Yeremia 6:17

6:17 The Lord said, ¹ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ²  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ³ 

But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

Yesaya 40:9

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ⁴ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Yesaya 52:7-8

52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ⁵ 

the feet of a messenger who announces peace,

a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ⁶ 

52:8 Listen, ⁷  your watchmen shout;

in unison they shout for joy,

for they see with their very own eyes ⁸ 

the Lord’s return to Zion.

Yesaya 62:6

62:6 I ⁹  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ¹⁰ 

You who pray to ¹¹  the Lord, don’t be silent!

Yehezkiel 3:17

3:17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman ¹²  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me.

Yehezkiel 33:2

33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people, ¹³  and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman.

Hosea 9:8

9:8 The prophet ¹⁴  is a watchman ¹⁵  over Ephraim ¹⁶  on behalf of God, ¹⁷ 

yet traps ¹⁸  are laid for him along all of his paths; ¹⁹ 

animosity rages against him in the land ²⁰  of his God.

[6:17]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:17]  ² tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

[6:17]  ³ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[40:9]  ⁴ tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.

[52:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”

[52:7]  ⁶ tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.

[52:8]  ⁷ tn קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.

[52:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”

[62:6]  ⁹ sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

[62:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

[62:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”

[3:17]  ¹² tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.

[33:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[9:8]  ¹⁴ tc The Leningrad Codex (the MT ms used for BHS) and Aleppo Codex both place the atnach (colon divider) after אלהי (“my God”) and connect נָבִיא (navi’, “prophet”) with the following colon. On the other hand, BHS suggests that נָבִיא (navi’, “prophet”) belongs with the first colon. For discussion of this syntactical problem, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 533-34.

[9:8]  ¹⁵ tc The syntax of this line is difficult, and the text is questionable. The major options include: (1) Adopt the MT vocalization and BHS line division: צֹפֶה אֶפְרַיִם עִם־אֱלֹהָי נָבִיא (tsofeh ’efrayim ’im-elohay navi’, “The prophet is a watchman over Ephraim with my God [= on behalf of God]”). There are two problems with this: (a) Although BHS places נָבִיא (“prophet”) with this colon, the Aleppo Codex and Leningrad Codex both connect נָבִיא with the next colon (as do KJV, ASV). (b) The phrase עִם־אֱלֹהָי (“with my God”) is difficult to explain. (2) Adopt the MT vocalization and the MT line division: עִם־אֱלֹהָי צֹפֶה אֶפְרַיִם (“Ephraim is a watchman with my God,” cf. NASB). The problem with this, of course, is that Ephraim hardly fits the description of a prophetic watchman. (3) Revocalize the MT and adopt BHS line division: צֹפֶה אֶפְרַיִם עַם אֱלֹהָי נָבִיא (“Ephraim – the people of my God! – lies in ambush for the prophet”) This involves: (a) revocalization of the preposition עִם (’im, “with”) to the noun עַם (’am, “people”), (b) taking עַם־אֱלֹהָי (“people of my God”) in apposition to אֶפְרַיִם (“Ephraim”), and (c) nuancing צֹפֶה as “to lie in wait (=set ambush)” (e.g., Ps 37:32). This is contextually attractive and harmonizes well with the following line: “traps are laid along all of his paths.” However, it has two problems: (a) there is no textual evidence supporting the revocalization of עם as “people” and (b) the unusual nuance “to lie in wait” for צֹפֶה occurs only in Ps 37:32, where it takes the preposition לְ (lamed, i.e., “to lie in wait for the righteous”; HALOT 1044 s.v. צפה 4). (4) Emend אֱלֹהָי (“my God”) to אֹהֶל (’ohel, “tent”), as suggested in the BHS textual apparatus: אֶפְרַיִם עַם־אֹהֶל נָבִיא צֹפֶה (“Ephraim spies on the prophet’s tent”). The verb צָפָה may mean “to spy” (BDB 859 s.v. צָפָה; HALOT 1044 s.v. צפה 3); however, the preposition עִם (’im) does not normally mean “upon” and צָפָה is not used with עִם elsewhere.

[9:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Ephraim is a watchman with my God”; cf. ASV, NASB.

[9:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “with my God” (so ASV, NASB).

[9:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “bird trap of a bird catcher” or “snare of a fowler” (so KJV).

[9:8]  ¹⁹ tc Or “The prophet is like a trap along all of his paths.” The Aleppo Codex and Leningrad Codex (ms used in BHS) both connect נָבִיא (navi’, “prophet”) with this colon. On the other hand, BHS places נָבִיא (“prophet”) at the end of the preceding colon.

[9:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “house.” The term בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is used as a figure of speech, referring to either (1) the temple or official sanctuaries (so TEV, CEV) or (2) the land of Israel (e.g., Hos 9:15).