5:2 Our inheritance 1 is turned over to strangers;
foreigners now occupy our homes. 2
5:3 We have become fatherless orphans;
our mothers have become widows.
5:4 We must pay money 3 for our own water; 4
we must buy our own wood at a steep price. 5
5:5 We are pursued – they are breathing down our necks; 6
we are weary and have no rest. 7
5:6 We have submitted 8 to Egypt and Assyria
in order to buy food to eat. 9
1 tn Heb “Our inheritance”; or “Our inherited possessions/property.” The term נַחֲלָה (nakhalah) has a range of meanings: (1) “inheritance,” (2) “portion, share” and (3) “possession, property.” The land of Canaan was given by the
2 tn Heb “our homes [are turned over] to foreigners.”
3 tn Heb “silver.” The term “silver” is a synecdoche of species (= silver) for general (= money).
4 tn Heb “We drink our water for silver.”
5 tn Heb “our wood comes for a price.”
6 tn Heb “We are hard-driven on our necks”
7 sn For the theological allusion that goes beyond physical rest, see, e.g., Deut 12:10; 25:19; Josh 1:13; 11:23; 2 Sam 7:1, 11; 1 Chron 22:18; 2 Chron 14:6-7
8 tn Heb “we have given the hand”; cf. NRSV “We have made a pact.” This is a Semitic idiom meaning “to make a treaty with” someone, placing oneself in a subservient position as vassal. The prophets criticized these treaties.
9 tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for the general (= food).