1:4 So I will set Hazael’s house 1 on fire;
fire 2 will consume Ben Hadad’s 3 fortresses.
3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)
“They store up 4 the spoils of destructive violence 5 in their fortresses.
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, 6
and pour the very best oils on themselves. 7
Yet they are not concerned over 8 the ruin 9 of Joseph.
1 tn “Hazael’s house” (“the house of Hazael”) refers to the dynasty of Hazael.
2 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 sn Ben-hadad may refer to Hazael’s son and successor (2 Kgs 13:3, 24) or to an earlier king (see 1 Kgs 20), perhaps the ruler whom Hazael assassinated when he assumed power.
4 tn Heb “those who.”
5 tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.
7 sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).
8 tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”
9 tn Or “not sickened by.”
10 sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.