Genesis 27:40-41

27:40 You will live by your sword

but you will serve your brother.

When you grow restless,

you will tear off his yoke

from your neck.” ¹ 

27:41 So Esau hated ²  Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. ³  Esau said privately, ⁴  “The time ⁵  of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill ⁶  my brother Jacob!”

Numbers 20:14-21

Rejection by the Edomites

20:14 ⁷ Moses ⁸  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ⁹  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ¹⁰  20:15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, ¹¹  and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. ¹²  20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ¹³  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ¹⁴  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ¹⁵  20:17 Please let us pass through ¹⁶  your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; ¹⁷  we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” ¹⁸ 

20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, ¹⁹  or I will come out against ²⁰  you with the sword.” 20:19 Then the Israelites said to him, “We will go along the highway, and if we ²¹  or our cattle drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.”

20:20 But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them ²²  with a large and powerful force. ²³  20:21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; therefore Israel turned away from him.

Deuteronomy 2:4-8

2:4 Instruct ²⁴  these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relatives ²⁵  the descendants of Esau, ²⁶  who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully. 2:5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seir ²⁷  as an inheritance for Esau. 2:6 You may purchase ²⁸  food to eat and water to drink from them. 2:7 All along the way I, the Lord your God, ²⁹  have blessed your every effort. ³⁰  I have ³¹  been attentive to ³²  your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have ³³  been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”

2:8 So we turned away from our relatives ³⁴  the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route, ³⁵  from Elat ³⁶  and Ezion Geber, ³⁷  and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands.

Deuteronomy 23:7

23:7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative; ³⁸  you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner ³⁹  in his land.

Deuteronomy 23:2

23:2 A person of illegitimate birth ⁴⁰  may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so. ⁴¹ 

Deuteronomy 28:17

28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed.

Psalms 83:3-8

83:3 They carefully plot ⁴²  against your people,

and make plans to harm ⁴³  the ones you cherish. ⁴⁴ 

83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! ⁴⁵ 

Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”

83:5 Yes, ⁴⁶  they devise a unified strategy; ⁴⁷ 

they form an alliance ⁴⁸  against you.

83:6 It includes ⁴⁹  the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites, ⁵⁰ 

83:7 Gebal, ⁵¹  Ammon, and Amalek,

Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. ⁵² 

83:8 Even Assyria has allied with them,

lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. ⁵³  (Selah)

Psalms 137:7

137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell. ⁵⁴ 

They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, ⁵⁵ 

right to its very foundation!”

Lamentations 4:21-22

The Prophet Speaks:

ש (Sin/Shin)

4:21 Rejoice and be glad for now, ⁵⁶  O people of Edom, ⁵⁷ 

who reside in the land of Uz.

But the cup of judgment ⁵⁸  will pass ⁵⁹  to you also;

you will get drunk and take off your clothes.

ת (Tav)

4:22 O people of Zion, ⁶⁰  your punishment ⁶¹  will come to an end; ⁶² 

he will not prolong your exile. ⁶³ 

But, O people of Edom, ⁶⁴  he will punish ⁶⁵  your sin ⁶⁶ 

and reveal ⁶⁷  your offenses!

Ezekiel 25:12

A Prophecy Against Edom

25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom ⁶⁸  has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable ⁶⁹  by taking vengeance ⁷⁰  on them. ⁷¹ 

Ezekiel 35:5-6

35:5 “‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword ⁷²  at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment. 35:6 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.

Ezekiel 35:11

35:11 therefore, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will deal with you according to your anger, and according to your envy, by which you acted spitefully against them. I will reveal myself to them when I judge you.

Joel 3:19

3:19 Egypt will be desolate

and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,

because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, ⁷³ 

in whose land they shed innocent blood.

Obadiah 1:10-14

Edom’s Treachery Against Judah

1:10 “Because ⁷⁴  you violently slaughtered ⁷⁵  your relatives, ⁷⁶  the people of Jacob, ⁷⁷ 

shame will cover you, and you will be destroyed ⁷⁸  forever.

1:11 You stood aloof ⁷⁹  while strangers took his army ⁸⁰  captive,

and foreigners advanced to his gates. ⁸¹ 

When they cast lots ⁸²  over Jerusalem, ⁸³ 

you behaved as though you were in league ⁸⁴  with them.

1:12 You should not ⁸⁵  have gloated ⁸⁶  when your relatives ⁸⁷  suffered calamity. ⁸⁸ 

You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. ⁸⁹ 

You should not have boasted ⁹⁰  when they suffered adversity. ⁹¹ 

1:13 You should not have entered the city ⁹²  of my people when they experienced distress. ⁹³ 

You should not have joined ⁹⁴  in gloating over their misfortune when they suffered distress. ⁹⁵ 

You should not have looted ⁹⁶  their wealth when they endured distress. ⁹⁷ 

1:14 You should not have stood at the fork in the road ⁹⁸  to slaughter ⁹⁹  those trying to escape. ¹⁰⁰ 

You should not have captured their refugees when they suffered adversity. ¹⁰¹ 

Malachi 1:2

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob

[27:40]  ¹ sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.

[27:41]  ² tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.

[27:41]  ³ tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”

[27:41]  ⁴ tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.

[27:41]  ⁵ tn Heb “days.”

[27:41]  ⁶ tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.

[20:14]  ⁷ sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.

[20:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “And Moses sent.”

[20:14]  ⁹ sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.

[20:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “found.”

[20:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “many days.”

[20:15]  ¹² tn The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) means “to act or do evil.” Evil here is in the sense of causing pain or trouble. So the causative stem in our passage means “to treat wickedly.”

[20:16]  ¹³ tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

[20:16]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

[20:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your border.”

[20:17]  ¹⁶ tn The request is expressed by the use of the cohortative, “let us pass through.” It is the proper way to seek permission.

[20:17]  ¹⁷ sn This a main highway running from Damascus in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba, along the ridge of the land. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been given by the later Assyrians (see B. Obed, “Observations on Methods of Assyrian Rule in Transjordan after the Palestinian Campaign of Tiglathpileser III,” JNES 29 [1970]: 177-86). Bronze Age fortresses have been discovered along this highway, attesting to its existence in the time of Moses. The original name came from the king who developed the highway, probably as a trading road (see S. Cohen, IDB 3:35-36).

[20:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “borders.”

[20:18]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of prohibition.

[20:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to meet.”

[20:19]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text uses singular pronouns, “I” and “my,” but it is the people of Israel that are intended, and so it may be rendered in the plural. Similarly, Edom speaks in the first person, probably from the king. But it too could be rendered “we.”

[20:20]  ²² tn Heb “to meet him.”

[20:20]  ²³ tn Heb “with many [heavy] people and with a strong hand.” The translation presented above is interpretive, but that is what the line means. It was a show of force, numbers and weapons, to intimidate the Israelites.

[2:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “command” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “charge the people as follows.”

[2:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “brothers”; NAB “your kinsmen.”

[2:4]  ²⁶ sn The descendants of Esau (Heb “sons of Esau”; the phrase also occurs in 2:8, 12, 22, 29). These are the inhabitants of the land otherwise known as Edom, south and east of the Dead Sea. Jacob’s brother Esau had settled there after his bitter strife with Jacob (Gen 36:1-8). “Edom” means “reddish,” probably because of the red sandstone of the region, but also by popular etymology because Esau, at birth, was reddish (Gen 25:25).

[2:5]  ²⁷ sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom.

[2:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb includes “with silver.”

[2:7]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).

[2:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”

[2:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.

[2:7]  ³² tn Heb “known” (so ASV, NASB); NAB “been concerned about.”

[2:7]  ³³ tn Heb “the Lord your God has.” This has been replaced in the translation by the first person pronoun (“I”) in keeping with English style.

[2:8]  ³⁴ tn Or “brothers”; NRSV “our kin.”

[2:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the way of the Arabah” (so ASV); NASB, NIV “the Arabah road.”

[2:8]  ³⁶ sn Elat was a port city at the head of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, that is, the Gulf of Aqaba (or Gulf of Eilat). Solomon (1 Kgs 9:28), Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22), and Ahaz (2 Kgs 16:5-6) used it as a port but eventually it became permanently part of Edom. It may be what is known today as Tell el-Kheleifeh. Modern Eilat is located further west along the northern coast. See G. Pratico, “Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal,” BASOR 259 (1985): 1-32.

[2:8]  ³⁷ sn Ezion Geber. A place near the Gulf of Aqaba, Ezion-geber must be distinguished from Elat (cf. 1 Kgs 9:26-28; 2 Chr 8:17-18). It was, however, also a port city (1 Kgs 22:48-49). It may be the same as the modern site Gezirat al-Fauran, 15 mi (24 km) south-southwest from Tell el-Kheleifah.

[23:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “brother.”

[23:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “sojourner.”

[23:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “a person born of an illegitimate marriage.”

[23:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “enter the assembly of the Lord.” The phrase “do so” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[83:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”

[83:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and consult together against.”

[83:3]  ⁴⁴ tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”

[83:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”

[83:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “for.”

[83:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”

[83:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[83:6]  ⁴⁹ tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[83:6]  ⁵⁰ sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.

[83:7]  ⁵¹ sn Some identify Gebal with the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (see Ezek 27:9, where the name is spelled differently), though others locate this site south of the Dead Sea (see BDB 148 s.v. גְּבַל; HALOT 174 s.v. גְּבַל).

[83:7]  ⁵² map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[83:8]  ⁵³ tn Heb “they are an arm for the sons of Lot.” The “arm” is here a symbol of military might.

[137:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

[137:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”

[4:21]  ⁵⁶ tn The phrase “for now” is added in the translation to highlight the implied contrast between the present joy of the Gentiles (4:21a) and their future judgment (4:21b).

[4:21]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “O Daughter of Edom.”

[4:21]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the cup.” Judgment is often depicted as a cup of wine that God forces a person to drink, causing him to lose consciousness, red wine drooling out of his mouth – resembling corpses lying on the ground as a result of the actual onslaught of the Lord’s judgment. The drunkard will reel and stagger, causing bodily injury to himself – an apt metaphor to describe the devastating effects of God’s judgment. Just as a cup of poison kills all those who are forced to drink it, the cup of God’s wrath destroys all those who must drink it (e.g., Ps 75:9; Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 25:15, 17, 28; 49:12; 51:7; Lam 4:21; Ezek 23:33; Hab 2:16).

[4:21]  ⁵⁹ tn The imperfect verb “will pass” may also be a jussive, continuing the element of request, “let the cup pass…”

[4:22]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “O Daughter Zion.”

[4:22]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “your iniquity.” The noun עָוֹן (’avon) has a broad range of meanings, including: (1) iniquity, (2) guilt of iniquity, and (3) consequence or punishment for iniquity (cause-effect metonymical relation). The context suggests that “punishment for sin” is most appropriate here (e.g., Gen 4:13; 19:15; Exod 28:38, 43; Lev 5:1, 17; 7:18; 10:17; 16:22; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19; 22:16; 26:39, 41, 43; Num 5:31; 14:34; 18:1, 23; 30:15; 1 Sam 25:24; 28:10; 2 Sam 14:9; 2 Kgs 7:9; Job 10:14; Pss 31:11; 69:28; 106:43; Prov 5:22; Isa 5:18; 30:13; 40:2; 53:6, 11; 64:5, 6; Jer 51:6; Lam 4:22; 5:7; Ezek 4:4-6, 17; 7:16; 14:10; 18:19-20; 21:30, 34; 24:23; 32:27; 35:5; 39:23; 44:10, 12).

[4:22]  ⁶² tn Heb “will be completed.” The perfect tense verb תַּם (tam), Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from תָּמַם (tamam, “to be complete”), could be taken as a precative perfect expressing a request (“may your punishment be complete”). The translation understands it as an example of the so-called “prophetic perfect.” The perfect tense often describes actions that are viewed as complete (normally past- or present-time events). When the perfect tense describes a future event, it often depicts it as “complete,” that is, “as good as done” or certain to take place from the viewpoint of the prophet. Thus, by using the perfect tense, Jeremiah may be emphasizing the certainty that the exile will eventually come to an end. It has also been viewed as a simple perfect “your punishment is ended.”

[4:22]  ⁶³ tn The verb לֹא יוֹסִיף (lo’ yosif) could be taken as a precative perfect, making a request to God. See the note at the beginning of the verse.

[4:22]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “O Daughter of Edom.”

[4:22]  ⁶⁵ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) could be taken as a precative perfect, making a request to God. See the note at the beginning of the verse.

[4:22]  ⁶⁶ tn The noun עָוֹן (’avon) is repeated twice in this verse: its first occurrence means “punishment for iniquity” (v. 22a), and its second usage means “iniquity” (v. 22b). See preceding translator’s note on the broad range of meanings of this word. The repetition of the same root with different meanings creates an ironic polysemantic wordplay: Zion’s “punishment” for its sin is about to come to an end; however, the punishment for Edom’s “sin” is about to begin.

[4:22]  ⁶⁷ tn The verb גִּלָּה (gillah) could be taken as a precative perfect, making a request to God. See the note at the beginning of the verse.

[25:12]  ⁶⁸ sn Edom was located south of Moab.

[25:12]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.

[25:12]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”

[25:12]  ⁷¹ sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. (Ps 137:7; Lam 5:21, 23; Joel 3:19; Obadiah).

[35:5]  ⁷² tn Or “gave over…to the power of the sword.” This phrase also occurs in Jer 18:21 and Ps 63:10.

[3:19]  ⁷³ tn Heb “violence of the sons of Judah.” The phrase “of the sons of Judah” is an objective genitive (cf. KJV “the violence against the children of Judah”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “violence done to the people of Judah”). It refers to injustices committed against the Judeans, not violence that the Judeans themselves had committed against others.

[1:10]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “from.” The preposition is used here with a causal sense.

[1:10]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “because of the slaughter and because of the violence.” These two expressions form a hendiadys meaning “because of the violent slaughter.” Traditional understanding connects the first phrase “because of the slaughter” with the end of v. 9 (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). It is preferable, however, to regard it as parallel to the reference to violence at the beginning of v. 11. Both the parallel linguistic structure of the two phrases and the metrical structure of the verse favor connecting this phrase with the beginning of v. 10 (cf. NRSV, TEV).

[1:10]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “the violence of your brother.” The genitive construction is to be understood as an objective genitive. The meaning is not that Jacob has perpetrated violence (= subjective genitive), but that violence has been committed against him (= objective genitive).

[1:10]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “your brother Jacob” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV “your relatives, the Israelites.”

[1:10]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “be cut off” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:11]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “in the day of your standing”; NAB “On the day when you stood by.”

[1:11]  ⁸⁰ tn Or perhaps, “wealth” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The Hebrew word is somewhat ambiguous here. This word also appears in v. 13, where it clearly refers to wealth.

[1:11]  ⁸¹ tc The present translation follows the Qere which reads the plural (“gates”) rather than the singular.

[1:11]  ⁸² sn Casting lots seems to be a way of deciding who would gain control over material possessions and enslaved peoples following a military victory.

[1:11]  ⁸³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:11]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “like one from them”; NASB “You too were as one of them.”

[1:12]  ⁸⁵ tn In vv. 12-14 there are eight prohibitions which summarize the nature of the Lord’s complaint against Edom. Each prohibition alludes to something that Edom did to Judah that should not have been done by one “brother” to another. It is because of these violations that the Lord has initiated judgment against Edom. In the Hebrew text these prohibitions are expressed by אַל (’al, “not”) plus the jussive form of the verb, which is common in negative commands of immediate urgency. Such constructions would normally have the sense of prohibiting something either not yet begun (i.e., “do not start to …”) or something already in process at the time of speaking (i.e., “stop…”). Here, however, it seems more likely that the prohibitions refer to a situation in past rather than future time (i.e., “you should not have …”). If so, the verbs are being used in a rhetorical fashion, as though the prophet were vividly projecting himself back into the events that he is describing and urging the Edomites not to do what in fact they have already done.

[1:12]  ⁸⁶ tn The Hebrew expression “to look upon” often has the sense of “to feast the eyes upon” or “to gloat over” (cf. v. 13).

[1:12]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “your brother” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NCV “your brother Israel.”

[1:12]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “in the day of your brother, in the day of his calamity.” This expression is probably a hendiadys meaning, “in the day of your brother’s calamity.” The Hebrew word נָכְרוֹ (nokhro, “his calamity”)_is probably a word-play on נָכְרִים (nokherim, “foreigners”) in v. 11.

[1:12]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “in the day of their destruction” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); NAB, NRSV “on the day of their ruin.”

[1:12]  ⁹⁰ tn Or “boasted with your mouth.” The Hebrew text includes the phrase “with your mouth,” which is redundant in English and has been left untranslated.

[1:12]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “in the day of adversity”; NASB “in the day of their distress.”

[1:13]  ⁹² tn Heb “the gate.” The term “gate” here functions as a synecdoche for the city as a whole, which the Edomites plundered.

[1:13]  ⁹³ tn Heb “in the day of their distress.” The phrase is used three times in this verse; the Hebrew word translated “distress” (אֵידָם, ’edam) is a wordplay on the name Edom. For stylistic reasons and to avoid monotony, in the present translation this phrase is rendered: “when they experienced distress,” “when they suffered distress,” and “when they endured distress.”

[1:13]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “you, also you.”

[1:13]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “in the day of his distress.” In this and the following phrase at the end of v. 13 the suffix is 3rd person masculine singular. As collective singulars both occurrences have been translated as plurals (“they suffered distress…endured distress” rather than “he suffered distress…endured distress”).

[1:13]  ⁹⁶ tc In the MT the verb is feminine plural, but the antecedent is unclear. The Hebrew phrase תִּשְׁלַחְנָה (tishlakhnah) here should probably be emended to read תִּשְׁלַח יָד (tishlakh yad), although yad (“hand”) is not absolutely essential to this idiom.

[1:13]  ⁹⁷ tn See the note on the phrase “suffered distress” in the previous line.

[1:14]  ⁹⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word פֶּרֶק (pereq; here translated “fork in the road”) is uncertain. The word is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in Nah 3:1, where it means “plunder.” In the present context it seems to refer to a strategic intersection or fork in a road where bands of Edomites apprehended Israelites who were fleeing from the attack on Jerusalem. Cf. NAB, NIV, NLT “crossroads”; NRSV “crossings.”

[1:14]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “to cut off” (so KJV, NRSV); NASB, NIV “to cut down.”

[1:14]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “his fugitives”; NAB, CEV “refugees.”

[1:14]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “in the day of distress” (so KJV, ASV).