Discovery BoxPsalms 18:4
Context18:4 The waves 1 of death engulfed me,
the currents 2 of chaos 3 overwhelmed me. 4
Psalms 69:1-2
ContextFor the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” 6 by David.
69:1 Deliver me, O God,
for the water has reached my neck. 7
69:2 I sink into the deep mire
where there is no solid ground; 8
I am in 9 deep water,
and the current overpowers me.
Psalms 69:14-16
Context69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!
Deliver me 10 from those who hate me,
from the deep water!
69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!
Don’t let the deep swallow me up!
Don’t let the pit 11 devour me! 12
69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! 13
Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!
Isaiah 17:12-13
Context17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, 14
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. 15
The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, 16
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. 17
17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, 18
when he shouts at 19 them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles 20 before a strong gale.
Jeremiah 46:7-8
Context46:7 “Who is this that rises like the Nile,
like its streams 21 turbulent at flood stage?
46:8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like its streams turbulent at flood stage.
Egypt says, ‘I will arise and cover the earth.
I will destroy cities and the people who inhabit them.’
Jonah 2:3
Context2:3 You threw me 22 into the deep waters, 23
into the middle 24 of the sea; 25
the ocean current 26 engulfed 27 me;
all the mighty waves 28 you sent 29 swept 30 over me. 31
Revelation 12:15
Context12:15 Then 32 the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to 33 sweep her away by a flood,
Revelation 17:15
Context17:15 Then 34 the angel 35 said to me, “The waters you saw (where the prostitute is seated) are peoples, multitudes, 36 nations, and languages.
[18:4] 1 tc Ps 18:4 reads “ropes,” while 2 Sam 22:5 reads “waves.” The reading of the psalm has been influenced by the next verse (note “ropes of Sheol”) and perhaps also by Ps 116:3 (where “ropes of death” appears, as here, with the verb אָפַף, ’afaf). However, the parallelism of v. 4 (note “currents” in the next line) favors the reading “waves.” While the verb אָפַף is used with “ropes” as subject in Ps 116:3, it can also be used with engulfing “waters” as subject (see Jonah 2:5). Death is compared to surging waters in v. 4 and to a hunter in v. 5.
[18:4] 2 tn The Hebrew noun נַחַל (nakhal) usually refers to a river or stream, but in this context the plural form likely refers to the currents of the sea (see vv. 15-16).
[18:4] 3 tn The noun בְלִיַּעַל (vÿliyya’al) is used here as an epithet for death. Elsewhere it is a common noun meaning “wickedness, uselessness.” It is often associated with rebellion against authority and other crimes that result in societal disorder and anarchy. The phrase “man/son of wickedness” refers to one who opposes God and the order he has established. The term becomes an appropriate title for death, which, through human forces, launches an attack against God’s chosen servant.
[18:4] 4 tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. (Note the perfect verbal form in the parallel/preceding line.) The verb בָּעַת (ba’at) sometimes by metonymy carries the nuance “frighten,” but the parallelism (see “engulfed”) favors the meaning “overwhelm” here.
[69:1] 5 sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.
[69:1] 6 tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.
[69:1] 7 tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.
[69:2] 9 tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”
[69:2] 10 tn Heb “have entered.”
[69:14] 13 tn Heb “let me be delivered.”
[69:15] 17 tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).
[69:15] 18 tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”
[69:16] 21 tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”
[17:12] 25 tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
[17:12] 26 tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
[17:12] 27 tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.
[17:12] 28 tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
[17:13] 29 tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
[17:13] 30 tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.
[17:13] 31 tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”
[46:7] 33 tn The word translated “streams” here refers to the streams of the Nile (cf. Exod 7:19; 8:1) for parallel usage.
[2:3] 37 tn Or “You had thrown me.” Verse 3 begins the detailed description of Jonah’s plight, which resulted from being thrown into the sea.
[2:3] 38 tn Heb “the deep” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “into the ocean depths.”
[2:3] 39 tn Heb “heart” (so many English versions); CEV “to the (+ very TEV) bottom of the sea.”
[2:3] 40 tc The BHS editors suggest deleting either מְצוּלָה (mÿtsulah, “into the deep”) or בִּלְבַב יַמִּים (bilvav yammim, “into the heart of the sea”). They propose that one or the other is a scribal gloss on the remaining term. However, the use of an appositional phrase within a poetic colon is not unprecedented in Hebrew poetry. The MT is therefore best retained.
[2:3] 41 tn Or “the stream”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “the flood.” The Hebrew word נָהָר (nahar) is used in parallel with יַם (yam, “sea”) in Ps 24:2 (both are plural) to describe the oceans of the world and in Ps 66:6 to speak of the sea crossed by Israel in the exodus from Egypt.
[2:3] 42 tn Heb “surrounded” (so NRSV); NAB “enveloped.”
[2:3] 43 tn Heb “your breakers and your waves.” This phrase is a nominal hendiadys; the first noun functions as an attributive adjective modifying the second noun: “your breaking waves.”
[2:3] 44 tn Heb “your… your…” The 2nd person masculine singular suffixes on מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ וְגַלֶּיךָ (mishbarekha vÿgallekha, “your breakers and your waves”) function as genitives of source. Just as God had hurled a violent wind upon the sea (1:4) and had sovereignly sent the large fish to swallow him (1:17 [2:1 HT]), Jonah viewed God as sovereignly responsible for afflicting him with sea waves that were crashing upon his head, threatening to drown him. Tg. Jonah 2:3 alters the 2nd person masculine singular suffixes to 3rd person masculine singular suffixes to make them refer to the sea and not to God, for the sake of smoothness: “all the gales of the sea and its billows.”
[2:3] 45 tn Heb “crossed”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV “passed.”
[2:3] 46 sn Verses 3 and 5 multiply terms describing Jonah’s watery plight. The images used in v. 3 appear also in 2 Sam 22:5-6; Pss 42:7; 51:11; 69:1-2, 14-15; 88:6-7; 102:10.
[12:15] 41 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
[12:15] 42 tn Grk “so that he might make her swept away.”
[17:15] 45 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[17:15] 46 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[17:15] 47 tn Grk “and multitudes,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here and before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
