Kejadian 35:3

35:3 Let us go up at once ¹  to Bethel. Then I will make ²  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ³  and has been with me wherever I went.” ⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 2:15

2:15 Whenever they went out to fight, ⁵  the Lord did them harm, ⁶  just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. ⁷  They suffered greatly. ⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 2:2

2:2 but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ ⁹  But you have disobeyed me. ¹⁰  Why would you do such a thing? ¹¹ 

1 Tawarikh 15:4

15:4 David gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:

Mazmur 4:2

4:2 You men, ¹²  how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? ¹³ 

How long ¹⁴  will you love what is worthless ¹⁵ 

and search for what is deceptive? ¹⁶  (Selah)

Mazmur 77:3

77:3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan;

I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” ¹⁷  (Selah)

Mazmur 120:1

Psalm 120 ¹⁸ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁹ 

120:1 In my distress I cried out

to the Lord and he answered me.

Yesaya 26:16

26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;

they uttered incantations because of your discipline. ²⁰ 

[35:3]  ¹ tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

[35:3]  ² tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

[35:3]  ³ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

[35:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

[2:15]  ⁵ tn The expression “to fight” is interpretive.

[2:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord’s hand was against them for harm.”

[2:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Or “they experienced great distress.”

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “their altars.”

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “What is this you have done?”

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “sons of man.”

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[4:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “emptiness.”

[4:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.

[77:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will remember God and I will groan, I will reflect and my spirit will grow faint.” The first three verbs are cohortatives, the last a perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The psalmist’s statement in v. 4 could be understood as concurrent with v. 1, or, more likely, as a quotation of what he had said earlier as he prayed to God (see v. 2). The words “I said” are supplied in the translation at the beginning of the verse to reflect this interpretation (see v. 10).

[120:1]  ¹⁸ sn Psalm 120. The genre and structure of this psalm are uncertain. It begins like a thanksgiving psalm, with a brief notice that God has heard the psalmist’s prayer for help and has intervened. But v. 2 is a petition for help, followed by a taunt directed toward enemies (vv. 3-4) and a lament (vv. 5-7). Perhaps vv. 2-7 recall the psalmist’s prayer when he cried out to the Lord.

[120:1]  ¹⁹ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[26:16]  ²⁰ tn The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and BDB 823 s.v.) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.