Mazmur 78:41

78:41 They again challenged God, ¹ 

and offended ²  the Holy One of Israel. ³ 

Yesaya 41:20

41:20 I will do this so ⁴  people ⁵  will observe and recognize,

so they will pay attention and understand

that the Lord’s power ⁶  has accomplished this,

and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” ⁷ 

Yeremia 51:5

51:5 “For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken ⁸ 

by their God, the Lord who rules over all. ⁹ 

For the land of Babylonia is ¹⁰  full of guilt

against the Holy One of Israel. ¹¹ 

[78:41]  ¹ tn Heb “and they returned and tested God.” The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate that an earlier action was repeated.

[78:41]  ² tn Or “wounded, hurt.” The verb occurs only here in the OT.

[78:41]  ³ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[41:20]  ⁴ tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”

[41:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”

[41:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[41:20]  ⁷ tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”

[51:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “widowed” (cf. BDB 48 s.v. אַלְמָן, an adjective occurring only here but related to the common word for “widow”). It is commonly translated as has been done here.

[51:5]  sn The verses from v. 5 to v. 19 all speak of the Lord in the third person. The prophet who is the spokesman for the Lord (50:1) thus is speaking. However, the message is still from God because this was all what he spoke “through the prophet Jeremiah.”

[51:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this rendering see the study note on 2:19.

[51:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “all, though their land was…” The majority of the modern English versions understand the land here to refer to the land of Israel and Judah (the text reads “their land” and Israel and Judah are the nearest antecedents). In this case the particle כִּי (ki) is concessive (cf. BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c[b]). Many of the modern commentaries understand the referent to be the land of the Chaldeans/Babylonians. However, most of them feel that the line is connected as a causal statement to 51:2-4 and see the line as either textually or logically out of place. However, it need not be viewed as logically out of place. It is parallel to the preceding and gives a second reason why they are to be destroyed. It also forms an excellent transition to the next lines where the exiles and other foreigners are urged to flee and not get caught up in the destruction which is coming “because of her sin.” It might be helpful to note that both the adjective “widowed” and the suffix on “their God” are masculine singular, looking at Israel and Judah as one entity. The “their” then goes back not to Israel and Judah of the preceding lines but to the “them” in v. 4. This makes for a better connection with the following and understands the particle כִּי in its dominant usage not an extremely rare one (see the comment in BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c[b]). This interpretation is also reflected in RSV.

[51:5]  ¹¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 50:29.