12:5 The Lord answered, 1
“If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,
how will you be able to compete with horses?
And if you feel secure only 2 in safe and open country, 3
how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River? 4
2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry. 5
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me
because I love those foreign gods 6 and want to pursue them!’
1 tn The words “The
2 tn Some commentaries and English versions follow the suggestion given in HALOT 116 s.v. II בָּטַח that a homonym meaning “to stumble, fall down” is involved here and in Prov 14:16. The evidence for this homonym is questionable because both passages can be explained on other grounds with the usual root.
3 tn Heb “a land of tranquility.” The expression involves a figure of substitution where the feeling engendered is substituted for the conditions that engender it. For the idea see Isa 32:18. The translation both here and in the following line is intended to bring out the contrast implicit in the emotive connotations connected with “peaceful country” and “thicket along the Jordan.”
4 tn Heb “the thicket along the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”
6 tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”