2:6 Therefore, I will soon 1 fence her in 2 with thorns;
I will wall her in 3 so that 4 she cannot find her way. 5
2:21 “At that time, 6 I will willingly respond,” 7 declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the sky,
and the sky 8 will respond to the ground;
1 tn The deictic particle הִנְנִי (hinni, “Behold!”) introduces a future-time reference participle that refers to imminent future action: “I am about to” (TEV “I am going to”).
2 tn Heb “I will hedge up her way”; NIV “block her path.”
3 tn Heb “I will wall in her wall.” The cognate accusative construction וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת־גְּדֵרָהּ (vÿgadarti ’et-gÿderah, “I will wall in her wall”) is an emphatic literary device. The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun functions as a dative of disadvantage: “as a wall against her” (A. B. Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, 3, remark 2). The expression means “I will build a wall to bar her way.” Cf. KJV “I will make a wall”; TEV “I will build a wall”; RSV, NASB, NRSV “I will build a wall against her”; NLT “I will fence her in.”
4 tn The disjunctive clause (object followed by negated verb) introduces a clause which can be understood as either purpose or result.
5 tn Heb “her paths” (so NAB, NRSV).
6 tn Heb “And in that day”; NAB, NRSV “On that day.”
7 tn The verb עָנָה, (’anah) which is used throughout 2:23-24, is related to the root I עָנָה (’anah), “to answer, listen attentively, react willingly” (BDB 772 s.v. 1.b; HALOT 852 s.v. ענה 3.b).
8 tn Heb “and they.” In the Hebrew text the plural pronoun is used because it refers back to the term translated “sky,” which is a dual form in Hebrew. Many English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV) use the plural term “heavens” here, which agrees with a plural pronoun (cf. also NIV, NCV “skies”).
11 tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”
12 tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”
13 tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”