9:14 So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail,
both the shoots and stalk 5 in one day.
9:15 The leaders and the highly respected people 6 are the head,
the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
9:16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people,
and the people being led were destroyed. 7
9:17 So the sovereign master was not pleased 8 with their young men,
he took no pity 9 on their orphans and widows;
for the whole nation was godless 10 and did wicked things, 11
every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. 12
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 13
24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, 14
the master as well as the servant, 15
the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, 16
the seller as well as the buyer, 17
the borrower as well as the lender, 18
the creditor as well as the debtor. 19
9:5 While I listened, he said to the others, 20 “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare 21 anyone! 9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.
6:11 Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. 22
He will smash the large house to bits,
and the small house into little pieces.
1 tn The Greek version is likely right in interpreting the construction of two perfects preceded by the conjunction as contingent or consequential here, i.e., “and when they say…then say.” See GKC 494 §159.g. However, to render literally would create a long sentence. Hence, the words “will probably” have been supplied in v. 12 in the translation to set up the contingency/consequential sequence in the English sentences.
2 sn It is probably impossible to convey in a simple translation all the subtle nuances that are wrapped up in the words of this judgment speech. The word translated “stupor” here is literally “drunkenness” but the word has in the context an undoubted intended double reference. It refers first to the drunken like stupor of confusion on the part of leaders and citizens of the land which will cause them to clash with one another. But it also probably refers to the reeling under God’s wrath that results from this (cf. Jer 25:15-29, especially vv. 15-16). Moreover there is still the subtle little play on wine jars. The people are like the wine jars which were supposed to be filled with wine. They were to be a special people to bring glory to God but they had become corrupt. Hence, like wine jars they would be smashed against one another and broken to pieces (v. 14). All of this, both “fill them with the stupor of confusion” and “make them reel under God’s wrath,” cannot be conveyed in one translation.
3 tn Heb “who sit on David’s throne.”
4 tn In Hebrew this is all one long sentence with one verb governing compound objects. It is broken up here in conformity with English style.
5 sn The metaphor in this line is that of a reed being cut down.
6 tn Heb “the elder and the one lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.
7 tn Heb “and the ones being led were swallowed up.” Instead of taking מְבֻלָּעִים (mÿbulla’im) from בָּלַע (bala’, “to swallow”), HALOT 134 s.v. בלע proposes a rare homonymic root בלע (“confuse”) here.
8 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”
9 tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yÿrakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)
10 tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”
11 tn מֵרַע (mera’) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.
12 tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.
13 tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”
14 tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”
15 tn Heb “like the servant, like his master.”
16 tn Heb “like the female servant, like her mistress.”
17 tn Heb “like the buyer, like the seller.”
18 tn Heb “like the lender, like the borrower.”
19 tn Heb “like the creditor, just as the one to whom he lends.”
20 tn Heb “to these he said in my ears.”
21 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
22 tn Or “is issuing the decree.”
23 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
24 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
25 tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).
26 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
27 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
28 tn Grk “another book was opened, which is of life.”
29 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the books being opened.
30 tn Grk “from the things written in the books according to their works.”