2:18 What good will it do you 1 then 2 to go down to Egypt
to seek help from the Egyptians? 3
What good will it do you 4 to go over to Assyria
to seek help from the Assyrians? 5
2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to 6 the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! 7
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. 8
2:33 “My, how good you have become
at chasing after your lovers! 9
Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! 10
1 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
2 tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).
3 tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.
4 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
5 tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.
6 tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.
7 tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.
8 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the
9 tn Heb “How good you have made your ways to seek love.”
10 tn Heb “so that even the wicked women you teach your ways.”