Footnotes

1. Big heat. I.e., great wrath. Most translations render this as “A man of great wrath,” but while that is no doubt what is meant, it is not what is written. ↩

2. thou bearest. The meaning of this mysterious saying hinges on the contrast established between the “big heat” bearing the fine, and you bearing something. We could add “him” or “it” here, depending on whether we interpret the idea to be bearing the man of wrath, or bearing his punishment. Alter renders this very dynamically as, “try to save him—you will make things worse.” I think this does capture the general meaning, even if it leaves no actual scripture to decipher for yourself. ↩

3. add. In Hebrew this word frequently means to do something again. ↩