1:8 I will remove 1 the ruler 2 from Ashdod, 3
the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. 4
I will strike Ekron 5 with my hand; 6
the rest of the Philistines will also die.” 7
The sovereign Lord has spoken!
5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, 8
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped 9 into a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, 10
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
1 tn Heb “cut off.”
2 tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).
3 sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
4 sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
5 sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).
6 tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.
7 tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”
8 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
9 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
10 tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”