4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan 1 who live on Mount Samaria!
You 2 oppress the poor;
you crush the needy.
You say to your 3 husbands,
“Bring us more to drink!” 4
6:1 Woe 5 to those who live in ease in Zion, 6
to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
They think of themselves as 7 the elite class of the best nation.
The family 8 of Israel looks to them for leadership. 9
1 sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.
2 tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).
3 tn Heb “their.”
4 sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).
5 tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.
6 sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.
7 tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.
8 tn Heb “house.”
9 tn Heb “comes to them.”