Jeremiah 2:20

The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

2:20 “Indeed, ¹  long ago you threw off my authority

and refused to be subject to me. ² 

You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ ³ 

Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill

and under every green tree,

like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 2:23

2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to ⁵  the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! ⁶ 

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 22:21

22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing ⁸  in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge ⁹  evil from among you.

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ¹⁰ 

Ezekiel 16:26

16:26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your sexually aroused neighbors, ¹¹  multiplying your promiscuity and provoking me to anger.

Ezekiel 16:28-29

16:28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians because your sexual desires were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them and yet you were still not satisfied. 16:29 Then you multiplied your promiscuity to the land of merchants, Babylonia, ¹²  but you were not satisfied there either.

Ezekiel 23:4-49

23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah ¹³  the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. ¹⁴  Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. ¹⁵  She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians ¹⁶  – warriors ¹⁷  23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired ¹⁸  – with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. ¹⁹  23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ²⁰  for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious ²¹  among women, and they executed judgments against her.

23:11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, ²²  but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister. 23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians – governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 23:13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, ²³  23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ²⁴  whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, ²⁵  she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ²⁶  23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. ²⁷  They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she ²⁸  became disgusted with them. 23:18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, ²⁹  I ³⁰  was disgusted with her, just as I ³¹  had been disgusted with her sister. 23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 23:20 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, ³²  and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions. 23:21 This is how you assessed ³³  the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled ³⁴  your nipples and squeezed ³⁵  your young breasts.

23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ³⁶  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ³⁷  Shoa, ³⁸  and Koa, ³⁹  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will attack ⁴⁰  you with weapons, ⁴¹  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ⁴²  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ⁴³  they will punish you according to their laws. 23:25 I will direct ⁴⁴  my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, ⁴⁵  and your survivors will die ⁴⁶  by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire. 23:26 They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry. 23:27 So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷  You will not seek their help ⁴⁸  or remember Egypt anymore.

23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ⁴⁹  I am about to deliver you over to ⁵⁰  those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted. 23:29 They will treat you with hatred, take away all you have labored for, ⁵¹  and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct. ⁵²  23:30 I will do these things to you ⁵³  because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols. 23:31 You have followed the ways of your sister, so I will place her cup of judgment ⁵⁴  in your hand. 23:32 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: “You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup; ⁵⁵  you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal. 23:33 You will be overcome by ⁵⁶  drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation. 23:34 You will drain it dry, ⁵⁷  gnaw its pieces, ⁵⁸  and tear out your breasts, ⁵⁹  for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.

23:35 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, ⁶⁰  you must bear now the punishment ⁶¹  for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”

23:36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment ⁶²  on Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds! 23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, ⁶³  they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. ⁶⁴  23:38 Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day ⁶⁵  they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths. 23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.

23:40 “They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, those men set out. ⁶⁶  For them you bathed, ⁶⁷  painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry. 23:41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my olive oil. 23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, ⁶⁸  including all kinds of men; ⁶⁹  even Sabeans ⁷⁰  were brought from the desert. The sisters ⁷¹  put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. 23:43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her.’ 23:44 They had sex with her ⁷²  as one does with a prostitute. In this way they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, promiscuous women. 23:45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed, ⁷³  because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

23:46 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army ⁷⁴  against them and subject them ⁷⁵  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. ⁷⁶  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. ⁷⁷  Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.”

Hosea 1:2

Symbols of Sin and Judgment: The Prostitute and Her Children

1:2 When the Lord first spoke ⁷⁸  through ⁷⁹  Hosea, he ⁸⁰  said to him, ⁸¹  “Go marry ⁸²  a prostitute ⁸³  who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, ⁸⁴  because the nation ⁸⁵  continually commits spiritual prostitution ⁸⁶  by turning away from ⁸⁷  the Lord.”

Hosea 2:5-7

2:5 For their mother has committed adultery;

she who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For she said, “I will seek out ⁸⁸  my lovers; ⁸⁹ 

they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,

my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine. ⁹⁰ 

The Lord’s Discipline Will Bring Israel Back

2:6 Therefore, I will soon ⁹¹  fence her in ⁹²  with thorns;

I will wall her in ⁹³  so that ⁹⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁹⁵ 

2:7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch ⁹⁶  them;

she will seek them, but she will not find them. ⁹⁷ 

Then she will say,

“I will go back ⁹⁸  to my husband, ⁹⁹ 

because I was better off then than I am now.” ¹⁰⁰ 

[2:20]  ¹ tn Or “For.” The Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) here introduces the evidence that they had no respect for him.

[2:20]  ² tn Heb “you broke your yoke…tore off your yoke ropes.” The metaphor is that of a recalcitrant ox or heifer which has broken free from its master.

[2:20]  ³ tc The MT of this verse has two examples of the old second feminine singular perfect, שָׁבַרְתִּי (shavarti) and נִתַּקְתִּי (nittaqti), which the Masoretes mistook for first singulars leading to the proposal to read אֶעֱבוֹר (’e’evor, “I will not transgress”) for אֶעֱבֹד (’e’evod, “I will not serve”). The latter understanding of the forms is accepted in KJV but rejected by almost all modern English versions as being less appropriate to the context than the reading accepted in the translation given here.

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “you sprawled as a prostitute on….” The translation reflects the meaning of the metaphor.

[2:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.

[2:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.

[2:23]  ⁷ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the Lord’s control.

[22:21]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

[22:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[16:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your neighbors, large of flesh.” The word “flesh” is used here of the genitals. It may simply refer to the size of their genitals in general, or, as the translation suggests, depicts them as sexually aroused.

[16:29]  ¹² tn Heb “Chaldea.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon (“Chaldeans”) and the territory from which they originated (“Chaldea”) is used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon.

[23:4]  ¹³ tn The names Oholah and Oholibah are both derived from the word meaning “tent.” The meaning of Oholah is “her tent,” while Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”

[23:4]  ¹⁴ sn In this allegory the Lord is depicted as being the husband of two wives. The OT law prohibited a man from marrying sisters (Lev 18:18), but the practice is attested in the OT (cf. Jacob). The metaphor is utilized here for illustrative purposes and does not mean that the Lord condoned such a practice or bigamy in general.

[23:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “while she was under me.” The expression indicates that Oholah is viewed as the Lord’s wife. See Num 5:19-20, 29.

[23:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Assyria.”

[23:5]  ¹⁷ tn The term apparently refers to Assyrian military officers; it is better construed with the description that follows. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:738.

[23:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lusted after.”

[23:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”

[23:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[23:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “name.”

[23:11]  ²² tn The word “this” is not in the original text.

[23:14]  ²³ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.

[23:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”

[23:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”

[23:16]  ²⁶ sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).

[23:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “The sons of Babel came to her on a bed of love.”

[23:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “her soul.”

[23:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “She exposed her harlotry and she exposed her nakedness.”

[23:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:20]  ³² tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?) whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is extremely problematic here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” but this still fails to explain how the pronoun relates to the noun. It is more likely that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of their genitals.

[23:21]  ³³ tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.

[23:21]  ³⁴ tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:21]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:22]  ³⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:23]  ³⁷ sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.

[23:23]  ³⁸ sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

[23:23]  ³⁹ sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

[23:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “come against.”

[23:24]  ⁴¹ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

[23:24]  ⁴² tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[23:24]  ⁴³ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

[23:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “give.”

[23:25]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “they will remove.”

[23:25]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “fall.”

[23:27]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “I will cause your obscene conduct to cease from you and your harlotry from the land of Egypt.”

[23:27]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “lift your eyes to them.”

[23:28]  ⁴⁹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:28]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “I am giving you into the hand of.”

[23:29]  ⁵¹ tn The Hebrew term means “labor,” but by extension it can also refer to that for which one works.

[23:29]  ⁵² tn Heb “The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, and your obscene conduct and your harlotry.”

[23:30]  ⁵³ tn The infinitive absolute continues the sequence begun in v. 28: “Look here, I am about to deliver you.” See Joüon 2:430 §123.w.

[23:31]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “her cup.” A cup of intoxicating strong drink is used, here and elsewhere, as a metaphor for judgment because both leave one confused and reeling. (See Jer 25:15, 17, 28; Hab 2:16.) The cup of wrath is a theme also found in the NT (Mark 14:36).

[23:32]  ⁵⁵ sn The image of a deep and wide cup suggests the degree of punishment; it will be extensive and leave the victim helpless.

[23:33]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “filled with.”

[23:34]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “You will drink it and drain (it).”

[23:34]  ⁵⁸ tn D. I. Block compares this to the idiom of “licking the plate” (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:754, n. 137). The text is difficult as the word translated “gnaw” is rare. The noun is used of the shattered pieces of pottery and so could envision a broken cup. But the Piel verb form is used in only one other place (Num 24:8), where it is a denominative from the noun “bone” and seems to mean to “break (bones).” Why it would be collocated with “sherds” is not clear. For this reason some emend the phrase to read “consume its dregs” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:44) or emend the verb to read “swallow,” as if the intoxicated Oholibah breaks the cup and then eats the very sherds in an effort to get every last drop of the beverage that dampens them.

[23:34]  ⁵⁹ sn The severe action is more extreme than beating the breasts in anguish (Isa 32:12; Nah 2:7). It is also ironic for these are the very breasts she so blatantly offered to her lovers (vv. 3, 21).

[23:35]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and you cast me behind your back.” The expression pictures her rejection of the Lord (see 1 Kgs 14:9).

[23:35]  ⁶¹ tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text but is demanded by the context.

[23:36]  ⁶² tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment. See 20:4; 22:2.

[23:37]  ⁶³ sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.

[23:37]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.

[23:38]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “in that day.”

[23:40]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “to whom a messenger was sent, and look, they came.” Foreign alliances are in view here.

[23:40]  ⁶⁷ tn The Hebrew verb form is feminine singular, indicating that Oholibah (Judah) is specifically addressed here. This address continues through verse 42a (note “her”), but then both sisters are described in verse 42b, where the feminine pronouns are again plural.

[23:42]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “(was) in her.”

[23:42]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and men from the multitude of mankind.”

[23:42]  ⁷⁰ tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.

[23:42]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “they”; the referents (the sisters) have been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[23:44]  ⁷² tn Heb “and they came to her.”

[23:45]  ⁷³ tn Heb “and upright men will judge them (with) the judgment of adulteresses and the judgment of those who shed blood.”

[23:46]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “assembly.”

[23:46]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “give them to.”

[23:47]  ⁷⁶ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[23:49]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “and the sins of your idols you will bear.” By extension it can mean the punishment for the sins.

[1:2]  ⁷⁸ 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 Lord) began to speak” (cf. ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, and most other modern English versions, all of which are similar). This time-determinative was not correctly understood by the LXX or by the KJV: “The beginning of the word of the Lord.”

[1:2]  ⁷⁹ 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]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “the Lord.” This is redundant in English, so the pronoun has been used in the translation (cf. TEV, NLT).

[1:2]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “to Hosea.” The proper name is replaced by the pronoun here to avoid redundancy in English (cf. NIV, NCV, NLT).

[1:2]  ⁸² tn Heb “Go, take for yourself” (so NRSV; NASB, NIV “to yourself”). In conjunction with the following phrase this means “marry.”

[1:2]  ⁸³ 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]  ⁸⁴ 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]  ⁸⁵ 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]  ⁸⁶ 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).

[1:2]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “from after.”

[2:5]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “I will go after” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:5]  ⁸⁹ sn This statement alludes to the practice of sexual rites in the Canaanite fertility cult which attempted to secure agricultural fertility from the Canaanite gods (note the following reference to wool, flax, olive oil, and wine).

[2:5]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “my drinks.” Many English versions use the singular “drink” here, but cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “wine.”

[2:6]  ⁹¹ tn The deictic particle הִנְנִי (hinni, “Behold!”) introduces a future-time reference participle that refers to imminent future action: “I am about to” (TEV “I am going to”).

[2:6]  ⁹² tn Heb “I will hedge up her way”; NIV “block her path.”

[2:6]  ⁹³ tn Heb “I will wall in her wall.” The cognate accusative construction וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת־גְּדֵרָהּ (vÿgadarti ’et-gÿderah, “I will wall in her wall”) is an emphatic literary device. The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun functions as a dative of disadvantage: “as a wall against her” (A. B. Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, 3, remark 2). The expression means “I will build a wall to bar her way.” Cf. KJV “I will make a wall”; TEV “I will build a wall”; RSV, NASB, NRSV “I will build a wall against her”; NLT “I will fence her in.”

[2:6]  ⁹⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (object followed by negated verb) introduces a clause which can be understood as either purpose or result.

[2:6]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “her paths” (so NAB, NRSV).

[2:7]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “overtake” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “be able to catch up with.”

[2:7]  ⁹⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the accusative direct object pronoun אֹתָם (’otam, “them”) is omitted/elided for balanced poetic parallelism. The LXX supplies αὐτους (autous, “them”); but it is not necessary to emend the MT because this is a poetic literary convention rather than a textual problem.

[2:7]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “I will go and return” (so NRSV). The two verbs joined with vav form a verbal hendiadys. Normally, the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h). The Hebrew phrase אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה (’elkhah vÿ’ashuvah, “I will go and I will return”) connotes, “I will return again.” As cohortatives, both verbs emphasize the resolution of the speaker.

[2:7]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “to my man, the first.” Many English translations (e.g., KJV, NAB, NRSV, TEV) take this as “my first husband,” although this implies that there was more than one husband involved. The text refers to multiple lovers, but these were not necessarily husbands.

[2:7]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “because it was better for me then than now” (cf. NCV).