2 Samuel 20:15

20:15 So Joab’s men ¹  came and laid siege against him in Abel of Beth Maacah. They prepared a siege ramp outside the city which stood against its outer rampart. As all of Joab’s soldiers were trying to break through ²  the wall so that it would collapse,

Yesaya 26:1

Judah Will Celebrate

26:1 At that time ³  this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city!

The Lord’s ⁴  deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. ⁵ 

Ratapan 2:8

ח (Khet)

2:8 The Lord was determined to tear down

Daughter Zion’s wall.

He prepared to knock it down; ⁶ 

he did not withdraw his hand from destroying. ⁷ 

He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament;

together they mourned their ruin. ⁸ 

Habakuk 2:1

2:1 I will stand at my watch post;

I will remain stationed on the city wall. ⁹ 

I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me

and can know ¹⁰  how I should answer

when he counters my argument. ¹¹ 

[20:15]  ¹ tn Heb “they.” The following context makes it clear that this refers to Joab and his army.

[20:15]  ² tc The LXX has here ἐνοοῦσαν (enoousan, “were devising”), which apparently presupposes the Hebrew word מַחֲשָׁבִים (makhashavim) rather than the MT מַשְׁחִיתִם (mashkhitim, “were destroying”). With a number of other scholars Driver thinks that the Greek variant may preserve the original reading, but this seems to be an unnecessary conclusion (but see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 346).

[26:1]  ³ tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).

[26:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “he stretched out a measuring line.” In Hebrew, this idiom is used (1) literally: to describe a workman’s preparation of measuring and marking stones before cutting them for building (Job 38:5; Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16) and (2) figuratively: to describe the Lord’s planning and preparation to destroy a walled city, that is, to mark off for destruction (2 Kgs 21:13; Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8). It is not completely clear how a phrase from the vocabulary of building becomes a metaphor for destruction; however, it might picture a predetermined and carefully planned measure from which God will not deviate.

[2:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “He did not return His hand from swallowing.” That is, he persisted until it was destroyed.

[2:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “they languished together.” The verbs אָבַּלּ (’aval, “to lament”) and אָמַל (’amal, “languish, mourn”) are often used in contexts of funeral laments in secular settings. The Hebrew prophets often use these terms to describe the aftermath of the Lord’s judgment on a nation. Based on parallel terms, אָמַל (’amal) may describe either mourning or deterioration and so makes for a convenient play on meaning when destroyed objects are personified. Incorporating this play into the translation, however, may obscure the parallel between this line and the deterioration of the gates beginning in v. 9.

[2:1]  ⁹ sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”