Discovery BoxPsalms 69:2
Context69:2 I sink into the deep mire
where there is no solid ground; 1
I am in 2 deep water,
and the current overpowers me.
Psalms 69:14-15
Context69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!
Deliver me 3 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 4 devour me! 5
Jeremiah 38:6-12
Context38:6 So the officials 6 took Jeremiah and put him in the cistern 7 of Malkijah, one of the royal princes, 8 that was in the courtyard of the guardhouse. There was no water in the cistern, only mud. So when they lowered Jeremiah into the cistern with ropes he sank in the mud. 9
38:7 An Ethiopian, Ebed Melech, 10 a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put 11 in the cistern. While the king was holding court 12 at the Benjamin Gate, 38:8 Ebed Melech departed the palace and went to speak to the king. He said to him, 38:9 “Your royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city. 13 38:10 Then the king gave Ebed Melech the Ethiopian the following order: “Take thirty 14 men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.” 38:11 So Ebed Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasure room in the palace. 15 He got some worn-out clothes and old rags 16 from there and let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 38:12 Ebed Melech 17 called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes. 18 Jeremiah did as Ebed Melech instructed. 19
Lamentations 3:53-55
Context3:53 They shut me 20 up in a pit
and threw stones at me.
3:54 The waters closed over my head;
I thought 21 I was about to die. 22
ק (Qof)
3:55 I have called on your name, O Lord,
from the deepest pit. 23
[69:2] 1 tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”
[69:2] 2 tn Heb “have entered.”
[69:14] 3 tn Heb “let me be delivered.”
[69:15] 4 tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).
[69:15] 5 tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”
[38:6] 7 sn A cistern was a pear-shaped pit with a narrow opening. Cisterns were cut or dug in the limestone rock and lined with plaster to prevent seepage. They were used to collect and store rain water or water carried up from a spring.
[38:6] 8 tn Heb “the son of the king.” See the translator’s note on Jer 36:26 for the rendering here.
[38:6] 9 tn Heb “And they let Jeremiah down with ropes and in the cistern there was no water, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.” The clauses have been reordered and restructured to create a more natural and smoother order in English.
[38:7] 10 sn This individual, Ebed Melech, is mentioned only here. Later he will be promised deliverance from destruction when the city falls because he had shown trust in God (see Jer 39:16-18).
[38:7] 11 tn Heb “Ebed Melech, the Cushite, a man, an eunuch/official, and he was [= who was; a circumstantial clause] in the house of the king, heard that they had put Jeremiah…” The passive construction “Jeremiah had been put” has been used to avoid the indefinite subject “they” or the addition of “the officials.” For the translation of סָרִיס (saris) as “official” here rather than “eunuch” see the translator’s note on 29:2 and see also the usage in 34:19. For the translation of “Cushite” as Ethiopian see the study note on 13:23.
[38:7] 12 tn Heb “And the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate.” This clause is circumstantial to the following clause; thus “while the king was…” Most commentators agree that the reference to sitting in the gate here likely refers to the same kind of judicial context that has been posited for 26:10 (see the translator’s note there for further references). Hence the translation uses “sitting” with the more technical “holding court” to better reflect the probable situation.
[38:9] 13 tn Heb “Those men have made evil all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah in that they have thrown him into the cistern and he will die of starvation in the place where he is because there is no more food in the city.” The particle אֵת (’et) before “they have thrown” (אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁלִיכוּ, ’et ’asher hishlikhu) is explanatory or further definition of “all they have done to” (i.e., the particle is repeated for apposition). The verb form “and he is sure to die” is an unusual use of the vav (ו) consecutive + imperfect that the grammars see as giving a logical consequence without a past nuance (cf. GKC 328 §111.l and IBHS 557-58 §33.3.1f).
[38:10] 14 tc Some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV, REB, TEV) and commentaries read “three” on the basis that thirty men would not be necessary for the task (cf. J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 231). Though the difference in “three” and “thirty” involves minimal emendation (שְׁלֹשָׁה [shÿlosha] for שְׁלֹשִׁים [shÿloshim]) there is no textual or versional evidence for it except for one Hebrew
[38:11] 15 tn Heb “went into the palace in under the treasury.” Several of the commentaries (e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 227; J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 639, n. 6) emend the prepositional phrase “in under” (אֶל־תַּחַת, ’el-takhat) to the noun “wardrobe” plus the preposition “to” (אֶל־מֶלְתַחַת, ’el-meltakhat). This is a plausible emendation which would involve dropping out מֶל (mel) due to its similarity with the אֶל (’el) which precedes it. However, there is no textual or versional evidence for such a reading and the compound preposition is not in itself objectionable (cf. BDB 1066 s.v. תַּחַת III.1.a). The Greek version reads “the part underground” (representing a Hebrew Vorlage of אֶל תַּחַת הָאָרֶץ, ’el takhat ha’arets) in place of אֶל תַּחַת הָאוֹצָר (’el takhat ha’otsar). The translation follows the Hebrew text but adds the word “room” for the sake of English style.
[38:11] 16 tn Heb “worn-out clothes and worn-out rags.”
[38:12] 17 tn Heb “Ebed Melech the Ethiopian.” The words “the Ethiopian” are unnecessary and are not repeated in the translation because he has already been identified as such in vv. 7, 10.
[38:12] 18 tn Heb “under the joints of your arms under the ropes.” The two uses of “under” have different orientations and are best reflected by “between your armpits and the ropes” or “under your armpits to pad the ropes.”
[38:12] 19 tn Or “Jeremiah did so.” The alternate translation is what the text reads literally.
[3:54] 21 tn Heb “I said,” meaning “I said to myself” = “I thought.”
[3:54] 22 tn Heb “I was about to be cut off.” The verb נִגְזָרְתִּי (nigzarti), Niphal perfect 1st person common singular from גָּזַר (gazar, “to be cut off”), functions in an ingressive sense: “about to be cut off.” It is used in reference to the threat of death (e.g., Ezek 37:11). To be “cut off” from the hand of the living means to experience death (Ps 88:6).
