1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s 1 city wall; 2
fire 3 will consume her fortresses.
War cries will be heard on the day of battle; 4
a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. 5
2:2 So I will set Moab on fire, 6
and it will consume Kerioth’s 7 fortresses.
Moab will perish 8 in the heat of battle 9
amid war cries and the blaring 10 of the ram’s horn. 11
5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!
Otherwise he will break out 12 like fire against Joseph’s 13 family; 14
the fire 15 will consume
and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. 16
1 sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.
2 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
3 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”
5 tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”
sn A windstorm is a metaphor for judgment and destruction in the OT (see Isa 29:6; Jer 23:19) and ancient Near Eastern literature.
6 sn The destruction of Moab by fire is an example of a judgment in kind – as the Moabites committed the crime of “burning,” so the
7 sn Kerioth was an important Moabite city. See Jer 48:24, 41.
8 tn Or “die” (KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV); NAB “shall meet death.”
9 tn Or “in the tumult.” This word refers to the harsh confusion of sounds that characterized an ancient battle – a mixture of war cries, shouts, shrieks of pain, clashes of weapons, etc.
10 tn Heb “sound” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
11 sn The ram’s horn (used as a trumpet) was blown to signal the approaching battle.
12 tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.
13 sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.
14 tn Heb “house.”
15 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”