2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to 1 the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! 2
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. 3
2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.
In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. 4
No one can hold her back when she is in heat.
None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.
At mating time she is easy to find. 5
2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry. 6
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me
because I love those foreign gods 7 and want to pursue them!’
2:36 Why do you constantly go about
changing your political allegiances? 8
You will get no help from Egypt
just as you got no help from Assyria. 9
1 tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.
2 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.
3 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the
4 tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
5 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.
6 tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”
7 tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”
8 tn Heb “changing your way.” The translation follows the identification of the Hebrew verb here as a defective writing of a form (תֵּזְלִי [tezÿli] instead of תֵּאזְלִי [te’zÿli]) from a verb meaning “go/go about” (אָזַל [’azal]; cf. BDB 23 s.v. אָזַל). Most modern English versions, commentaries, and lexicons read it from a root meaning “to treat cheaply [or lightly]” (תָּזֵלִּי [tazelli] from the root זָלַל (zalal); cf. HALOT 261 s.v. זָלַל); hence, “Why do you consider it such a small matter to…”
9 tn Heb “You will be ashamed/disappointed by Egypt, just as you were ashamed/ disappointed by Assyria.”