Judges 7:21

7:21 They stood in order ¹  all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. ² 

Psalms 48:5-7

48:5 As soon as they see, ³  they are shocked; ⁴ 

they are terrified, they quickly retreat. ⁵ 

48:6 Look at them shake uncontrollably, ⁶ 

like a woman writhing in childbirth. ⁷ 

48:7 With an east wind

you shatter ⁸  the large ships. ⁹ 

Proverbs 28:1

28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, ¹⁰ 

but the righteous person is as confident ¹¹  as a lion.

Isaiah 30:17

30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; ¹² 

at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ¹³ 

until the remaining few are as isolated ¹⁴ 

as a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on a hill.”

[7:21]  ¹ tn Heb “each in his place.”

[7:21]  ² tn Or “fled.”

[48:5]  ³ tn The object of “see” is omitted, but v. 3b suggests that the Lord’s self-revelation as the city’s defender is what they see.

[48:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “they look, so they are shocked.” Here כֵּן (ken, “so”) has the force of “in the same measure.”

[48:5]  ⁵ tn The translation attempts to reflect the staccato style of the Hebrew text, where the main clauses of vv. 4-6 are simply juxtaposed without connectives.

[48:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “trembling seizes them there.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[48:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “[with] writhing like one giving birth.”

[48:7]  ⁷ tn The switch to the imperfect, as well as the introduction of the ship metaphor, perhaps signals a change to a generalizing tone; the Lord typically shatters these large ships, symbolic of the human strength of hostile armies (see the following note on “large ships”). The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Pss 29:5; 46:9). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3).

[48:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to and from the distant western port of Tarshish. These ships, which were the best of their class, here symbolize the mere human strength of hostile armies, which are incapable of withstanding the Lord’s divine power (see Isa 2:16).

[28:1]  ⁹ sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.

[28:1]  ¹⁰ tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”

[30:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.

[30:17]  ¹² tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.

[30:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).