Mazmur 22:13

22:13 They ¹  open their mouths to devour me ² 

like a roaring lion that rips its prey. ³ 

Yesaya 34:7

34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered ⁴  along with them,

as well as strong bulls. ⁵ 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

Yeremia 50:27

50:27 Kill all her soldiers! ⁶ 

Let them be slaughtered! ⁷ 

They are doomed, ⁸  for their day of reckoning ⁹  has come,

the time for them to be punished.”

[22:13]  ¹ tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”

[22:13]  ² tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).

[22:13]  ³ tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”

[34:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”

[34:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[50:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “Kill all her young bulls.” Commentators are almost universally agreed that the reference to “young bulls” is figurative here for the princes and warriors (cf. BDB 831 s.v. פַּר 2.f, which compares Isa 34:7 and Ezek 39:18). This is virtually certain because of the reference to the time coming for them to be punished; this would scarcely fit literal bulls. For the verb rendered “kill” here see the translator’s note on v. 21.

[50:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “Let them go down to the slaughter.”

[50:27]  ⁸ tn Or “How terrible it will be for them”; Heb “Woe to them.” See the study note on 22:13 and compare the usage in 23:1; 48:1.

[50:27]  ⁹ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.