Psalms 22:16

22:16 Yes, ¹  wild dogs surround me –

a gang of evil men crowd around me;

like a lion they pin my hands and feet. ² 

Psalms 56:6-7

56:6 They stalk ³  and lurk; ⁴ 

they watch my every step, ⁵ 

as ⁶  they prepare to take my life. ⁷ 

56:7 Because they are bent on violence, do not let them escape! ⁸ 

In your anger ⁹  bring down the nations, ¹⁰  O God!

Genesis 49:17

49:17 May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward. ¹¹ 

Genesis 49:1

The Blessing of Jacob

49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you ¹²  what will happen to you in the future. ¹³ 

Genesis 26:20

26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled ¹⁴  with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac ¹⁵  named the well ¹⁶  Esek ¹⁷  because they argued with him about it. ¹⁸ 

[22:16]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[22:16]  ² tn Heb “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet. The line has been traditionally translated, “they pierce my hands and feet,” and then taken as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ. Though Jesus does appropriate the language of this psalm while on the cross (compare v. 1 with Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34), the NT does not cite this verse in describing the death of Jesus. (It does refer to vv. 7-8 and 18, however. See Matt 27:35, 39, 43; Mark 15:24, 29; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24.) If one were to insist on an emendation of כָּאֲרִי (ka’ariy, “like a lion”) to a verb, the most likely verbal root would be כָּרָה (karah, “dig”; see the LXX). In this context this verb could refer to the gnawing and tearing of wild dogs (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV). The ancient Greek version produced by Symmachus reads “bind” here, perhaps understanding a verbal root כרך, which is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic and means “to encircle, entwine, embrace” (see HALOT 497-98 s.v. כרך and Jastrow 668 s.v. כָּרַךְ). Neither one of these proposed verbs can yield a meaning “bore, pierce.”

[56:6]  ³ tn The verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 59:3.

[56:6]  ⁴ tn Or “hide.”

[56:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “my heels.”

[56:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “according to,” in the sense of “inasmuch as; since,” or “when; while.”

[56:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “they wait [for] my life.”

[56:7]  ⁸ tc Heb “because of wickedness, deliverance to them.” As it stands, the MT makes no sense. The negative particle אַיִן (’ayin, “there is not,” which is due to dittography of the immediately preceding אָוֶן, ’aven, “wickedness”), should probably be added before “deliverance” (see BHS, note a). The presence of an imperative in the next line (note “bring down”) suggests that this line should be translated as a prayer as well, “may there not be deliverance to them.”

[56:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “in anger.” The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[56:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps “people” in a general sense.

[49:17]  ¹¹ sn The comparison of the tribe of Dan to a venomous serpent is meant to say that Dan, though small, would be potent, gaining victory through its skill and shrewdness. Jewish commentators have linked the image in part with Samson. That link at least illustrates the point: Though a minority tribe, Dan would gain the upper hand over others.

[49:1]  ¹² tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

[49:1]  ¹³ tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.

[26:20]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb translated “quarreled” describes a conflict that often has legal ramifications.

[26:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he called the name of the well.”

[26:20]  ¹⁷ sn The name Esek means “argument” in Hebrew. The following causal clause explains that Isaac gave the well this name as a reminder of the conflict its discovery had created. In the Hebrew text there is a wordplay, for the name is derived from the verb translated “argued.”

[26:20]  ¹⁸ tn The words “about it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.