36:13 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Because they are saying to you, “You are a devourer of men, and bereave your nation of children,”
2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. 3
They were as tall as cedars 4
and as strong as oaks,
but I destroyed the fruit on their branches 5
and their roots in the ground. 6
1 tn The word (אֶפֶס, ’efes) forms a very strong adversative. The land was indeed rich and fruitful, but….”
2 tn Heb “the people who are living in the land.”
3 tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”
5 tn Heb “his fruit from above.”
6 tn Heb “and his roots from below.”