Genesis 49:5
New English Translation
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,
weapons of violence are their knives![a]
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:5 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מְכֵרָה (mekherah) is uncertain. It has been rendered (1) “habitations”; (2) “merchandise”; (3) “counsels”; (4) “swords”; (5) “wedding feasts.” If it is from the verb כָּרַת (karat) and formed after noun patterns for instruments and tools (maqtil, miqtil form), then it would refer to “knives.” Since the verb is used in Exod 4:25 for circumcision, the idea would be “their circumcision knives,” an allusion to the events of Gen 34 (see M. J. Dahood, “‘MKRTYHM’ in Genesis 49, 5, ” CBQ 23 [1961]: 54-56). Another explanation also connects the word to the events of Gen 34 as a reference to the intended “wedding feast” for Dinah which could take place only after the men of Shechem were circumcised (see D. W. Young, “A Ghost Word in the Testament of Jacob (Gen 49:5)?” JBL 100 [1981]: 335-422).
Genesis 49:7
New English Translation
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,
and their fury, for it was cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob,
and scatter them in Israel![a]
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:7 sn Divide…scatter. What is predicted here is a division of their tribes. Most commentators see here an anticipation of Levi being in every area but not their own. That may be part of it, but not entirely what the curse intended. These tribes for their ruthless cruelty would be eliminated from the power and prestige of leadership.
Psalm 83:3-13
New English Translation
3 They carefully plot[a] against your people,
and make plans to harm[b] the ones you cherish.[c]
4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation.[d]
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
5 Yes,[e] they devise a unified strategy;[f]
they form an alliance[g] against you.
6 It includes[h] the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,[i]
7 Gebal,[j] Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has allied with them,
lending its strength to the descendants of Lot.[k] (Selah)
9 Do to them as you did to Midian[l]—
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.[m]
10 They were destroyed at Endor;[n]
their corpses were like manure[o] on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,[p]
and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna,[q]
12 who said,[r] “Let’s take over[s] the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like dead thistles,[t]
like dead weeds blown away by[u] the wind.
Footnotes
- Psalm 83:3 tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”
- Psalm 83:3 tn Heb “and consult together against.”
- Psalm 83:3 tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”
- Psalm 83:4 tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”
- Psalm 83:5 tn Or “for.”
- Psalm 83:5 tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”
- Psalm 83:5 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
- Psalm 83:6 tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Psalm 83:6 sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.
- Psalm 83:7 sn Some identify Gebal with the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (see Ezek 27:9, where the name is spelled differently), though others locate this site south of the Dead Sea (see BDB 148 s.v. גְּבַל; HALOT 174 s.v. גְּבַל).
- Psalm 83:8 tn Heb “they are an arm for the sons of Lot.” The “arm” is here a symbol of military might.sn The descendants of Lot were the Moabites and Ammonites.
- Psalm 83:9 tn Heb “do to them like Midian.”
- Psalm 83:9 sn The psalmist alludes here to Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (see Judg 7-8) and to Barak’s victory over Jabin’s army, which was led by his general Sisera (Judg 4-5).
- Psalm 83:10 sn Endor is not mentioned in the accounts of Gideon’s or Barak’s victories, but both battles took place in the general vicinity of the town. (See Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 46, 54.) Because Sisera and Jabin are mentioned in v. 9b, many understand them to be the subject of the verbs in v. 10, though they relate v. 10 to Gideon’s victory, which is referred to in v. 9a, 11. (See, for example, Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 263.)
- Psalm 83:10 tn Heb “they were manure.” In addition to this passage, corpses are compared to manure in 2 Kgs 9:37; Jer 8:2; 9:21; 16:4; 25:33.
- Psalm 83:11 sn Oreb and Zeeb were the generals of the Midianite army that was defeated by Gideon. The Ephraimites captured and executed both of them and sent their heads to Gideon (Judg 7:24-25).
- Psalm 83:11 sn Zebah and Zalmunna were the Midianite kings. Gideon captured them and executed them (Judg 8:1-21).
- Psalm 83:12 tn The translation assumes that “Zebah and Zalmunna” are the antecedents of the relative pronoun (“who [said]”). Another option is to take “their nobles…all their rulers” as the antecedent and to translate, “those who say.”
- Psalm 83:12 tn Heb “let’s take possession for ourselves.”
- Psalm 83:13 tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.
- Psalm 83:13 tn Heb “before.”
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