Ayub 41:25

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,

at its thrashing about they withdraw. ¹ 

Mazmur 85:12

85:12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings, ² 

and our land will yield ³  its crops.

Mazmur 102:20

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ⁴ 

Ratapan 3:50

3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven

and sees what has happened. ⁵ 

[41:25]  ¹ tc This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: “when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.” The mythological approach would render אֵלִים (’elim) as “gods.” But the last two words, which could be rendered “at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,” receive much attention. E. Dhorme (Job, 639) suggests “majesty” for “raising up” and “billows” (גַּלִּים, gallim) for אֵלִים (’elim), and gets a better parallelism: “the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back.” But H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 263) does not think this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts “in their dire consternation they are beside themselves.”

[85:12]  ² tn Heb “what is good.”

[85:12]  ³ tn Both “bestow” and “yield” translate the same Hebrew verb (נָתַן, natan). The repetition of the word emphasizes that agricultural prosperity is the direct result of divine blessing.

[102:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

[3:50]  ⁵ tn The phrase “what has happened” is added in the translation for smoother English style and readability.