Psalms 9:5-6

9:5 You terrified the nations with your battle cry; ¹ 

you destroyed the wicked; ² 

you permanently wiped out all memory of them. ³ 

9:6 The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins; ⁴ 

you destroyed their cities; ⁵ 

all memory of the enemies has perished. ⁶ 

Psalms 10:15

10:15 Break the arm ⁷  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ⁸ 

which he thought you would not discover. ⁹ 

Psalms 10:18

10:18 You defend ¹⁰  the fatherless and oppressed, ¹¹ 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ¹² 

Psalms 58:6

58:6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths!

Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord!

Psalms 74:10-11

74:10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?

Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

74:11 Why do you remain inactive?

Intervene and destroy him! ¹³ 

Psalms 74:22-23

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ¹⁴ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ¹⁵ 

74:23 Do not disregard ¹⁶  what your enemies say, ¹⁷ 

or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 37:36-38

37:36 The Lord’s messenger ¹⁹  went out and killed 185,000 troops ²⁰  in the Assyrian camp. When they ²¹  got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! ²²  37:37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. ²³  37:38 One day, ²⁴  as he was worshiping ²⁵  in the temple of his god Nisroch, ²⁶  his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ²⁷  They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Daniel 11:45

11:45 He will pitch his royal tents between the seas ²⁸  toward the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, with no one to help him.

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ²⁹  struck ³⁰  Herod ³¹  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ³² 

[9:5]  ¹ tn The verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke” and in this context taken to refer to the Lord’s “rebuke” of the nations. In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[9:5]  ² tn The singular form is collective (note “nations” and “their name”). In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). In this context the hostile nations who threaten Israel/Judah are in view.

[9:5]  ³ tn Heb “their name you wiped out forever and ever.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 5 probably refer to a recent victory (definite past or present perfect use), although they might express what is typical (characteristic use).

[9:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “the enemy – they have come to an end [in] ruins permanently.” The singular form אוֹיֵב (’oyev, “enemy”) is collective. It is placed at the beginning of the verse to heighten the contrast with יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) in v. 7.

[9:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “you uprooted cities.”

[9:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “it has perished, their remembrance, they.” The independent pronoun at the end of the line is in apposition to the preceding pronominal suffix and lends emphasis (see IBHS 299 §16.3.4). The referent of the masculine pronoun is the nations/enemies (cf. v. 5), not the cities (the Hebrew noun עָרִים [’arim, “cities”] is grammatically feminine). This has been specified in the present translation for clarity; many modern translations retain the pronoun “them,” resulting in ambiguity (cf. NRSV “their cities you have rooted out; the very memory of them has perished”).

[10:15]  ⁷ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[10:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

[10:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

[10:18]  ¹² tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

[74:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.

[74:22]  ¹⁴ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”

[74:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “forget.”

[74:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the voice of your enemies.”

[74:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the roar of those who rise up against you, which ascends continually.”

[37:36]  ¹⁹ tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[37:36]  ²⁰ tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.

[37:36]  ²¹ tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.

[37:36]  ²² tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”

[37:37]  ²³ tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”

[37:38]  ²⁴ sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681 b.c.

[37:38]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.

[37:38]  ²⁷ 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.

[11:45]  ²⁸ sn Presumably seas refers to the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea.

[12:23]  ²⁹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ³⁰ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ³¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ³² sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).