3:1 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again. 3
Doing that would utterly defile the land. 4
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. 5
So what makes you think you can return to me?” 6
says the Lord.
3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. 7
You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. 8
You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. 9
You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. 10
23:35 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, 11 you must bear now the punishment 12 for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”
23:46 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army 14 against them and subject them 15 to terror and plunder. 23:47 That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses. 16 23:48 I will put an end to the obscene conduct in the land; all the women will learn a lesson from this and not engage in obscene conduct. 23:49 They will repay you for your obscene conduct, and you will be punished for idol worship. 17 Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.”
9:1 O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly 18 like the nations,
for you are unfaithful 19 to your God.
You love to receive a prostitute's wages 20
on all the floors where you thresh your grain.
1 sn The text does not say what the consequences are. Presumably the punishment would come from God, and not from those administering the test.
2 tn The word “iniquity” can also mean the guilt for the iniquity as well as the punishment of consequences for the iniquity. These categories of meanings grew up through figurative usage (metonymies). Here the idea is that if she is guilty then she must “bear the consequences.”
3 tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
4 tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
5 tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”
6 tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.
7 tn Heb “and see.”
8 tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.
9 tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”
10 tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.
11 tn Heb “and you cast me behind your back.” The expression pictures her rejection of the Lord (see 1 Kgs 14:9).
12 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text but is demanded by the context.
13 tn Heb “and upright men will judge them (with) the judgment of adulteresses and the judgment of those who shed blood.”
14 tn Heb “assembly.”
15 tn Heb “give them to.”
16 tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”
17 tn Heb “and the sins of your idols you will bear.” By extension it can mean the punishment for the sins.
18 tn Heb “do not rejoice unto jubilation”; KJV “Rejoice not…for joy”; NASB “Do not rejoice…with exultation.”
19 tn Heb “you have committed adultery”; NRSV “you have played the whore.”
20 tn Heb “you love the wages of the prostitute” (NIV similar); NAB “loving a harlot’s hire.”