19:29 7 This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: 8 This year you will eat what grows wild, 9 and next year 10 what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 11
1 tn Heb “a vine of the field.”
2 tn Heb “[some] of the gourds of the field.”
3 tn Heb “he came and cut [them up].”
4 tc The Hebrew text reads, “for they did not know” (יָדָעוּ, yada’u) but some emend the final shureq (וּ, indicating a third plural subject) to holem vav (וֹ, a third masculine singular pronominal suffix on a third singular verb) and read “for he did not know it.” Perhaps it is best to omit the final vav as dittographic (note the vav at the beginning of the next verb form) and read simply, “for he did not know.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59.
5 tn Heb “the animal of the field.”
6 sn Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
7 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 21-28) ends and the Lord again directly addresses Hezekiah and the people (see v. 20).
8 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot), “sign,” is a future confirmation of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
9 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
10 tn Heb “and in the second year.”
11 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 29b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity. See IBHS 572 §34.4.c.