³ sn The temple tax refers to the half-shekel tax paid annually by male Jews to support the temple (Exod 30:13-16).

² tc See the note on “will reward you” in 6:4: The problem is the same and the ms support differs only slightly.

⁵ tn The noun עֶזְרָה (ʿezrah) means “help, assistance, strength” (HALOT 812, s.v.). Nations named as help would either be allies or vassals responsible to give support.

³ tn A מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”) receives less than twelve inches of rain per year and therefore cannot support trees and has little plant life.

¹ tn Several suggest that the verb is not from חָבָא (khavaʾ, “to hide”) but from a homonym, “to congeal.” This may be too difficult to support, however.

³ tn The sense of “restraining” for “helping” was proposed by Dillmann and supported by G. R. Driver (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

¹ sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.

¹ tc The translation, with the support of many manuscripts, reads יְעָרִים (y^eʿarim) here rather than the reading עָרִים (ʿarim) of the MT.

¹ tn Heb “tracks.” The parallel text in 1 Kgs 10:12 has a different term whose meaning is uncertain: “supports,” perhaps “banisters” or “parapets.”

¹ tc “Courtyard” (חָצֵר, khatser) is the reading tradition (Qere) also supported by the LXX, while the written text (Kethib) has הָעִיר (haʿir), “the city.”

¹ tn Heb “and all Israel fled, each to his tent.” In this context this refers to the supporters of Absalom (see vv. 6-7, 16).

² tn Heb “and he selected Zabdi.” The Lord is the apparent subject. The LXX supports reading a passive (Niphal) form here, as does the immediate context.

¹ tc With the exception of a few manuscripts the MT has Shephupham. The spelling in the translation above is supported by Smr and the ancient versions.

² tc The MT reads יוֹב (yov, “Job,”) but Smr, supported by the LXX, reads יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “Jashub”) (see Num 26:24; 1 Chr 7:1).

¹ tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”

¹ tc The shorter reading adopted here has superior ms support (א A C P 2053 al latt co), while the inclusion of “your works and” (τὰ ἔργα σου καί, ta erga sou kai) before “where you reside” is supported by the Byzantine witnesses and is evidently a secondary attempt to harmonize the passage with 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.

² sn The idea is that he grabs hold of the house, not to hold it up, but to hold himself up or support himself. But it cannot support him. This idea applies to both the spider’s web and the false security of the pagan.

² tn Heb “and seed there is not to her and she returns to the house of her father as her youth.” The mention of having “no children” appears to imply that her children, if she had any, should support her; this is made explicit by NLT’s “and has no children to support her.”

² tn The infinitive construct לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, from יָשַׁב, yashav) explains what it was that the land could not support: “the land could not support them to live side by side.” See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning Yahad and Yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.

⁴ tc There are many variations in the spelling of this name among the Greek mss, although ῾Αρμαγεδών (harmagedōn) has the best support. The usual English spelling is Armageddon, used in the translation.