Psalms 107:40

107:40 He would pour ¹  contempt upon princes,

and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.

Genesis 21:14-16

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ²  some food ³  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ⁴  and sent her away. So she went wandering ⁵  aimlessly through the wilderness ⁶  of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ⁷  the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ⁸  away; for she thought, ⁹  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ¹⁰  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ¹¹ 

Numbers 14:33

14:33 and your children will wander ¹²  in the wilderness forty years and suffer for your unfaithfulness, ¹³  until your dead bodies lie finished ¹⁴  in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 8:15

8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents ¹⁵  and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow ¹⁶  from a flint rock and

Deuteronomy 32:10

32:10 The Lord ¹⁷  found him ¹⁸  in a desolate land,

in an empty wasteland where animals howl. ¹⁹ 

He continually guarded him ²⁰  and taught him; ²¹ 

he continually protected him ²²  like the pupil ²³  of his eye.

Job 12:24

12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth ²⁴ 

of their understanding; ²⁵ 

he makes them wander

in a trackless desert waste. ²⁶ 

Ezekiel 34:6

34:6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.

Ezekiel 34:12

34:12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day. ²⁷ 

Hebrews 11:38

11:38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.

Revelation 12:6

12:6 and she ²⁸  fled into the wilderness ²⁹  where a place had been prepared for her ³⁰  by God, so she could be taken care of ³¹  for 1,260 days.

[107:40]  ¹ tn The active participle is understood as past durative here, drawing attention to typical action in a past time frame. However, it could be taken as generalizing (in which case one should translate using the English present tense), in which case the psalmist moves from narrative to present reality. Perhaps the participial form appears because the statement is lifted from Job 12:21.

[21:14]  ² tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ³ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ⁶ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[21:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.

[21:16]  ⁸ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

[14:33]  ¹² tn The word is “shepherds.” It means that the people would be wilderness nomads, grazing their flock on available land.

[14:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “you shall bear your whoredoms.” The imagery of prostitution is used throughout the Bible to reflect spiritual unfaithfulness, leaving the covenant relationship and following after false gods. Here it is used generally for their rebellion in the wilderness, but not for following other gods.

[14:33]  ¹⁴ tn The infinitive is from תָּמַם (tamam), which means “to be complete.” The word is often used to express completeness in a good sense – whole, blameless, or the like. Here and in v. 35 it seems to mean “until your deaths have been completed.” See also Gen 47:15; Deut 2:15.

[8:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).

[8:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.

[32:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:10]  ¹⁸ tn The reference is to “his people/Jacob” (cf. v. 9), that is, Israel (using a collective singular). The singular pronouns are replaced by plural ones throughout vv. 10-14 by some English versions as an aid to the modern reader (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[32:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in an empty, howling wasteland.” The word “howling” is derived from a verbal root that typically refers to the wailing of mourners. Here it likely refers to the howling of desert animals, or perhaps to the howling wind, in which case one may translate, “in an empty, windy wasteland.”

[32:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “was surrounding him.” The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing care during the period in view. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.

[32:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “he gave him understanding.” The form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.

[32:10]  ²² tn The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing protection during the period in view. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.

[32:10]  ²³ tn Heb “the little man.” The term אִישׁוֹן (’ishon) means literally “little man,” perhaps because when one looks into another’s eyes he sees himself reflected there in miniature. See A. Harman, NIDOTTE 1:391.

[12:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the heads of the people of the earth.”

[12:24]  ²⁵ tn Heb “heart.”

[12:24]  ²⁶ tn The text has בְּתֹהוּ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (bÿtohu lo’ darekh): “in waste – no way,” or “in a wasteland [where there is] no way,” thus, “trackless” (see the discussion of negative attributes using לֹא [lo’] in GKC 482 §152.u).

[34:12]  ²⁷ sn The imagery may reflect the overthrow of the Israelites by the Babylonians in 587/6 b.c.

[12:6]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and the woman,” which would be somewhat redundant in English.

[12:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “desert.”

[12:6]  ³⁰ tn Grk “where she has there a place prepared by God.”

[12:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “so they can take care of her.”