10:12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,
reap unfailing love.
Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves,
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until he comes and showers deliverance 1 on you.
10:13 But you have plowed wickedness;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your chariots; 2
you have relied 3 on your many warriors.
10:14 The roar of battle will rise against your people;
all your fortresses will be devastated,
just as Shalman devastated 4 Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
10:15 So will it happen to you, O Bethel, 5
because of your great wickedness!
When that day dawns, 6
the king of Israel will be destroyed. 7
1 tn Or “righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “justice.”
2 tc The MT (followed by KJV, NASB) reads the enigmatic בְּדַרְכְּךָ (bÿdarkÿkha, “in your own way”) which does not seem to fit the context or the parallelism with בְּרֹב גִּבּוֹרֶיךָ (bÿrov gibborekha, “in your multitude of warriors”). The BHS editors suggest the original reading was בְרִכְבְּךָ (vÿrikhbÿkha, “in your chariots”), a reading followed by NAB, TEV. If this is correct, the textual corruption was caused by orthographic confusion between רֶכֶב (rekhev, “chariot”) and דֶּרֶכ (derekh, “way”).
3 tn The phrase “you have relied” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism in the preceding line.
4 tn Heb “as the devastation of Shalman.” The genitive noun שַׁלְמַן (shalman, “Shalman”) functions as a subjective genitive: “as Shalman devastated [Beth Arbel].”
5 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
6 tn Heb “when the dawn is cut off” or “when the day ceases.” Cf. NLT “When the day of judgment dawns.”
7 tn The root דָמָה (damah, “to be cut off, cease to exist, be destroyed”; BDB 198 s.v. דָמָה; HALOT 225 s.v. דמה) is repeated in the Hebrew text. The form נִדְמֹה (nidmoh, Niphal infinitive absolute) appears in the first colon, and the form נִדְמָה (nidmah, Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular) appears in the second colon. This striking repetition creates a dramatic wordplay which, for stylistic reasons, cannot be reproduced in English translations: “The moment the dawn ceases to exist (i.e., at the break of dawn), the king of Israel will cease to exist.”