² tn Or “of the plain”; Heb “of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

² sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.

¹ tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”

¹ tn Heb “the father of Ge Harashim, for they were craftsmen.” The name “Ge Harashim” means “valley of craftsmen.”

² sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan, the Valley of Succoth for the region east of the Jordan.

¹ sn The mountainous terrain of Israel would contrast with the exiles’ habitat in the river valley of Babylonia.

² sn The mountains will disintegrate…the valleys will be split in two. This imagery pictures an earthquake and accompanying landslide.

¹ sn There is a play on words here. Jehoshaphat in Hebrew means “the Lord has judged,” and the next line in v. Elah+Valley&tab=notes" ver="">2 further explicates this thought. The location of this valley is uncertain (cf. v. Elah+Valley&tab=notes" ver="">12). Many interpreters have understood the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be the Kidron Valley, located on the east side of old Jerusalem. Since this is described as a scene of future messianic activity and judgment, many Jews and Muslims have desired to be buried in the vicinity, a fact attested to in modern times by the presence of many graves in the area. A variation of this view is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomasticon 1:10. According to this view, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is located in the Hinnom Valley, on the south side of the old city. Yet another view is held by many modern scholars, who understand the reference to this valley to be one of an idealized and nonliteral scene of judgment.

¹ sn The following message pertains to Jerusalem. The significance of referring to the city as the Valley of Vision is uncertain. Perhaps the Hinnom Valley is in view, but why it is associated with a prophetic revelatory “vision” is not entirely clear. Maybe the Hinnom Valley is called this because the destruction that will take place there is the focal point of this prophetic message (see v. Elah+Valley&tab=notes" ver="">5).

¹ tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

¹ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

¹ sn Wadi Zered. Now known as Wadi el-H£esa, this valley marked the boundary between Moab to the north and Edom to the south.

¹ tn Heb “all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassehites, from Aroer which is near the Arnon Valley, and Gilead, and Bashan.”

¹ tn Heb “and they arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem, and all the incense altars they removed and threw into the Kidron Valley.”

² tn The adjectives followed by a partitive genitive take on the emphasis of a superlative: “in the most horrible of valleys” (see GKC 431 §133.h).

¹ tn The translation assumes that the Hebrew phrase עֵמֶק הַבָּכָא (’emeq habbakha’) is the name of an otherwise unknown arid valley through which pilgrims to Jerusalem passed. The term בָּכָא (bakha’) may be the name of a particular type of plant or shrub that grew in this valley. O. Borowski (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 130) suggests it is the black mulberry. Some take the phrase as purely metaphorical and relate בָּכָא to the root בָּכָה (bakhah, “to weep”). In this case one might translate, “the valley of weeping” or “the valley of affliction.”

² sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan River; the valley of Succoth represents the region east of the Jordan.

² sn The Valley of Achor (“Achor” means “trouble” in Hebrew) was the site of Achan’s execution. It was located to the east, near Jericho.

¹ tn Or “valley.” The syntax is difficult. Some translate “to the river,” others “from the river”; in either case the preposition is supplied for the sake of English.

¹ tc The translation reads וְגֵי (vÿgey, “and the valley”) rather than the MT reading גֵּי (gey, “the valley”). The original vav (ו) probably dropped out accidentally due to haplography with the final vav on the immediately preceding word.