18:16 So their land will become an object of horror. 1
People will forever hiss out their scorn over it.
All who pass that way will be filled with horror
and will shake their heads in derision. 2
29:8 “For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all 8 says, ‘Do not let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination 9 deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream.
ס (Samek)
2:15 All who passed by on the road
clapped their hands to mock you. 10
They sneered and shook their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem.
“Ha! Is this the city they called 11
‘The perfection of beauty, 12
the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” 13
פ (Pe)
2:16 All your enemies
gloated over you. 14
They sneered and gnashed their teeth;
they said, “We have destroyed 15 her!
Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.
We have lived to see it!” 16
6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; 17
you follow their policies. 18
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, 19
the city’s 20 inhabitants will be taunted derisively, 21
and nations will mock all of you.” 22
2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up 23 –
the city that was so secure. 24
She thought to herself, 25 “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” 26
What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!
Everyone who passes by her taunts her 27 and shakes his fist. 28
1 tn There may be a deliberate double meaning involved here. The word translated here “an object of horror” refers both to destruction (cf. 2:15; 4:17) and the horror or dismay that accompanies it (cf. 5:30; 8:21). The fact that there is no conjunction or preposition in front of the noun “hissing” that follows this suggests that the reaction is in view here, not the cause.
2 tn Heb “an object of lasting hissing. All who pass that way will be appalled and shake their head.”
3 sn See 18:16 and the study note there.
4 tn Heb “all its smitings.” This word has been used several times for the metaphorical “wounds” that Israel has suffered as a result of the blows from its enemies. See, e.g., 14:17. It is used in the Hebrew Bible of scourging, both literally and metaphorically (cf. Deut 25:3; Isa 10:26), and of slaughter and defeat (1 Sam 4:10; Josh 10:20). Here it refers to the results of the crushing blows at the hands of her enemies which has made her the object of scorn.
5 tn Heb “with the sword.”
6 tn This term is often mistakenly understood to refer to a “eunuch.” It is clear, however, in Gen 39:1 that “eunuchs” could be married. On the other hand it is clear from Isa 59:3-5 that some who bore this title could not have children. In this period, it is possible that the persons who bore this title were high officials like the rab saris who was a high official in the Babylonian court (cf. Jer 39:3, 13; 52:25). For further references see HALOT 727 s.v. סָרִיס 1.c.
7 sn See 2 Kgs 24:14-16 and compare the study note on Jer 24:1.
8 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
9 sn See the study notes on 27:9 for this term.
10 tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).
11 tn Heb “of which they said.”
12 tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.
13 tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.
14 tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”
15 tn Heb “We have swallowed!”
16 tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.
17 tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”
18 tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”
19 tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.
20 tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.
22 tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).
23 tn Heb “this is the proud city.”
24 tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”
25 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
26 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”
27 tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”
28 sn Hissing (or whistling) and shaking the fist were apparently ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.