Ayub 12:21

12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen

and disarms ¹  the powerful. ² 

Mazmur 107:40

107:40 He would pour ³  contempt upon princes,

and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.

Yesaya 40:23

40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;

he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.

Yeremia 21:7

21:7 Then ⁴  I, the Lord, promise that ⁵  I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’

[12:21]  ¹ tn The expression in Hebrew uses מְזִיחַ (mÿziakh, “belt”) and the Piel verb רִפָּה (rippah, “to loosen”) so that “to loosen the belt of the mighty” would indicate “to disarm/incapacitate the mighty.” Others have opted to change the text: P. Joüon emends to read “forehead” – “he humbles the brow of the mighty.”

[12:21]  ² tn The word אָפַק (’afaq, “to be strong”) is well-attested, and the form אָפִיק (’afiq) is a normal adjective formation. So a translation like “mighty” (KJV, NIV) or “powerful” is acceptable, and further emendations are unnecessary.

[107:40]  ³ tn The active participle is understood as past durative here, drawing attention to typical action in a past time frame. However, it could be taken as generalizing (in which case one should translate using the English present tense), in which case the psalmist moves from narrative to present reality. Perhaps the participial form appears because the statement is lifted from Job 12:21.

[21:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “And afterward.”

[21:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”