23:19 But just watch! 4 The wrath of the Lord
will come like a storm! 5
Like a raging storm it will rage down 6
on the heads of those who are wicked.
1 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.
2 tn Heb “this place.” Some see this as a reference to the temple but the context has been talking about what goes on in the towns of Judah and Jerusalem and the words that follow, meant as a further explanation, are applied to the whole land.
3 tn Heb “the trees of/in the field and the fruit of/in the ground.”
4 tn Heb “Behold!”
5 tn The syntax of this line has generally been misunderstood, sometimes to the point that some want to delete the word wrath. Both here and in 30:23 where these same words occur the word “anger” stands not as an accusative of attendant circumstance but an apposition, giving the intended referent to the figure. Comparison should be made with Jer 25:15 where “this wrath” is appositional to “the cup of wine” (cf. GKC 425 §131.k).
6 tn The translation is deliberate, intending to reflect the repetition of the Hebrew root which is “swirl/swirling.”