7:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw 1 him making locusts just as the crops planted late 2 were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. 3 )
9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” 4 says the Lord.
“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor 5 and the Arameans from Kir. 6
1 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
2 sn The crops planted late (consisting of vegetables) were planted in late January-early March and sprouted in conjunction with the spring rains of March-April. For a discussion of the ancient Israelite agricultural calendar, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 31-44.
3 tn Or “the mowings of the king.”
sn This royal harvest may refer to an initial mowing of crops collected as taxes by the royal authorities.
4 tn The Hebrew text has a rhetorical question, “Are you children of Israel not like the Cushites to me?” The rhetorical question has been converted to an affirmative statement in the translation for clarity. See the comment at 8:8.
sn Though Israel was God’s special covenant people (see 3:2a), the Lord emphasizes they are not inherently superior to the other nations subject to his sovereign rule.
5 sn Caphtor may refer to the island of Crete.
6 tn The second half of v. 7 is also phrased as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text, “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?” The translation converts the rhetorical question into an affirmation for clarity.