2:5 For their mother has committed adultery;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will seek out 1 my lovers; 2
they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,
my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine. 3
2:7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch 4 them;
she will seek them, but she will not find them. 5
Then she will say,
“I will go back 6 to my husband, 7
because I was better off then than I am now.” 8
2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to 9 the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! 10
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. 11
2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.
In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. 12
No one can hold her back when she is in heat.
None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.
At mating time she is easy to find. 13
2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry. 14
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me
because I love those foreign gods 15 and want to pursue them!’
1 tn Heb “I will go after” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
2 sn This statement alludes to the practice of sexual rites in the Canaanite fertility cult which attempted to secure agricultural fertility from the Canaanite gods (note the following reference to wool, flax, olive oil, and wine).
3 tn Heb “my drinks.” Many English versions use the singular “drink” here, but cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “wine.”
4 tn Heb “overtake” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “be able to catch up with.”
5 tn In the Hebrew text the accusative direct object pronoun אֹתָם (’otam, “them”) is omitted/elided for balanced poetic parallelism. The LXX supplies αὐτους (autous, “them”); but it is not necessary to emend the MT because this is a poetic literary convention rather than a textual problem.
6 tn Heb “I will go and return” (so NRSV). The two verbs joined with vav form a verbal hendiadys. Normally, the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h). The Hebrew phrase אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה (’elkhah vÿ’ashuvah, “I will go and I will return”) connotes, “I will return again.” As cohortatives, both verbs emphasize the resolution of the speaker.
7 tn Heb “to my man, the first.” Many English translations (e.g., KJV, NAB, NRSV, TEV) take this as “my first husband,” although this implies that there was more than one husband involved. The text refers to multiple lovers, but these were not necessarily husbands.
8 tn Or “because it was better for me then than now” (cf. NCV).
9 tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.
10 tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.
11 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the
12 tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
13 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.
14 tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”
15 tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”