5:1 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites! 1
Listen closely, 2 O king! 3
For judgment is about to overtake you! 4
For you were like a trap 5 to Mizpah, 6
like a net 7 spread out to catch Tabor. 8
5:2 Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter, 9
but I will discipline them all. 10
1 tn Heb “O house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “all of Israel’s leaders.”
2 tn Heb “Use the ear”; ASV “give ear.”
3 tn Heb “O house of the king” (so KJV); NIV “O royal house.”
4 tn Heb “for the judgment is to you”; or “For this accusation is against you.” Cf. NIV “This judgment is against you.”
5 sn The noun פַּח (pakh, “trap”) is used (1) literally of a bird-trap, used in similes and metaphors (Amos 3:5; Prov 7:23; Eccl 9:12), and (2) figuratively to refer to (a) calamities and plots (Job 18:9; 22:10; Pss 91:3; 119:110; 124:7; 140:6; 141:9; 142:4; Prov 22:5; Isa 24:17-18; Jer 18:22; 48:43-44; Hos 9:8) and (b) a source of calamity (Josh 23:13; Pss 11:6; 69:23; Isa 8:14; Hos 5:1; BDB 809 s.v. פַּח).
6 tn Heb “you were a trap to Mizpah.”
7 sn The noun רֶשֶׁת (reshet, “net”) is used (1) literally of a net used to catch birds (Prov 1:17) and (2) in figurative descriptions of the wicked plotting to ensnare their victims (Prov 29:5; Pss 9:16; 10:9; 25:15; 31:5; 35:7; 57:7; 140:6; Job 18:8; BDB 440 s.v. רֶשֶׁת).
8 tn Heb “and a net spread out over Tabor.”
9 tc The MT reads וְשַׁחֲטָה שֵׂטִים הֶעְמִיקוּ (vÿshakhatah setim he’miqu): “and rebels have made deep the slaughter.” The BHS editors propose ושַׁחַת הַשִּׁטִּים הֶעְמִיקוּ (vÿshakhat hashittim he’miqu): “they have made the pit of Shittim [place of idolatry] deep” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT; see BDB 1006 s.v. שַׁחֲטָּה). This involves: (1) phonological confusion between the similar sounding consonants ת (tav) and ט (tet), (2) redivision of words to take ה (hey) as the article with הַשִּׁטִּים rather than feminine noun ending of וְשַׁחֲטָה, and (3) revocalization of הַשִּׁטִּים with the two daghesh fortes. Retaining the reading of the MT is preferable here.
10 tn Heb “but I am discipline to all of them”; ASV “but I am a rebuker of them all.”