Discovery Box| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 1:7) |
7 sn Once choice leafy vegetation is no longer available to them, locusts have been known to consume the bark of small tree limbs, leaving them in an exposed and vulnerable condition. It is apparently this whitened condition of limbs that Joel is referring to here. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 1:8) |
4 sn Heb “the husband of her youth.” The woman described here may already be married, so the reference is to the death of a husband rather than a fiancé (a husband-to-be). Either way, the simile describes a painful and unexpected loss to which the national tragedy Joel is describing may be compared. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 1:13) |
1 tn Heb “put on.” There is no object present in the Hebrew text, but many translations assume “sackcloth” to be the understood object of the verb “put on.” Its absence in the Hebrew text of v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">13 is probably due to metrical considerations. The meter here is 3 + 3, and that has probably influenced the prophet’s choice of words. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 1:17) |
2 tn These two lines of v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">17 comprise only four words in the Hebrew; three of the four are found only here in the OT. The translation and meaning are rather uncertain. A number of English versions render the word translated “shovels” as “clods,” referring to lumps of soil (e.g., KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 1:19) |
2 sn Fire here and in v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">20 is probably not to be understood in a literal sense. The locust plague, accompanied by conditions of extreme drought, has left the countryside looking as though everything has been burned up (so also in Joel 2:3). |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 1:20) |
2 tn Heb “long for you.” Animals of course do not have religious sensibilities as such; they do not in any literal sense long for Yahweh. Rather, the language here is figurative (metonymy of cause for effect). The animals long for food and water (so BDB 788 s.v. עָרַג), the ultimate source of which is Yahweh. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 2:1) |
1 tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 2:31) |
1 tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 3:11) |
3 tc Some commentators prefer to delete the line “Bring down, O |
| (0.1238571875) | (Joe 3:18) |
3 sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause). |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 3:8) |
1 sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">1:2; cf. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">3:4, 12). Verses Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 3:9) |
2 sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 4:4) |
2 tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">2:4 [with note]; Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">3:14). |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 5:7) |
2 tn There is an interesting wordplay here with the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn, turn”). Israel “turns” justice into wormwood (cf. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">6:12), while the Lord “turns” darkness into morning (v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">8; cf. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">4:11; 8:10). Israel’s turning is for evil, whereas the Lord’s is to demonstrate his absolute power and sovereignty. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 5:18) |
1 tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 6:13) |
1 sn Lo-Debar was located across the Jordan River in Gilead, which the Israelite army had conquered. However, there is stinging irony here, for in Hebrew the name Lo-Debar means “nothing.” In reality Israel was happy over nothing of lasting consequence. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 7:16) |
1 tn The verb, which literally means “to drip,” appears to be a synonym of “to prophesy,” but it might carry a derogatory tone here, perhaps alluding to the impassioned, frenzied way in which prophets sometimes delivered their messages. If so, one could translate, “to drivel; to foam at the mouth” (see HALOT 694 s.v. נטף). |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 8:2) |
1 tn There is a wordplay here. The Hebrew word קֵץ (qets, “end”) sounds like קָיִץ (qayits, “summer fruit”). The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Amo 9:13) |
6 sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives. |
| (0.1238571875) | (Oba 1:6) |
2 tn Heb “How Esau will be searched!”; NAB “How they search Esau.” The Hebrew verb חָפַשׂ (khafas, “to search out”) is used metonymically here for plundering the hidden valuables of a conquered people (e.g., 1 Kgs 20:6). |
