Discovery BoxMicah 3:9-10
Context3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family 1 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 2 of Israel!
You 3 hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
3:10 You 4 build Zion through bloody crimes, 5
Jerusalem 6 through unjust violence.
Isaiah 1:10
Context1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,
you leaders of Sodom! 7
Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, 8
people of Gomorrah!
Jeremiah 13:15-18
Context13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, 9
“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!
For the Lord has spoken.
13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. 10
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. 11
Do it before you stumble 12 into distress
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. 13
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile. 14
13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, 15
I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.
I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears 16
because you, the Lord’s flock, 17 will be carried 18 into exile.”
“Tell the king and the queen mother,
‘Surrender your thrones, 20
for your glorious crowns
will be removed 21 from your heads. 22
Jeremiah 22:2-3
Context22:2 Say: ‘Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David’s succession. 23 You, your officials, and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the Lord says. 24 22:3 The Lord says, “Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those 25 who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. 26 Do not kill innocent people 27 in this land.
Hosea 5:1
Context5:1 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites! 28
For judgment is about to overtake you! 31
For you were like a trap 32 to Mizpah, 33
like a net 34 spread out to catch Tabor. 35
Amos 4:1
Context4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan 36 who live on Mount Samaria!
You 37 oppress the poor;
you crush the needy.
You say to your 38 husbands,
“Bring us more to drink!” 39
[3:9] 3 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).
[3:10] 5 tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”
[3:10] 6 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:10] 7 sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.
[1:10] 8 tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.
[13:15] 9 tn The words “Then I said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit from the address in v. 15 and the content of v. 17. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift from the
[13:16] 10 tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the
[13:16] 11 tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.
[13:16] 12 tn Heb “your feet stumble.”
[13:16] 13 tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.
[13:16] 14 tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.
[13:17] 15 tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.
[13:17] 16 tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”
[13:17] 17 tn Heb “because the
[13:17] 18 tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).
[13:18] 19 tn The words “The
[13:18] 20 tn Or “You will come down from your thrones”; Heb “Make low! Sit!” This is a case of a construction where two forms in the same case, mood, or tense are joined in such a way that one (usually the first) is intended as an adverbial or adjectival modifier of the other (a figure called hendiadys). This is also probably a case where the imperative is used to express a distinct assurance or promise. See GKC 324 §110.b and compare the usage in Isa 37:30 and Ps 110:2.
[13:18] 21 tn Heb “have come down.” The verb here and those in the following verses are further examples of the “as good as done” form of the Hebrew verb (the prophetic perfect).
[13:18] 22 tc The translation follows the common emendation of a word normally meaning “place at the head” (מַרְאֲשׁוֹת [mar’ashot] plus pronoun = מַרְאֲוֹשׁתֵיכֶם [mar’aoshtekhem]) to “from your heads” (מֵרָאשֵׁיכֶם, mera’shekhem) following the ancient versions. The meaning “tiara” is nowhere else attested for this word.
[22:2] 23 tn Heb “who sits on David’s throne.”
[22:2] 24 tn Heb “Hear the word of the
[22:3] 25 tn Heb “from the hand [or power] of.”
[22:3] 26 tn Heb “aliens, orphans, or widows” treating the terms as generic or collective. However, the term “alien” carries faulty connotations and the term “orphan” is not totally appropriate because the Hebrew term does not necessarily mean that both parents have died.
[22:3] 27 tn Heb “Do not shed innocent blood.”
[5:1] 28 tn Heb “O house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “all of Israel’s leaders.”
[5:1] 29 tn Heb “Use the ear”; ASV “give ear.”
[5:1] 30 tn Heb “O house of the king” (so KJV); NIV “O royal house.”
[5:1] 31 tn Heb “for the judgment is to you”; or “For this accusation is against you.” Cf. NIV “This judgment is against you.”
[5:1] 32 sn The noun פַּח (pakh, “trap”) is used (1) literally of a bird-trap, used in similes and metaphors (Amos 3:5; Prov 7:23; Eccl 9:12), and (2) figuratively to refer to (a) calamities and plots (Job 18:9; 22:10; Pss 91:3; 119:110; 124:7; 140:6; 141:9; 142:4; Prov 22:5; Isa 24:17-18; Jer 18:22; 48:43-44; Hos 9:8) and (b) a source of calamity (Josh 23:13; Pss 11:6; 69:23; Isa 8:14; Hos 5:1; BDB 809 s.v. פַּח).
[5:1] 33 tn Heb “you were a trap to Mizpah.”
[5:1] 34 sn The noun רֶשֶׁת (reshet, “net”) is used (1) literally of a net used to catch birds (Prov 1:17) and (2) in figurative descriptions of the wicked plotting to ensnare their victims (Prov 29:5; Pss 9:16; 10:9; 25:15; 31:5; 35:7; 57:7; 140:6; Job 18:8; BDB 440 s.v. רֶשֶׁת).
[5:1] 35 tn Heb “and a net spread out over Tabor.”
[4:1] 36 sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.
[4:1] 37 tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).
[4:1] 39 sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).
