¹ sn According to Plutarch, “Every criminal who is executed carries his own cross” (De sera numinus vindicta 9.554b). Jesus is speaking figuratively here in the context of rejection. If one’s allegiance to Jesus does not have absolute priority, then one will not follow him in the face of possible rejection and persecution.

³ sn The question reflects the view that there was an appointed time in which demons would face their judgment, and they seem to have viewed Jesus’ arrival on the scene as an illegitimate change in God’s plan regarding the time when their sentence would be executed.

² tn Here the term “disfigure” (employed in a number of translations) was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of physical mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”

⁴ sn In v. 7 the prophet begins to describe the guilty Israelites but then interrupts his word picture with a parenthetical, yet powerful, description of the judge they must face (vv. 8-9). He resumes his description of the sinners in v. 10.

¹ tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.

² sn This is apparently a reference to the Roman forces, led by Gaius Popilius Laenas, which confronted Antiochus when he came to Egypt and demanded that he withdraw or face the wrath of Rome. Antiochus wisely withdrew from Egypt, albeit in a state of bitter frustration.

³ tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.

¹ sn Once the Babylonian king’s sword (vv. 19-20) has carried out its assigned task, the Lord commands a halt. The resheathed sword will return to the land where it was created, and there itself face judgment. The pronouns continue to be second person feminine singular. The sword figuratively represents the Babylonian nation, whose land is the locus of judgment.

¹ tn Heb “set your face against.” The expression occurs at the beginning of Ezekiel’s prophetic oracles in Ezek 13:17; 20:46; 21:2; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 35:2; 38:2.

² tn Heb “did not lift up.” The verb נָשָׂא (nasaʾ) means “to lift up” (the face); however, the specific contextual nuance here is probably “to show consideration” (e.g., Deut 28:50; Lam 4:16) (BDB 670 s.v. 1.b.3).

² tn The Hiphil stem of כָּפַשׁ (kafash) means “to tread down” or “make someone cower.” It is rendered variously: “trampled me in the dust” (NIV), “covered me with ashes” (KJV, NKJV), “ground me into the dust” (NJPS), “made me cower in ashes” (RSV, NRSV), “rubbed my face in the ground” (TEV), and “rubbed me in the dirt” (CEV).

³ tn Heb “Because I have hidden my face from.” The modern equivalent for this gesture of rejection is “to turn the back on.” See Ps 13:1 for comparable usage. The perfect is to be interpreted as a perfect of resolve (cf. IBHS 488-89 §30.5.1d and compare the usage in Ruth 4:3).

² sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquered it.

² tn The idiom “lifting up the face of” (שְׂאֵת פְּנֵי, s^eʾet p^ene) means “to show partiality” in decisions (e.g., Deut 10:17; Mal 2:9); cf. CEV, NLT “to favor.” The verbal form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasaʾ), which functions as the subject of the clause.

² tc The word “healing” is a hapax legomenon; some have suggested changes, such as to Arabic jihatu (“face”) or to גְּוִיָּה (g^eviyyah, “body”) as in the Syriac and Tg. Prov 17:22, but the MT makes sense as it is and should be retained.

¹ tn The verse begins with אֶת־פְּנֵי מֵבִין (ʾet p^ene mevin), “before the discerning” or “the face of the discerning.” The particle אֶת here is simply drawing emphasis to the predicate (IBHS 182-83 §10.3.2b). Cf. NIV “A discerning man keeps wisdom in view.”

² tn The noun בֶּטַח (betakh, “security”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “in security.” The phrase refers to living in a permanent settled condition without fear of danger (e.g., Deut 33:12; Ps 16:9). It is the antithesis of the dread of disaster facing the fool and the simple.

² tn Heb “look [on] the face of your anointed one.” The Hebrew phrase מְשִׁיחֶךָ (m^eshikhekha, “your anointed one”) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17).

² tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

² tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).