18:5 For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,
and the ripening fruit appears, 1
he will cut off the unproductive shoots 2 with pruning knives;
he will prune the tendrils. 3
1 tn Heb “and the unripe, ripening fruit is maturing.”
2 tn On the meaning of זַלְזַל (zalzal, “shoot [of the vine] without fruit buds”) see HALOT 272 s.v. *זַלְזַל.
3 tn Heb “the tendrils he will remove, he will cut off.”