5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, 1
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped 2 into a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?
Can one plow the sea with oxen? 3
Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,
and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. 4
1 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
3 tc Heb “Does one plow with oxen?” This obviously does not fit the parallelism, for the preceding rhetorical question requires the answer, “Of course not!” An error of fusion has occurred in the Hebrew, with the word יָם (yam, “sea”) being accidentally added as a plural ending to the collective noun בָּקָר (baqar, “oxen”). A proper division of the consonants produces the above translation, which fits the parallelism and also anticipates the answer, “Of course not!”
4 sn The botanical imagery, when juxtaposed with the preceding rhetorical questions, vividly depicts and emphasizes how the Israelites have perverted justice and violated the created order by their morally irrational behavior.