17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, 1
when he shouts at 2 them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles 3 before a strong gale.
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 4 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 5
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 6
1 tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
2 tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.
3 tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”
4 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
5 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
6 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.