Zechariah 2:6

2:6 “You there! ¹  Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven ²  I have scattered you,” says the Lord.

Zechariah 9:14

9:14 Then the Lord will appear above them, and his arrow will shoot forth like lightning; the Lord God will blow the trumpet and will sally forth on the southern storm winds.

Leviticus 26:33

26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ³  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

Deuteronomy 4:27

4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you ⁴  among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Deuteronomy 28:33

28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.

Deuteronomy 28:64

28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone.

Psalms 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ⁵ 

he ⁶  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ⁷ 

Isaiah 17:13

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ⁸ 

when he shouts at ⁹  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ¹⁰  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 21:1

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: ¹¹ 

Like strong winds blowing in the south, ¹² 

one invades from the desert,

from a land that is feared.

Isaiah 66:15

66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,

his chariots come like a windstorm, ¹³ 

to reveal his raging anger,

his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 4:11-12

4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem ¹⁵  will be told,

‘A scorching wind will sweep down

from the hilltops in the desert on ¹⁶  my dear people. ¹⁷ 

It will not be a gentle breeze

for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. ¹⁸ 

4:12 No, ¹⁹  a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding.

Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’ ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 23:19

23:19 But just watch! ²¹  The wrath of the Lord

will come like a storm! ²² 

Like a raging storm it will rage down ²³ 

on the heads of those who are wicked.

Jeremiah 25:32-33

25:32 The Lord who rules over all ²⁴  says,

‘Disaster will soon come on one nation after another. ²⁵ 

A mighty storm of military destruction ²⁶  is rising up

from the distant parts of the earth.’

25:33 Those who have been killed by the Lord at that time

will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other.

They will not be mourned over, gathered up, or buried. ²⁷ 

Their dead bodies will lie scattered over the ground like manure.

Jeremiah 30:23

30:23 Just watch! The wrath of the Lord

will come like a storm.

Like a raging storm it will rage down

on the heads of those who are wicked.

Jeremiah 36:19

36:19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must go and hide. You must not let anyone know where you are.” ²⁸ 

Amos 1:14

1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s ²⁹  city wall; ³⁰ 

fire ³¹  will consume her fortresses.

War cries will be heard on the day of battle; ³² 

a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. ³³ 

Nahum 1:3

1:3 The Lord is slow to anger ³⁴  but great in power; ³⁵ 

the Lord will certainly not ³⁶  allow the wicked ³⁷  to go unpunished.

The Divine Warrior Destroys His Enemies but Protects His People

He marches out ³⁸  in the whirlwind and the raging storm;

dark storm clouds billow like dust ³⁹  under his feet. ⁴⁰ 

Habakkuk 3:14

3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors ⁴¹  with a spear. ⁴² 

They storm forward to scatter us; ⁴³ 

they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. ⁴⁴ 

[2:6]  ¹ sn These are the scattered Jews of eschatological times (as the expression four winds of heaven makes clear) and not those of Zechariah’s time who have, for the most part, already returned by 520 b.c. This theme continues and is reinforced in vv. 10-13.

[2:6]  ² tn Or “of the sky.” The same Hebrew term, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[26:33]  ³ tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

[4:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”

[58:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ⁶ tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[17:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ⁹ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[21:1]  ¹¹ sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.

[21:1]  ¹² tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).

[66:15]  ¹³ sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.

[66:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”

[4:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”

[4:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”

[4:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” The term “daughter of” is appositional to “my people” and is supplied in the translation as a term of sympathy and endearment. Compare the common expression “daughter of Zion.”

[4:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “not for winnowing and not for cleansing.” The words “It will not be a gentle breeze” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation here for clarification.

[4:12]  ¹⁹ tn The word “No” is not in the text but is carried over from the connection with the preceding line “not for…”

[4:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will speak judgments against them.”

[23:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “Behold!”

[23:19]  ²² tn The syntax of this line has generally been misunderstood, sometimes to the point that some want to delete the word wrath. Both here and in 30:23 where these same words occur the word “anger” stands not as an accusative of attendant circumstance but an apposition, giving the intended referent to the figure. Comparison should be made with Jer 25:15 where “this wrath” is appositional to “the cup of wine” (cf. GKC 425 §131.k).

[23:19]  ²³ tn The translation is deliberate, intending to reflect the repetition of the Hebrew root which is “swirl/swirling.”

[25:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[25:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will go forth from nation to nation.”

[25:32]  ²⁶ tn The words “of military destruction” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor clear. The metaphor has shifted from that of God as a lion, to God as a warrior, to God as a judge, to God as the author of the storm winds of destruction.

[25:33]  ²⁷ sn The intent here is to emphasize the large quantity of those who are killed – there will be too many to insure proper mourning rites and proper burial.

[36:19]  ²⁸ tn The verbs here are both direct imperatives but it sounds awkward to say “You and Jeremiah, go and hide” in contemporary English. The same force is accomplished by phrasing the statement as strong advice.

[1:14]  ²⁹ sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.

[1:14]  ³⁰ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ³² tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”

[1:14]  ³³ tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”

[1:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “long of anger,” i.e., “slow to anger” (Exod 34:6; Num 14:18; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Pss 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Prov 14:29; 15:18; 16:32; Neh 9:17) or restraining anger (Jer 15:15; Prov 25:15). Cf. NCV “The Lord does not become angry quickly.”

[1:3]  ³⁵ tc The BHS editors suggest emending MT “power” (כֹּחַ, koakh) to “mercy” (חֶסֶד, khesed) as in Exod 34:6; Num 14:18; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Ps 103:8; Neh 9:17. However, this is unnecessary, it has no textual support, and it misses the rhetorical point intended by Nahum’s modification of the traditional expression.

[1:3]  ³⁶ tn Or “he will certainly not acquit [the wicked]”; KJV “and will not at all acquit the wicked.” The root נָקַה (naqah, “to acquit”) is repeated for emphasis. The phrase “he will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished” (וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה, vÿnaqqeh lo’ yÿnaqqeh) is an emphatic construction (see GKC 215 §75.hh; IBHS 584-88 §35.3.1).

[1:3]  ³⁷ tn The words “the wicked” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation; they are implied when this idiom is used (Exod 34:7; Num 14:18). In legal contexts the nuance “the guilty” is most appropriate; in nonlegal contexts the nuance “the wicked” is used.

[1:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “His way is in the whirlwind” (so NIV). The noun דַּרְכּוֹ (darko, “his way”) is nuanced here in a verbal sense. The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) often denotes a “journey” (Gen 28:20; 30:36; 45:23; Num 9:10; Josh 9:13; 1 Sam 21:6; 1 Kgs 18:27). The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh) often means “to tread a path” (Job 22:15) and “to march out” (Judg 5:21). The Lord is portrayed as the Divine Warrior marching out to battle (Exod 15:1-12; Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4-5; Pss 18:7-15; 68:4-10, 32-35; 77:16-19; Mic 1:3-4; Hab 3:3-15).

[1:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “clouds are dust.”

[1:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “of his feet.”

[3:14]  ⁴¹ tn Some take “warriors” with the following line, in which case one should translate, “you pierce [his] head with a spear; his warriors storm forward to scatter us” (cf. NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew term פְּרָזוֹ (pÿrazo), translated here “his warriors,” is uncertain.

[3:14]  ⁴² tc Heb “his shafts.” Some emend to “your shafts.” The translation above assumes an emendation to מַטֶּה (matteh, “shaft, spear”), the vav-yod (ו-י) sequence being a corruption of an original he (ה).

[3:14]  ⁴³ tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.

[3:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”