Psalms 22:7

22:7 All who see me taunt ¹  me;

they mock me ²  and shake their heads. ³ 

Psalms 22:2

22:2 My God, I cry out during the day,

but you do not answer,

and during the night my prayers do not let up. ⁴ 

Psalms 19:1

Psalm 19 ⁵ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; ⁶ 

the sky displays his handiwork. ⁷ 

Job 16:4

16:4 I also could speak ⁸  like you,

if ⁹  you were in my place;

I could pile up ¹⁰  words against you

and I could shake my head at you. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 37:22

37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: ¹² 

“The virgin daughter Zion ¹³ 

despises you – she makes fun of you;

daughter Jerusalem

shakes her head after you. ¹⁴ 

Lamentations 2:15-17

ס (Samek)

2:15 All who passed by on the road

clapped their hands to mock you. ¹⁵ 

They sneered and shook their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem.

“Ha! Is this the city they called ¹⁶ 

‘The perfection of beauty, ¹⁷ 

the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ¹⁸ 

פ (Pe)

2:16 All your enemies

gloated over you. ¹⁹ 

They sneered and gnashed their teeth;

they said, “We have destroyed ²⁰  her!

Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.

We have lived to see it!” ²¹ 

ע (Ayin)

2:17 The Lord has done what he planned;

he has fulfilled ²²  his promise ²³ 

that he threatened ²⁴  long ago: ²⁵ 

He has overthrown you without mercy ²⁶ 

and has enabled the enemy to gloat over you;

he has exalted your adversaries’ power. ²⁷ 

[22:7]  ¹ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

[22:7]  ² tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

[22:7]  ³ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

[22:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “there is no silence to me.”

[19:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.

[19:1]  ⁶ sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.

[19:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.

[16:4]  ⁸ tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.

[16:4]  ⁹ tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).

[16:4]  ¹⁰ tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).

[16:4]  ¹¹ sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).

[37:22]  ¹² tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”

[37:22]  ¹³ sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.

[37:22]  ¹⁴ sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.

[2:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).

[2:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “of which they said.”

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.

[2:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”

[2:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “We have swallowed!”

[2:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.

[2:17]  ²² tn The verb בָּצַע (batsa’) has a broad range of meanings: (1) “to cut off, break off,” (2) “to injure” a person, (3) “to gain by violence,” (4) “to finish, complete” and (5) “to accomplish, fulfill” a promise.

[2:17]  ²³ tn Heb “His word.” When used in collocation with the verb בָּצַע (batsa’, “to fulfill,” see previous tn), the accusative noun אִמְרָה (’imrah) means “promise.”

[2:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “commanded” or “decreed.” If a reference to prophetic oracles is understood, then “decreed” is preferable. If understood as a reference to the warnings in the covenant, then “threatened” is a preferable rendering.

[2:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from days of old.”

[2:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “He has overthrown and has not shown mercy.” The two verbs חָרַס וְלֹא חָמָל (kharas vÿlo’ khamal) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its verbal sense and the second functions adverbially: “He has overthrown you without mercy.” וְלֹא חָמָל (vÿlo’ khamal) alludes to 2:2.

[2:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.” The term “horn” (קֶרֶן, qeren) normally refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Israel. This term is often used figuratively as a symbol of strength, usually in reference to the military might of an army (Deut 33:17; 1 Sam 2:1, 10; 2 Sam 22:3; Pss 18:3; 75:11; 89:18, 25; 92:11; 112:9; 1 Chr 25:5; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:3; Ezek 29:21), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” To lift up the horn often means to boast and to lift up someone else’s horn is to give victory or cause to boast.