Ratapan 2:1

The Prophet Speaks:

א (Alef)

2:1 Alas! ¹  The Lord ²  has covered

Daughter Zion ³  with his anger. ⁴ 

He has thrown down the splendor of Israel

from heaven to earth;

he did not protect ⁵  his temple ⁶ 

when he displayed his anger. ⁷ 

Imamat 26:31

26:31 I will lay your cities waste ⁸  and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas.

Imamat 26:44

26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.

Mazmur 78:59-61

78:59 God heard and was angry;

he completely rejected Israel.

78:60 He abandoned ⁹  the sanctuary at Shiloh,

the tent where he lived among men.

78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; ¹⁰ 

he gave the symbol of his splendor ¹¹  into the hand of the enemy. ¹² 

Yesaya 64:10-11

64:10 Your chosen ¹³  cities have become a desert;

Zion has become a desert,

Jerusalem ¹⁴  is a desolate ruin.

64:11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy, ¹⁵ 

the place where our ancestors praised you,

has been burned with fire;

all our prized possessions have been destroyed. ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 7:12-14

7:12 So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped ¹⁷  in the early days. See what I did to it ¹⁸  because of the wicked things my people Israel did. 7:13 You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again. ¹⁹  But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent! ²⁰  7:14 So I will destroy this temple which I have claimed as my own, ²¹  this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors, ²²  just like I destroyed Shiloh. ²³ 

Yeremia 26:6

26:6 If you do not obey me, ²⁴  then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. ²⁵  And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”

Yeremia 26:18

26:18 “Micah from Moresheth ²⁶  prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah. ²⁷  He told all the people of Judah,

‘The Lord who rules over all ²⁸  says,

“Zion ²⁹  will become a plowed field.

Jerusalem ³⁰  will become a pile of rubble.

The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.”’ ³¹ 

Yeremia 52:13

52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.

Yehezkiel 7:20-22

7:20 They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride, ³²  and with it they made their abominable images – their detestable idols. Therefore I will render it filthy to them. 7:21 I will give it to foreigners as loot, to the world’s wicked ones as plunder, and they will desecrate it. 7:22 I will turn my face away from them and they will desecrate my treasured place. ³³  Vandals will enter it and desecrate it. ³⁴ 

Yehezkiel 24:21

24:21 Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary – the source of your confident pride, ³⁵  the object in which your eyes delight, ³⁶  and your life’s passion. ³⁷  Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die ³⁸  by the sword.

Mikha 3:12

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ³⁹  Zion will be plowed up like ⁴⁰  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ⁴¹  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁴² 

Matius 24:2

24:2 And he said to them, ⁴³  “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, ⁴⁴  not one stone will be left on another. ⁴⁵  All will be torn down!” ⁴⁶ 

Kisah Para Rasul 6:13-14

6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ⁴⁷  and the law. ⁴⁸  6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs ⁴⁹  that Moses handed down to us.”

[2:1]  ¹ tn See the note at 1:1.

[2:1]  ² tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[2:1]  ³ sn Chapter 2 continues the use of feminine epithets (e.g., “Daughter Zion”), although initially portraying Jerusalem as an object destroyed by the angered enemy, God.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn The verb יָעִיב (ya’iv) is a hapax legomenon (a term that appears only once in Hebrew OT). Most lexicons take it as a denominative verb from the noun עָב (’av, “cloud,” HALOT 773 s.v. II עָב; BDB 728 s.v. עוּב): Hiphil imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from עוֹב (’ov) meaning “cover with a cloud, make dark” (HALOT 794 s.v. עוב) or “becloud” (BDB 728 s.v.): “the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of His anger.” This approach is followed by many English versions (KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV). However, a few scholars relate it to a cognate Arabic verb “to blame, revile” (Ehrlich, Rudolph, Hillers): “the Lord has shamed Daughter Zion in His anger.” Several English versions adopt this (NRSV, NJPS, CEV). The picture of cloud and wrath concurs with the stanza’s connection to “day of the Lord” imagery.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn The common gloss for זָכַר (zakhar) is “remember.” זָכַר (zakhar) entails “bearing something in mind” in a broader sense than the English gloss “remember.” When God “bears someone in mind,” the consequences are beneficial for them. The implication of not regarding his footstool is to not esteem and so not care for or protect it.

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the footstool of His feet.” The noun הֲדֹם (hadom, “footstool”), always joined with רַגְלַיִם (raglayim, “feet”) is always used figuratively in reference to the dwelling place of God (BDB 213 s.v. הֲדֹם). It usually refers to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem (Isa 60:13; Lam 2:1) or to the ark as the place above which the Lord is enthroned (Pss 99:5; 132:7; 1 Chr 28:2).

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the day of His anger.” As a temporal reference this phrase means “when he displayed his anger.” The Hebrew term “day,” associated with the “day of the Lord” or “day of his wrath” also functions as a title in a technical sense.

[26:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “And I will give your cities a waste”; NLT “make your cities desolate.”

[78:60]  ⁹ tn Or “rejected.”

[78:61]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.

[78:61]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.

[78:61]  ¹² sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).

[64:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”

[64:10]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[64:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “our source of pride.”

[64:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “all that we valued has become a ruin.”

[7:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “where I caused my name to dwell.” The translation does not adequately represent the theology of the Lord’s deliberate identification with a place where he chose to manifest his presence and desired to be worshiped (cf. Exod 20:25; Deut 16:2, 6, 11).

[7:12]  ¹⁸ sn The place in Shiloh…see what I did to it. This refers to the destruction of Shiloh by the Philistines circa 1050 b.c. (cf. Ps 78:60). The destruction of Shiloh is pertinent to the argument. The presence of the tabernacle and ark of the covenant did not prevent Shiloh from being destroyed when Israel sinned. The people of Israel used the ark as a magic charm but it did not prevent them from being defeated or the ark being captured (1 Sam 4:3, 11, 21-22).

[7:13]  ¹⁹ tn This reflects a Hebrew idiom (e.g., 7:25; 11:7; 25:3, 4), i.e., an infinitive of a verb meaning “to do something early [or eagerly]” followed by an infinitive of another verb of action. Cf. HALOT 1384 s.v. שָׁכַם Hiph.2.

[7:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I called to you and you did not answer.” The words “to repent” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

[7:14]  ²² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 25, 26).

[7:14]  ²³ tn Heb “I will do to this house which I…in which you put…and to this place which…as I did to Shiloh.”

[26:6]  ²⁴ tn 26:4-6 are all one long sentence containing a long condition with subordinate clauses (vv. 4-5) and a compound consequence in v. 6: Heb “If you will not obey me by walking in my law…by paying attention to the words of the prophets which…and you did not pay heed, then I will make…and I will make…” The sentence has been broken down in conformity to contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to reflect all the subordinations in the English translation.

[26:6]  ²⁵ sn See the study note on Jer 7:13.

[26:18]  ²⁶ sn Micah from Moresheth was a contemporary of Isaiah (compare Mic 1:1 with Isa 1:1) from the country town of Moresheth in the hill country southwest of Jerusalem. The prophecy referred to is found in Mic 3:12. This is the only time in the OT where an OT prophet is quoted verbatim and identified.

[26:18]  ²⁷ sn Hezekiah was co-regent with his father Ahaz from 729-715 b.c. and sole ruler from 715-686 b.c. His father was a wicked king who was responsible for the incursions of the Assyrians (2 Kgs 16; 2 Chr 28). Hezekiah was a godly king, noted for his religious reforms and for his faith in the Lord in the face of the Assyrian threat (2 Kgs 18–19; 2 Chr 32:1-23). The deliverance of Jerusalem in response to his prayers of faith (2 Kgs 19:14-19, 29-36) was undoubtedly well-known to the people of Jerusalem and Judah and may have been one of the prime reasons for their misplaced trust in the inviolability of Zion/Jerusalem (see Ps 46, 76) though the people of Micah’s day already believed it too (Mic 3:11).

[26:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[26:18]  sn For an explanation of this title for God see the study note on 2:19.

[26:18]  ²⁹ sn Zion was first of all the citadel that David captured (2 Sam 5:6-10), then the city of David and the enclosed temple area, then the whole city of Jerusalem. It is often in poetic parallelism with Jerusalem as it is here (see, e.g., Ps 76:2; Amos 1:2).

[26:18]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[26:18]  ³¹ sn There is irony involved in this statement. The text reads literally “high places of a forest/thicket.” The “high places” were the illicit places of worship that Jerusalem was supposed to replace. Because of their sin, Jerusalem would be like one of the pagan places of worship with no place left sacrosanct. It would even be overgrown with trees and bushes. So much for its inviolability!

[7:20]  ³² tc The MT reads “he set up the beauty of his ornament as pride.” The verb may be repointed as plural without changing the consonantal text. The Syriac reads “their ornaments” (plural), implying עֶדְיָם (’edyam) rather than עֶדְיוֹ (’edyo) and meaning “they were proud of their beautiful ornaments.” This understands “ornaments” in the common sense of women’s jewelry, which then were used to make idols. The singular suffix “his ornaments” would refer to using items from the temple treasury to make idols. D. I. Block points out the foreshadowing of Ezek 16:17 which, with Rashi and the Targum, supports the understanding that this is a reference to temple items. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:265.

[7:22]  ³³ sn My treasured place probably refers to the temple (however, cf. NLT “my treasured land”).

[7:22]  ³⁴ sn Since the pronouns “it” are both feminine, they do not refer to the masculine “my treasured place”; instead they probably refer to Jerusalem or the land, both of which are feminine in Hebrew.

[24:21]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”

[24:21]  ³⁶ sn Heb “the delight of your eyes.” Just as Ezekiel was deprived of his beloved wife (v. 16, the “desire” of his “eyes”) so the Lord would be forced to remove the object of his devotion, the temple, which symbolized his close relationship to his covenant people.

[24:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the object of compassion of your soul.” The accentuation in the traditional Hebrew text indicates that the descriptive phrases (“the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion”) modify the preceding “my sanctuary.”

[24:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “fall.”

[3:12]  ³⁹ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ⁴² tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[24:2]  ⁴³ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[24:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:2]  ⁴⁵ sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

[24:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”

[6:13]  ⁴⁷ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ⁴⁸ sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

[6:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “practices.”

[6:14]  sn Will destroy this place and change the customs. Stephen appears to view the temple as a less central place in light of Christ’s work, an important challenge to Jewish religion, since it was at this time a temple-centered state and religion. Unlike Acts 3-4, the issue here is more than Jesus and his resurrection. Now the impact of his resurrection and the temple’s centrality has also become an issue. The “falseness” of the charge may not be that the witnesses were lying, but that they falsely read the truth of Stephen’s remarks.