1:10 Don’t spread the news in Gath! 1
Don’t shed even a single tear! 2
In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust! 3
1 tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).
2 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.
3 tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bÿvet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”
tn Heb “roll about in mourning in the dust”; or “wallow about in mourning in the dust.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about in mourning [in dust]”; HALOT 935 s.v. פלשׁ) is figurative (metonymy) for sitting as an outward sign of mourning.
sn To sit in the dust was an outward sign of mourning. The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”