Discovery BoxHosea 1:2-5
Context1:2 When the Lord first spoke 1 through 2 Hosea, he 3 said to him, 4 “Go marry 5 a prostitute 6 who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, 7 because the nation 8 continually commits spiritual prostitution 9 by turning away from 10 the Lord.” 1:3 So Hosea married 11 Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him. 1:4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, 12 “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because in a little while I will punish 13 the dynasty 14 of Jehu on account of the bloodshed 15 in the valley of Jezreel, 16 and I will put an end to the kingdom 17 of Israel. 18 1:5 At that time, 19 I will destroy the military power 20 of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
Hosea 3:1
Context3:1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to 21 your wife 22 again, even though she loves 23 another man 24 and continually commits adultery. 25 Likewise, the Lord loves 26 the Israelites 27 although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.” 28
Isaiah 5:1-7
Context5:1 I 29 will sing to my love –
a song to my lover about his vineyard. 30
My love had a vineyard
on a fertile hill. 31
5:2 He built a hedge around it, 32 removed its stones,
and planted a vine.
He built a tower in the middle of it,
and constructed a winepress.
He waited for it to produce edible grapes,
but it produced sour ones instead. 33
5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, 34
people 35 of Judah,
you decide between me and my vineyard!
5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard
beyond what I have already done?
When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,
why did it produce sour ones instead?
5:5 Now I will inform you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, 36
I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. 37
5:6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, 38
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
5:7 Indeed 39 Israel 40 is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,
the people 41 of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.
He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! 42
He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! 43
Isaiah 20:2-5
Context20:2 At that time the Lord announced through 44 Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments 45 and barefoot. 20:3 Later the Lord explained, “In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush, 20:4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated. 46 20:5 Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed. 47
Jeremiah 13:1-14
Context13:1 The Lord said to me, “Go and buy some linen shorts 48 and put them on. 49 Do not put them in water.” 50 13:2 So I bought the shorts as the Lord had told me to do 51 and put them on. 52 13:3 Then the Lord spoke to me again and said, 53 13:4 “Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing 54 and go at once 55 to Perath. 56 Bury the shorts there 57 in a crack in the rocks.” 13:5 So I went and buried them at Perath 58 as the Lord had ordered me to do. 13:6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to Perath and get 59 the shorts I ordered you to bury there.” 13:7 So I went to Perath and dug up 60 the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found 61 that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.
13:8 Then the Lord said to me, 62 13:9 “I, the Lord, say: 63 ‘This shows how 64 I will ruin the highly exalted position 65 in which Judah and Jerusalem 66 take pride. 13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. 67 They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance 68 to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So 69 they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing. 13:11 For,’ I say, 70 ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah 71 tightly 72 to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. 73 But they would not obey me.
13:12 “So tell them, 74 ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says, “Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine.”’ 75 And they will probably say to you, ‘Do you not think we know 76 that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?’ 13:13 Then 77 tell them, ‘The Lord says, “I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor. 78 I will also fill the kings from David’s dynasty, 79 the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor. 80 13:14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. 81 I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,’ 82 says the Lord.”
Jeremiah 19:1
Context19:1 The Lord told Jeremiah, 83 “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. 84 Take with you 85 some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders 86 of the priests.
Jeremiah 19:10
Context19:10 The Lord continued, 87 “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you.
Ezekiel 4:1--5:17
Context4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick 88 and set it in front of you. Inscribe 89 a city on it – Jerusalem. 4:2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp 90 against it! Post soldiers outside it 91 and station battering rams around it. 4:3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan 92 and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign 93 for the house of Israel.
4:4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity 94 of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity. 4:5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days 95 for you – 390 days. 96 So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 97
4:6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days 98 – I have assigned one day for each year. 4:7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 4:8 Look here, I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege. 99
4:9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, 100 put them in a single container, and make food 101 from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side – 390 days 102 – you will eat it. 4:10 The food you eat will be eight ounces 103 a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed 104 times. 4:11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half; 105 you must drink it at fixed times. 4:12 And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.” 106 4:13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations 107 where I will banish them.”
4:14 And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat 108 has never entered my mouth.”
4:15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”
4:16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply 109 in Jerusalem. 110 They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 4:17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity. 111
5:1 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. 112 Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. 113 Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. 5:2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them. 5:3 But take a few strands of hair 114 from those and tie them in the ends of your garment. 115 5:4 Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire, 116 and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.
5:5 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem; I placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her. 5:6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations 117 and the countries around her. 118 Indeed, they 119 have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.
5:7 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant 120 than the nations around you, 121 you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even 122 carried out the regulations of the nations around you!
5:8 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: I – even I – am against you, 123 and I will execute judgment 124 among you while the nations watch. 125 5:9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again because of all your abominable practices. 126 5:10 Therefore fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem, 127 and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors 128 to the winds. 129
5:11 “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare 130 you. 5:12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. 131 A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, 132 and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them. 5:13 Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased. 133 Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy 134 when I have fully vented my rage against them.
5:14 “I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 5:15 You will be 135 an object of scorn and taunting, 136 a prime example of destruction 137 among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury. 138 I, the Lord, have spoken! 5:16 I will shoot against them deadly, 139 destructive 140 arrows of famine, 141 which I will shoot to destroy you. 142 I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply. 143 5:17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they will take your children from you. 144 Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you, 145 and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Ezekiel 15:1-8
Context15:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 15:2 “Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? 146 15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? 15:4 No! 147 It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything? 15:5 Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?
15:6 “Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest which I have provided as fuel for the fire – so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem 148 as fuel. 149 15:7 I will set 150 my face against them – although they have escaped from the fire, 151 the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 15:8 I will make 152 the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel 20:49
Context20:49 Then I said, “O sovereign Lord! They are saying of me, ‘Does he not simply speak in eloquent figures of speech?’”
[1:2] 1 tn The construct noun תְּחִלַּת (tékhillat, “beginning of”) displays a wider use of the construct state here, preceding a perfect verb דִּבֶּר (dibber, “he spoke”; Piel perfect 3rd person masculine singular) rather than a genitive noun. This is an unusual temporal construction (GKC 422 §130.d). It may be rendered, “When he (= the
[1:2] 2 tn The preposition בְּ (bet) on בְּהוֹשֵׁעַ (bÿhoshea’) is an instrumental use of the preposition (BDB 89 s.v. בְּ III.2.b): “by, with, through Hosea” rather than a directional “to Hosea.” This focuses on the entire prophetic revelation through Hosea to Israel.
[1:2] 3 tn Heb “the
[1:2] 4 tn Heb “to Hosea.” The proper name is replaced by the pronoun here to avoid redundancy in English (cf. NIV, NCV, NLT).
[1:2] 5 tn Heb “Go, take for yourself” (so NRSV; NASB, NIV “to yourself”). In conjunction with the following phrase this means “marry.”
[1:2] 6 tn Heb “a wife of harlotries.” The noun זְנוּנִים (zÿnunim) means “prostitute; harlot” (HALOT 275-76 s.v. זְנוּנִים). The term does not refer to mere adultery (cf. NIV; also NCV, TEV, CEV “unfaithful”) which is expressed by the root נַאַף (na’af, “adultery”; HALOT 658 s.v. נאף). The plural noun זְנוּנִים (zénunim, literally, “harlotries”) is an example of the plural of character or plural of repeated behavior. The phrase “wife of harlotries” (אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים, ’eshet zénunim) probably refers to a prostitute, possibly a temple prostitute serving at a Baal temple.
[1:2] 7 tn Heb “and children of harlotries.” However, TEV takes the phrase to mean the children will behave like their mother (“your children will be just like her”).
[1:2] 8 tn Heb “the land.” The term “the land” is frequently used as a synecdoche of container (the land of Israel) for the contained (the people of Israel).
[1:2] 9 tn Heb “prostitution.” The adjective “spiritual” is supplied in the translation to clarify that apostasy is meant here. The construction זָנֹה תִזְנֶה (zanoh tizneh, infinitive absolute + imperfect of the same root) repeats the root זָנַה (zanah, “harlotry”) for rhetorical emphasis. Israel was guilty of gross spiritual prostitution by apostatizing from Yahweh. The verb זָנַה is used in a concrete sense to refer to a spouse being unfaithful in a marriage relationship (HALOT 275 s.v. זנה 1), and figuratively meaning “to be unfaithful” in a relationship with God by prostituting oneself with other gods and worshiping idols (Exod 34:15; Lev 17:7; 20:5, 6; Deut 31:16; Judg 8:27, 33; 21:17; 1 Chr 5:25; Ezek 6:9; 20:30; 23:30; Hos 4:15; Ps 106:39; see HALOT 275 s.v. 2).
[1:3] 11 tn Heb “so he went and took” (וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּקַּח, vayyelekh vayyiqqakh; so NAB, NRSV).
[1:4] 12 tn Heb “to him.” The referent (Hosea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:4] 13 tn Heb “I will visit.” The verb פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”) has a very broad range of meanings: (1) “to pay attention to; to look at” (a) favorably: to look after; to provide for; to care for; (b) unfavorably: to seek vengeance for; to punish for; (2) militarily: (a) “to muster; to enroll”; (b) “to inspect; to review”; (3) leadership: (a) “to rule over; to oversee”; (b) Hiphil: “to appoint an overseer” (see BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד; HALOT 955-58 s.v. פקד). In this context, the nuance “to punish” or “to take vengeance” (see 1b above) is most appropriate. Cf. KJV, ASV “I will avenge”; NAB, NASB, NRSV “I will punish.”
[1:4] 14 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV “family”; CEV “descendants.”
[1:4] 15 tn The plural form of דָּם (dam, “blood”) refers to “bloodshed” (BDB 196 s.v. דָּם 2.f). This is an example of a plural of abnormal condition (GKC 400 §124.n). The plural is used to represent natural objects which are found in an unnatural or abnormal condition. The plural is used because the natural object is normally found as a whole or in one unit, but in the abnormal condition the object is found in many parts. Normally, blood is contained as a whole within the body. However, when a brutal murder occurs, blood is shed and literally spilled all over the place. Cf. NIV “the massacre”; TEV, CEV, NLT “the murders.”
[1:4] 16 tn Heb “I will visit the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.”
[1:4] 17 tn Heb “the kingdom of the house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:4] 18 sn The proper name יִזְרְעֶאל (yizré’e’l, “Jezreel”) sounds like יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”). This phonetic wordplay associates the sin at Jezreel with the judgment on Israel, stressing poetic justice.
[1:5] 19 tn Heb “In that day” (so NIV; NAB, NRSV “On that day”).
[1:5] 20 tn Heb “I will break the bow” (so NAB, NRSV). The phrase “break the bow” (וְשַׁבָרְתִּי אֶת־קֶשֶׁת, véshavarti ’et-qeshet) is figurative. The term קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”) frequently refers to the warrior’s weapon (2 Sam 22:35; Ps 18:35; Job 20:24; Hos 2:20; Zech 9:10; 10:4). The reference to the warrior’s bow is a synecdoche of specific (bow) for general (military weaponry or power; see HALOT 1155 s.v. קֶשֶׁת 3). The noun קֶשֶׁת is used figuratively for “power” several times (e.g., Gen 49:24; 1 Sam 2:4; Jer 49:35; Job 29:20; Ps 37:15; BDB 906 s.v. 1.e).
[3:1] 21 tn Heb “Go again! Love!” Cf. NAB “Give your love to.”
[3:1] 22 tn Heb “a woman.” The probable referent is Gomer. Some English translations (e.g., NIV, NLT) specify the referent as “your wife.”
[3:1] 23 tc The MT vocalizes אֲהֻבַת (’ahuvat) as a construct form of the Qal passive participle and takes רֵעַ (rea’) as a genitive of agent: “who is loved by רֵעַ.” However, the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) all vocalize אֲהֻבַת as an absolute form of the Qal active participle, and take רֵעַ as the accusative direct object: “who loves רֵעַ.” The English translations consistently follow the MT. The editors of BHS suggest the revocalization but with some reservation. For discussion of the vocalization, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:230.
[3:1] 24 tn The meaning of the noun רֵעַ (rea’) is debated because it has a broad range of meanings: (1) “friend,” (2) “lover,” (3) “companion,” (4) “neighbor,” and (5) “another” (HALOT 1253-55 s.v. II רֵעַ; BDB 945-46 s.v. II רֵעַ). The Hebrew lexicons favor the nuance “lover; paramour” here (HALOT 1255 s.v. 2; BDB 946 s.v. 1). Most scholars adopt the same approach; however, a few suggest that רֵעַ does not refer to another man, but to her husband (Hosea). Both approaches are reflected in English translations: NASB “a woman who is loved by her husband”; NIV “though she is loved by another”; NAB “a woman beloved of a paramour”; KJV “a woman beloved of her friend”; NJPS “a woman who, while befriended by a companion”; TEV “a woman who is committing adultery with a lover”; CEV “an unfaithful woman who has a lover.”
[3:1] 25 tn Heb “love a woman who is loved of a lover and is an adulteress.”
[3:1] 26 tn Heb “like the love of the
[3:1] 27 tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB “people of Israel.”
[3:1] 28 tn Heb “they are lovers of cakes of raisins.” A number of English translations render this literally (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[5:1] 29 tn It is uncertain who is speaking here. Possibly the prophet, taking the role of best man, composes a love song for his friend on the occasion of his wedding. If so, יָדִיד (yadid) should be translated “my friend.” The present translation assumes that Israel is singing to the Lord. The word דוֹד (dod, “lover”) used in the second line is frequently used by the woman in the Song of Solomon to describe her lover.
[5:1] 30 sn Israel, viewing herself as the Lord’s lover, refers to herself as his vineyard. The metaphor has sexual connotations, for it pictures her capacity to satisfy his appetite and to produce children. See Song 8:12.
[5:1] 31 tn Heb “on a horn, a son of oil.” Apparently קֶרֶן (qeren, “horn”) here refers to the horn-shaped peak of a hill (BDB 902 s.v.) or to a mountain spur, i.e., a ridge that extends laterally from a mountain (HALOT 1145 s.v. קֶרֶן; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:180). The expression “son of oil” pictures this hill as one capable of producing olive trees. Isaiah’s choice of קֶרֶן, a rare word for hill, may have been driven by paronomastic concerns, i.e., because קֶרֶן sounds like כֶּרֶם (kerem, “vineyard”).
[5:2] 32 tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.
[5:2] 33 tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).
[5:3] 34 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[5:3] 35 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
[5:5] 36 tn Heb “and it will become [a place for] grazing.” בָּעַר (ba’ar, “grazing”) is a homonym of the more often used verb “to burn.”
[5:5] 37 tn Heb “and it will become a trampled place” (NASB “trampled ground”).
[5:6] 38 tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.
[5:7] 39 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[5:7] 40 tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:7] 41 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
[5:7] 42 tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.
[5:7] 43 tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.
[20:2] 44 tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”
[20:2] 45 tn The word used here (עָרוֹם, ’arom) sometimes means “naked,” but here it appears to mean simply “lightly dressed,” i.e., stripped to one’s undergarments. See HALOT 883 s.v. עָרוֹם. The term also occurs in vv. 3, 4.
[20:4] 46 tn Heb “lightly dressed and barefoot, and bare with respect to the buttocks, the nakedness of Egypt.”
[20:5] 47 tn Heb “and they will be afraid and embarrassed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their beauty.”
[13:1] 48 tn The term here (אֵזוֹר, ’ezor) has been rendered in various ways: “girdle” (KJV, ASV), “waistband” (NASB), “waistcloth” (RSV), “sash” (NKJV), “belt” (NIV, NCV, NLT), and “loincloth” (NAB, NRSV, NJPS, REB). The latter is more accurate according to J. M. Myers, “Dress and Ornaments,” IDB 1:870, and W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:399. It was a short, skirt-like garment reaching from the waist to the knees and worn next to the body (cf. v. 9). The modern equivalent is “shorts” as in TEV/GNB, CEV.
[13:1] 49 tn Heb “upon your loins.” The “loins” were the midriff of the body from the waist to the knees. For a further discussion including the figurative uses see, IDB, “Loins,” 3:149.
[13:1] 50 tn Or “Do not ever put them in water,” i.e., “Do not even wash them.”
[13:2] 51 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[13:2] 52 tn Heb “upon your loins.” The “loins” were the midriff of the body from the waist to the knees. For a further discussion including the figurative uses see R. C. Dentan, “Loins,” IDB 3:149-50.
[13:3] 53 tn Heb “The word of the
[13:4] 54 tn Heb “which are upon your loins.” See further the notes on v. 1.
[13:4] 55 tn Heb “Get up and go.” The first verb is not literal but is idiomatic for the initiation of an action.
[13:4] 56 tn There has been a great deal of debate about whether the place referred to here is a place (Parah [= Perath] mentioned in Josh 18:23, modern Khirbet Farah, near a spring ’ain Farah) about three and a half miles from Anathoth which was Jeremiah’s home town or the Euphrates River. Elsewhere the word “Perath” always refers to the Euphrates but it is either preceded by the word “river of” or there is contextual indication that the Euphrates is being referred to. Because a journey to the Euphrates and back would involve a journey of more than 700 miles (1,100 km) and take some months, scholars both ancient and modern have questioned whether “Perath” refers to the Euphrates here and if it does whether a real journey was involved. Most of the attempts to identify the place with the Euphrates involve misguided assumptions that this action was a symbolic message to Israel about exile or the corrupting influence of Assyria and Babylon. However, unlike the other symbolic acts in Jeremiah (and in Isaiah and Ezekiel) the symbolism is not part of a message to the people but to Jeremiah; the message is explained to him (vv. 9-11) not the people. In keeping with some of the wordplays that are somewhat common in Jeremiah it is likely that the reference here is to a place, Parah, which was near Jeremiah’s hometown, but whose name would naturally suggest to Jeremiah later in the
[13:4] 57 sn The significance of this act is explained in vv. 9-10. See the notes there for explanation.
[13:5] 58 tc The translation reads בִּפְרָתָה (bifratah) with 4QJera as noted in W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:393 instead of בִּפְרָת (bifrat) in the MT.
[13:6] 59 tn Heb “Get from there.” The words “from there” are not necessary to the English sentence. They would lead to a redundancy later in the verse, i.e., “from there…bury there.”
[13:7] 60 tn Heb “dug and took.”
[13:7] 61 tn Heb “And behold.”
[13:8] 62 tn Heb “Then the word of the
[13:9] 63 tn Heb “Thus says the
[13:9] 64 tn In a sense this phrase which is literally “according to thus” or simply “thus” points both backward and forward: backward to the acted out parable and forward to the explanation which follows.
[13:9] 65 tn Many of the English versions have erred in rendering this word “pride” or “arrogance” with the resultant implication that the
[13:9] 66 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[13:10] 67 tn Heb “to listen to my words.”
[13:10] 68 tn Heb “and [they follow] after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.
[13:10] 69 tn The structure of this verse is a little unusual. It consists of a subject, “this wicked people” qualified by several “which” clauses preceding a conjunction and a form which would normally be taken as a third person imperative (a Hebrew jussive; וִיהִי, vihi). This construction, called casus pendens by Hebrew grammarians, lays focus on the subject, here calling attention to the nature of Israel’s corruption which makes it rotten and useless to God. See GKC 458 §143.d for other examples of this construction.
[13:11] 70 tn The words “I say” are “Oracle of the
[13:11] 71 tn Heb “all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah.”
[13:11] 72 tn It would be somewhat unnatural in English to render the play on the word translated here “cling tightly” and “bound tightly” in a literal way. They are from the same root word in Hebrew (דָּבַק, davaq), a word that emphasizes the closest of personal relationships and the loyalty connected with them. It is used, for example, of the relationship of a husband and a wife and the loyalty expected of them (cf. Gen 2:24; for other similar uses see Ruth 1:14; 2 Sam 20:2; Deut 11:22).
[13:11] 73 tn Heb “I bound them…in order that they might be to me for a people and for a name and for praise and for honor.” The sentence has been separated from the preceding and an equivalent idea expressed which is more in keeping with contemporary English style.
[13:12] 74 tn Heb “So you shall say this word [or message] to them.”
[13:12] 75 tn Heb “Every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine.”
[13:12] 76 tn This is an attempt to render a construction which involves an infinitive of a verb being added before the same verb in a question which expects a positive answer. There may, by the way, be a pun being passed back and forth here involving the sound play been “fool” (נָבָל, naval) and “wine bottle” (נֶבֶל, nebel).
[13:13] 77 tn The Greek version is likely right in interpreting the construction of two perfects preceded by the conjunction as contingent or consequential here, i.e., “and when they say…then say.” See GKC 494 §159.g. However, to render literally would create a long sentence. Hence, the words “will probably” have been supplied in v. 12 in the translation to set up the contingency/consequential sequence in the English sentences.
[13:13] 78 sn It is probably impossible to convey in a simple translation all the subtle nuances that are wrapped up in the words of this judgment speech. The word translated “stupor” here is literally “drunkenness” but the word has in the context an undoubted intended double reference. It refers first to the drunken like stupor of confusion on the part of leaders and citizens of the land which will cause them to clash with one another. But it also probably refers to the reeling under God’s wrath that results from this (cf. Jer 25:15-29, especially vv. 15-16). Moreover there is still the subtle little play on wine jars. The people are like the wine jars which were supposed to be filled with wine. They were to be a special people to bring glory to God but they had become corrupt. Hence, like wine jars they would be smashed against one another and broken to pieces (v. 14). All of this, both “fill them with the stupor of confusion” and “make them reel under God’s wrath,” cannot be conveyed in one translation.
[13:13] 79 tn Heb “who sit on David’s throne.”
[13:13] 80 tn In Hebrew this is all one long sentence with one verb governing compound objects. It is broken up here in conformity with English style.
[13:14] 81 tn Or “children along with their parents”; Heb “fathers and children together.”
[13:14] 82 tn Heb “I will not show…so as not to destroy them.”
[19:1] 83 tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. Some Hebrew
[19:1] 84 tn Heb “an earthenware jar of the potter.”
[19:1] 85 tc The words “Take with you” follow the reading of the Syriac version and to a certain extent the reading of the Greek version (the latter does not have “with you”). The Hebrew text does not have these words but they are undoubtedly implicit.
[19:1] 86 tn Heb “elders” both here and before “of the people.”
[19:10] 87 tn The words “And the
[4:1] 88 sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13 1/2 inches wide.
[4:1] 89 tn Or perhaps “draw.”
[4:2] 91 tn Heb “set camps against it.”
[4:3] 92 tn Or “a griddle,” that is, some sort of plate for cooking.
[4:3] 93 tn That is, a symbolic object lesson.
[4:4] 94 tn Or “punishment” (also in vv. 5, 6).
[4:5] 95 tn Heb “I have assigned for you that the years of their iniquity be the number of days.” Num 14:33-34 is an example of the reverse, where the days were converted into years, the number of days spying out the land becoming the number of years of the wilderness wanderings.
[4:5] 96 tc The LXX reads “190 days.”
[4:5] 97 tn Or “When you have carried the iniquity of the house of Israel,” and continuing on to the next verse.
[4:6] 98 sn The number 40 may refer in general to the period of Judah’s exile using the number of years Israel was punished in the wilderness. In this case, however, one would need to translate, “you will bear the punishment of the house of Judah.”
[4:8] 99 sn The action surely refers to a series of daily acts rather than to a continuous period.
[4:9] 100 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
[4:9] 102 tc The LXX reads “190 days.”
[4:10] 103 sn Eight ounces (Heb “twenty shekels”). The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of grain about 230 grams here (8 ounces).
[4:10] 104 tn Heb “from time to time.”
[4:11] 105 sn A pint and a half [Heb “one-sixth of a hin”]. One-sixth of a hin was a quantity of liquid equal to about 1.3 pints or 0.6 liters.
[4:12] 106 sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.
[4:13] 107 sn Unclean food among the nations. Lands outside of Israel were considered unclean (Josh 22:19; Amos 7:17).
[4:14] 108 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
[4:16] 109 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
[4:16] 110 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[4:17] 111 tn Or “in their punishment.” Ezek 4:16-17 alludes to Lev 26:26, 39. The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here, 3:18, 19; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
[5:1] 112 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[5:1] 113 tn Heb, “pass (it) over your head and your beard.”
[5:3] 114 tn Heb “from there a few in number.” The word “strands” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:3] 115 sn Objects could be carried in the end of a garment (Hag 2:12).
[5:4] 116 tn Heb “into the midst of” (so KJV, ASV). This phrase has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[5:6] 117 sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3; Jonah 1:2.
[5:6] 118 tn Heb “she defied my laws, becoming wicked more than the nations, and [she defied] my statutes [becoming wicked] more than the countries around her.”
[5:6] 119 sn One might conclude that the subject of the plural verbs is the nations/countries, but the context (vv. 5-6a) indicates that the people of Jerusalem are in view. The text shifts from using the feminine singular (referring to personified Jerusalem) to the plural (referring to Jerusalem’s residents). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:73.
[5:7] 120 tn Traditionally this difficult form has been derived from a hypothetical root הָמוֹן (hamon), supposedly meaning “be in tumult/uproar,” but such a verb occurs nowhere else. It is more likely that it is to be derived from a root מָנוֹן (manon), meaning “disdain” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:52). A derivative from this root is used in Prov 29:21 of a rebellious servant. See HALOT 600 s.v. מָנוֹן.
[5:7] 121 sn You are more arrogant than the nations around you. Israel is accused of being worse than the nations in Ezek 16:27; 2 Kgs 21:11; Jer 2:11.
[5:7] 122 tc Some Hebrew
[5:8] 123 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8. The Hebrew text switches to a second feminine singular form here, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed (see vv. 5-6a). The address to Jerusalem continues through v. 15. In vv. 16-17 the second masculine plural is used, as the people are addressed.
[5:8] 124 tn The Hebrew text uses wordplay here to bring out the appropriate nature of God’s judgment. “Execute” translates the same Hebrew verb translated “carried out” (literally meaning “do”) in v. 7, while “judgment” in v. 8 and “regulations” in v. 7 translate the same Hebrew noun (meaning “regulations” or in some cases “judgments” executed on those who break laws). The point seems to be this: God would “carry out judgments” against those who refused to “carry out” his “laws.”
[5:8] 125 tn Heb “in the sight of the nations.”
[5:9] 126 tn Or “abominable idols.”
[5:10] 127 tn In context “you” refers to the city of Jerusalem. To make this clear for the modern reader, “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation in apposition to “you.”
[5:10] 128 tn Heb “all of your survivors.”
[5:10] 129 tn Heb “to every wind.”
[5:11] 130 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[5:12] 131 sn The judgment of plague and famine comes from the covenant curse (Lev 26:25-26). As in v. 10, the city of Jerusalem is figuratively addressed here.
[5:12] 132 sn Judgment by plague, famine, and sword occurs in Jer 21:9; 27:13; Ezek 6:11, 12; 7:15.
[5:13] 133 tn Or “calm myself.”
[5:13] 134 tn The Hebrew noun translated “jealousy” is used in the human realm to describe suspicion of adultery (Num 5:14ff.; Prov 6:34). Since Israel’s relationship with God was often compared to a marriage this term is appropriate here. The term occurs elsewhere in Ezekiel in 8:3, 5; 16:38, 42; 23:25.
[5:15] 135 tc This reading is supported by the versions and by the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QEzek). Most Masoretic Hebrew
[5:15] 136 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. A related verb means “revile, taunt” (see Ps 44:16).
[5:15] 137 tn Heb “discipline and devastation.” These words are omitted in the Old Greek. The first term pictures Jerusalem as a recipient or example of divine discipline; the second depicts her as a desolate ruin (see Ezek 6:14).
[5:15] 138 tn Heb “in anger and in fury and in rebukes of fury.” The heaping up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of God’s anger.
[5:16] 139 tn The Hebrew word carries the basic idea of “bad, displeasing, injurious,” but when used of weapons has the nuance “deadly” (see Ps 144:10).
[5:16] 140 tn Heb “which are/were to destroy.”
[5:16] 141 tn The language of this verse may have been influenced by Deut 32:23.
[5:16] 142 tn Or “which were to destroy those whom I will send to destroy you” (cf. NASB).
[5:16] 143 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support. See 4:16, as well as the covenant curse in Lev 26:26.
[5:17] 144 tn Heb “will bereave you.”
[5:17] 145 tn Heb “will pass through you.” This threat recalls the warning of Lev 26:22, 25 and Deut 32:24-25.
[15:2] 146 tn Most modern translations take the statement as a comparison (“how is vine wood better than any forest wood?”) based on the preposition מִן (min). But a comparison should have a word as an adjective or stative verb designating a quality, i.e., a word for “good/better” is lacking. The preposition is translated above in its partitive sense.
[15:4] 147 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws one’s attention to something. Sometimes it may be translated as a verb of perception; here it is treated as a particle that fits the context (so also in v. 5, but with a different English word).
[15:6] 148 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:6] 149 tn The words “as fuel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[15:7] 150 tn The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.
[15:7] 151 sn This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597
[15:8] 152 tn The word translated “make” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in v. 6.
