qal. See D. R. Hillers, Lamentations (AB), 57. Hillers’ suggestion of a stative meaning for the Qal is followed here, though based on 2 Sam 24:12 “impose” is also possible.

[3:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Let him put his mouth in the dust.”

[3:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to the smiter.”

[10:11]  ²¹ tc The MT is unintelligible: עַל־טוּב (’al-tuv, “upon a fine [thing]”?). Cf. KJV “I passed over upon her fair neck”; NRSV “I spared her fair neck.” The BHS editors suggest the revocalization עֹל־טוּב (’ol-tuv, “a fine yoke”), followed by many modern English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The noun עֹל (’ol, “yoke”) also appears in 11:4 in a metaphor which compares Israel to a young heifer as well.

[10:11]  ²² tn Or “Judah will plow” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV, CEV “Judah must plow.”

[10:11]  ²³ tn Or “Jacob will break up.”