49:18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns that were around them.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord.
50:40 I will destroy Babylonia just like I did
Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns.
No one will live there. 5
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord. 6
2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel,
“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah.
They will be overrun by weeds, 7
filled with salt pits, 8
and permanently desolate.
Those of my people who are left 9 will plunder their belongings; 10
those who are left in Judah 11 will take possession of their land.”
1 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.
2 tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).
3 tn Heb “from the
4 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.
5 tn Heb “‘Like [when] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns,’ oracle of the
6 tn Heb “Oracle of the
7 tn The Hebrew text reads מִמְשַׁק חָרוּל (mimshaq kharul, “[?] of weeds”). The meaning of the first word is unknown. The present translation (“They will be overrun by weeds”) is speculative, based on the general sense of the context. For a defense of “overrun” on linguistic grounds, see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 347. Cf. NEB “a pile of weeds”; NIV “a place of weeds”; NRSV “a land possessed by nettles.”
8 tn The Hebrew text reads וּמִכְרֵה־מֶלַח (umikhreh-melakh, “and a [?] of salt”). The meaning of the first word is unclear, though “pit” (NASB, NIV, NRSV; NKJV “saltpit”), “mine,” and “heap” (cf. NEB “a rotting heap of saltwort”) are all options. The words “filled with” are supplied for clarification.
9 tn Or “The remnant of my people.”
10 tn Heb “them.” The actual object of the plundering, “their belongings,” has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “[the] nation.” For clarity the “nation” has been specified as “Judah” in the translation.