Isaiah 30:3

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Isaiah 30:6-7

30:6 This is a message ¹  about the animals in the Negev:

Through a land of distress and danger,

inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ² 

by snakes and darting adders, ³ 

they transport ⁴  their wealth on the backs of donkeys,

their riches on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot help them. ⁵ 

30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ⁶ 

For this reason I call her

‘Proud one ⁷  who is silenced.’” ⁸ 

Isaiah 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ⁹  to your king, ¹⁰ 

along with many perfumes. ¹¹ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ¹² 

Hosea 8:9-10

The Willful Donkey and the Wanton Harlot

8:9 They have gone up to Assyria,

like a wild donkey that wanders off.

Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers. ¹³ 

8:10 Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, ¹⁴ 

I will soon gather them together for judgment. ¹⁵ 

Then ¹⁶  they will begin to waste away

under the oppression of a mighty king. ¹⁷ 

[30:6]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”

[30:6]  ² tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.

[30:6]  ³ tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.

[30:6]  ⁴ tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:6]  ⁵ sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.

[30:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”

[30:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).

[30:7]  ⁸ tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.

[57:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹² sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[8:9]  ¹³ tn Or “has hired herself out to lovers”; cf. NIV “has sold herself to lovers.”

[8:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “they have hired themselves out to lovers”; cf. NASB “they hire allies among the nations.”

[8:10]  ¹⁵ tn The Piel stem of קָבַץ (qavats) is often used in a positive sense, meaning “to regather” a dispersed people (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ 3.a; BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ 1.α). However, in Hosea 8:10 it is used in a negative sense, meaning “to assemble (people) for judgment” (e.g., Ezek 20:34; Hos 9:6; HALOT 1063 s.v. 3.e.i). Cf. JPS “I will hold them fast” (in judgment, see the parallel in 9:6).

[8:10]  ¹⁶ tn The vav consecutive + preterite וַיָּחֵלּוּ (vayyakhellu, Hiphil preterite 3rd person common plural from חָלַל, khalal, “to begin”]) denotes temporal subordination to the preceding clause: “then…” (so NLT); cf. TEV, CEV “Soon.”

[8:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a king of princes” (cf. KJV, NASB); TEV “the emperor of Assyria.”