Psalms 7:14-15

7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,

who conceives destructive plans,

and gives birth to harmful lies – ¹ 

7:15 he digs a pit ² 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ³ 

Psalms 35:8

35:8 Let destruction take them by surprise! ⁴ 

Let the net they hid catch them!

Let them fall into destruction! ⁵ 

Psalms 35:1

Psalm 35 ⁶ 

By David.

35:1 O Lord, fight ⁷  those who fight with me!

Attack those who attack me!

Psalms 31:4

31:4 You will free me ⁸  from the net they hid for me,

for you are my place of refuge.

Psalms 31:2

31:2 Listen to me! ⁹ 

Quickly deliver me!

Be my protector and refuge, ¹⁰ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ¹¹ 

Psalms 17:1

Psalm 17 ¹² 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ¹³ 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ¹⁴ 

Esther 7:9-10

7:9 Harbona, ¹⁵  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ¹⁶  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!” 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Isaiah 37:38

37:38 One day, ¹⁷  as he was worshiping ¹⁸  in the temple of his god Nisroch, ¹⁹  his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ²⁰  They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Micah 5:6

5:6 They will rule ²¹  the land of Assyria with the sword,

the land of Nimrod ²²  with a drawn sword. ²³ 

Our king ²⁴  will rescue us from the Assyrians

should they attempt to invade our land

and try to set foot in our territory.

Matthew 27:4-5

27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!” 27:5 So ²⁵  Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself.

[7:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”

[7:15]  ² tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.

[7:15]  ³ tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.

[35:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “let destruction [which] he does not know come to him.” The singular is used of the enemy in v. 8, probably in a representative or collective sense. The psalmist has more than one enemy, as vv. 1-7 make clear.

[35:8]  ⁵ tn The psalmist’s prayer for his enemies’ demise continues. See vv. 4-6.

[35:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 35. The author, who faces ruthless enemies who seek his life for no reason, begs the Lord to fight his battles for him and to vindicate him by annihilating his adversaries.

[35:1]  ⁷ tn Or “contend.”

[31:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “bring me out.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form expresses the psalmist’s confidence about the future. Another option is to take the form as expressing a prayer, “free me.”

[31:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[31:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”

[31:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”

[17:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.

[17:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

[17:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

[7:9]  ¹⁵ sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.

[37:38]  ¹⁷ sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681 b.c.

[37:38]  ¹⁸ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[37:38]  ¹⁹ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.

[37:38]  ²⁰ sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.

[5:6]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps “break”; or “defeat.”

[5:6]  ²² sn According to Gen 10:8-12, Nimrod, who was famous as a warrior and hunter, founded Assyria.

[5:6]  ²³ tc The MT reads “in her gates,” but the text should be emended to בַּפְּתִיחָה (baptikhah, “with a drawn sword”).

[5:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the coming king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:5]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the leaders’ response to Judas.