ד (Dalet)
2:4 He prepared his bow 8 like an enemy;
his right hand was ready to shoot. 9
Like a foe he killed everyone,
even our strong young men; 10
he has poured out his anger like fire
on the tent 11 of Daughter Zion.
9:11 “All Israel has broken 12 your law and turned away by not obeying you. 13 Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened 14 in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. 15 9:12 He has carried out his threats 16 against us and our rulers 17 who were over 18 us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!
1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
2 tn Heb “with outstretched hand and with strong arm.” These are, of course, figurative of God’s power and might. He does not literally have hands and arms.
3 tn Or “Indeed.”
4 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study note on 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title.
5 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
6 tn See the study note on 24:9 and the usage in 29:22 for the meaning and significance of this last phrase.
7 tn Or “land.” The reference is, of course, to the land of Judah.
8 tn Heb “bent His bow.” When the verb דָּרַךְ (darakh) is used with the noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “archer-bow”), it means “to bend [a bow]” to string it in preparation for shooting arrows (1 Chr 5:18; 8:40; 2 Chr 14:7; Jer 50:14, 29; 51:3). This idiom is used figuratively to describe the assaults of the wicked (Pss 11:2; 37:14) and the judgments of the
9 tn Heb “His right hand is stationed.”
10 tn Heb “the ones who were pleasing to the eye.”
11 tn The singular noun אֹהֶל (’ohel, “tent”) may function as a collective, referring to all tents in Judah. A parallel expression occurs in verse 2 using the plural: “all the dwellings of Jacob” (כָּל־נְאוֹת יַעֲקֹב, kol-nÿ’ot ya’aqov). The singular “tent” matches the image of “Daughter Zion.” On the other hand, the singular “the tent of Daughter Zion” might be a hyperbolic synecdoche of container (= tent) for contents (= inhabitants of Zion).
12 tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.
13 tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”
14 tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.
15 tn Heb “him.”
16 tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”
17 tn Heb “our judges.”
18 tn Heb “who judged.”