Psalms 31:18

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips ¹  that speak defiantly against the innocent ² 

with arrogance and contempt!

Job 16:4

16:4 I also could speak ³  like you,

if ⁴  you were in my place;

I could pile up ⁵  words against you

and I could shake my head at you. ⁶ 

Job 16:10

16:10 People ⁷  have opened their mouths against me,

they have struck my cheek in scorn; ⁸ 

they unite ⁹  together against me.

Job 30:9-11

Job’s Indignities

30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;

I have become a byword ¹⁰  among them.

30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance; ¹¹ 

they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

30:11 Because God has untied ¹²  my tent cord and afflicted me,

people throw off all restraint in my presence. ¹³ 

Isaiah 57:4

57:4 At whom are you laughing?

At whom are you opening your mouth

and sticking out your tongue?

You are the children of rebels,

the offspring of liars, ¹⁴ 

Matthew 26:66-68

26:66 What is your verdict?” ¹⁵  They ¹⁶  answered, “He is guilty and deserves ¹⁷  death.” 26:67 Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. And some slapped him, 26:68 saying, “Prophesy for us, you Christ! ¹⁸  Who hit you?” ¹⁹ 

[31:18]  ¹ tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18]  ² tn Or “godly.”

[16:4]  ³ tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.

[16:4]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).

[16:10]  ⁷ tn “People” is supplied; the Hebrew verb is third plural. The colon reads, “they have opened against me with [the preposition is instrumental] their mouth.” The gestures here follow the animal imagery; they reflect destructive opposition and attack (see Ps 22:13 among others).

[16:10]  ⁸ tn This is an “insult” or a “reproach.”

[16:10]  ⁹ tn The verb יִתְמַלָּאוּן (yitmalla’un) is taken from מָלֵא (male’), “to be full,” and in this stem, “to pile up; to press together.” The term has a military connotation, such as “to mobilize” (see D. W. Thomas, “ml'w in Jeremiah 4:5 : a military term,” JJS 3 [1952]: 47-52). Job sees himself surrounded by enemies who persecute him and mock him.

[30:9]  ¹⁰ tn The idea is that Job has become proverbial, people think of misfortune and sin when they think of him. The statement uses the ordinary word for “word” (מִלָּה, millah), but in this context it means more: “proverb; byword.”

[30:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they are far from me.”

[30:11]  ¹² tn The verb פָּתַח (patakh) means “to untie [or undo]” a rope or bonds. In this verse יִתְרוֹ (yitro, the Kethib, LXX, and Vulgate) would mean “his rope” (see יֶתֶר [yeter] in Judg 16:7-9). The Qere would be יִתְרִי (yitri, “my rope [or cord]”), meaning “me.” The word could mean “rope,” “cord,” or “bowstring.” If the reading “my cord” is accepted, the cord would be something like “my tent cord” (as in Job 29:20), more than K&D 12:147 “cord of life.” This has been followed in the present translation. If it were “my bowstring,” it would give the sense of disablement. If “his cord” is taken, it would signify that the restraint that God had in afflicting Job was loosened – nothing was held back.

[30:11]  ¹³ sn People throw off all restraint in my presence means that when people saw how God afflicted Job, robbing him of his influence and power, then they turned on him with unrestrained insolence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 193).

[57:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Are you not children of rebellion, offspring of a lie?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course you are!”

[26:66]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “What do you think?”

[26:66]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:66]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he is guilty of death.” L&N 88.313 states, “pertaining to being guilty and thus deserving some particular penalty – ‘guilty and deserving, guilty and punishable by.’ οἱ δὲ ἀποκριθέντες εἶπαν, ᾿Ενοχος θανάτου ἐστίν ‘they answered, He is guilty and deserves death’ Mt 26:66.”

[26:68]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:68]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”