Mazmur 107:10

107:10 They sat in utter darkness, ¹ 

bound in painful iron chains, ² 

Mazmur 107:41

107:41 Yet he protected ³  the needy from oppression,

and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.

Mazmur 113:9

113:9 He makes the barren woman of the family ⁴ 

a happy mother of children. ⁵ 

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 113:1

Psalm 113 ⁶ 

113:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise, you servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

1 Samuel 2:5

2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,

but the hungry no longer lack.

Even ⁷  the barren woman gives birth to seven, ⁸ 

but the one with many children withers away. ⁹ 

Galatia 4:27

4:27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ¹⁰ 

break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,

because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous

than those of the woman who has a husband.” ¹¹ 

[107:10]  ¹ tn Heb “those who sat in darkness and deep darkness.” Synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of “darkness” experienced by the exiles. The Hebrew term צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet, “deep darkness”) has traditionally been understood as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (צֵל + מָוֶת [tsel + mavet]; see BDB 853 s.v. צַלְמָוֶת; cf. NASB). Other authorities prefer to vocalize the form צַלְמוּת (tsalmut) and understand it as an abstract noun (from the root צלם) meaning “darkness.” An examination of the word’s usage favors the latter derivation. It is frequently associated with darkness/night and contrasted with light/morning (see Job 3:5; 10:21-22; 12:22; 24:17; 28:3; 34:22; Ps 107:10, 14; Isa 9:1; Jer 13:16; Amos 5:8). In some cases the darkness described is associated with the realm of death (Job 10:21-22; 38:17), but this is a metaphorical application of the word and does not reflect its inherent meaning. In Ps 107:10 the word refers metonymically to a dungeon, which in turn metaphorically depicts the place of Israel’s exile (see vv. 2-3).

[107:10]  ² tn Heb “those bound in suffering and iron.” “Suffering and iron” is a hendiadys (like English “good and angry”), where both words contribute to one idea. In this case the first word characterizes the second; the iron (chains) contribute to the prisoners’ pain and suffering.

[107:41]  ³ tn Heb “set on high.”

[113:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “of the house.”

[113:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[113:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.

[2:5]  ⁷ tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ’ad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.

[2:5]  ⁸ sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.

[2:5]  ⁹ tn Or “languishes.”

[4:27]  ¹⁰ tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[4:27]  ¹¹ tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”

[4:27]  sn A quotation from Isa 54:1.