109:18 He made cursing a way of life, 1
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil. 2
133:2 It is like fine oil poured on the head
which flows down the beard 3 –
Aaron’s beard,
and then flows down his garments. 4
1 tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”
2 tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”
3 tn Heb “[it is] like the good oil on the head, going down on the beard.”
4 tn Heb “which goes down in accordance with his measured things.” The Hebrew phrase מִדּוֹתָיו (middotayv, “his measured things”) refers here to the robes worn by Aaron. HALOT 546 s.v. *מַד derives the form from מַד (midah, “robe”) rather than מִדָּה (middah, “measured thing”). Ugaritic md means “robe” and is pluralized mdt.