“The virgin daughter Zion 2
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 3
46:11 Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, 4
you dear poor people of Egypt. 5
But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; 6
there will be no healing for you.
1 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
2 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
3 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
4 tn Heb “balm.” See 8:22 and the notes on this phrase there.
5 sn Heb “Virgin Daughter of Egypt.” See the study note on Jer 14:17 for the significance of the use of this figure. The use of the figure here perhaps refers to the fact that Egypt’s geographical isolation allowed her safety and protection that a virgin living at home would enjoy under her father’s protection (so F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 379). By her involvement in the politics of Palestine she had forfeited that safety and protection and was now suffering for it.
6 tn Heb “In vain you multiply [= make use of many] medicines.”