Mazmur 137:9

137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies

and smashes them on a rock! ¹ 

Yesaya 13:16

13:16 Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes;

their houses will be looted

and their wives raped.

Hosea 13:16

13:16 (14:1) ²  Samaria will be held guilty, ³ 

because she rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword,

their infants will be dashed to the ground –

their ⁴  pregnant women will be ripped open.

Nahum 3:10

3:10 Yet she went into captivity as an exile; ⁵ 

even her infants were smashed to pieces ⁶  at the head of every street.

They cast lots ⁷  for her nobility; ⁸ 

all her dignitaries were bound with chains.

Lukas 19:44

19:44 They will demolish you ⁹  – you and your children within your walls ¹⁰  – and they will not leave within you one stone ¹¹  on top of another, ¹²  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ¹³ 

[137:9]  ¹ sn For other references to the wholesale slaughter of babies in the context of ancient Near Eastern warfare, see 2 Kgs 8:12; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10.

[13:16]  ² sn Beginning with 13:16, the verse numbers through 14:9 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 13:16 ET = 14:1 HT, 14:1 ET = 14:2 HT, etc., through 14:9 ET = 14:10 HT. Thus ch. 14 in the Hebrew Bible has 10 verses.

[13:16]  ³ tn Or “must bear its guilt” (NIV similar); NLT “must bear the consequences of their guilt”; CEV “will be punished.”

[13:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “his.” This is a collective singular, as recognized by almost all English versions.

[3:10]  ⁵ tc The MT reads לַגֹּלָה (laggolah, “as a captive”) with the preposition לְ (lamed) denoting essence/identity. On the other hand, 4QpNah reads בגולה (“as a captive”) with the preposition בְּ (bet) denoting essence/identity (“as a captive”). The LXX’s αἰξμάλωτος (aixmalwto", “as a prisoner”) does not reveal which preposition was the original.

[3:10]  ⁶ tc The past-time reference of the context indicates that the Pual verb יְרֻטְּשׁוּ (yÿruttÿshu) is a preterite describing past action (“they were smashed to pieces”) rather than an imperfect describing future action (“they will be smashed to pieces”). The past-time sense is supported by the Syriac and Vulgate. The LXX, however, misunderstood the form as an imperfect. Not recognizing that the form is a preterite, the BHS editors suggest emending to Pual perfect רֻטְּשׁוּ (ruttÿshu, “they were smashed to pieces”). This emendation is unnecessary once the possibility of a preterite is recognized. The Masoretic reading is supported by the reading ירוטשו found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah 3:10).

[3:10]  ⁷ tc The MT reads יַדּוּ (yadu, “they cast [lots]”) from יָדַד (yadad, “to cast [lots]”). On the other hand, the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah) read ירו (“they threw, cast [lots]”) from יָרָה (yarah, “to throw, cast [lots]”) (e.g., Josh 18:6). The textual variant arose due to orthographic confusion between ד (dalet) and ר (resh) – two Hebrew letters very similar in appearance. The root יָדַד is relatively rare – it occurs only two other times (Obad 11; Joel 4:3 [3:3 ET]) – therefore, it might have been confused with יָרָה which appears more frequently.

[3:10]  ⁸ tc The MT and Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpNah) read ועל נכבדיה (“for her nobles”). The LXX reflects וְעַל כָּל נִכְבַּדֶּיהָ (vÿ’al kol nikhbaddeha, “for all her nobles”), adding כָּל (“all”). The LXX addition probably was caused by the influence of the repetition of כָּל in the preceding and following lines.

[19:44]  ⁹ tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  sn The singular pronoun you refers to the city of Jerusalem personified.

[19:44]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.

[19:44]  ¹¹ sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ¹² tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.

[19:44]  sn You did not recognize the time of your visitation refers to the time God came to visit them. They had missed the Messiah; see Luke 1:68-79.