4:28 Because of this the land will mourn
and the sky above will grow black. 1
For I have made my purpose known 2
and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.” 3
8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, 4
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes 5
and cause every head to be shaved bald. 6
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; 7
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. 8
1 sn The earth and the heavens are personified here and depicted in the act of mourning and wearing black clothes because of the destruction of the land of Israel.
2 tn Heb “has spoken and purposed.” This is an example of hendiadys where two verbs are joined by “and” but one is meant to serve as a modifier of the other.
3 tn Heb “will not turn back from it.”
4 tn Heb “mourning.”
5 tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”
6 tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).
7 tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”
8 tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.