6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!
He himself has torn us to pieces,
but he will heal us!
He has injured 1 us,
but he will bandage our wounds!
10:11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain;
I myself put a fine yoke 2 on her neck.
I will harness Ephraim.
Let Judah plow! 3
Let Jacob break up 4 the unplowed ground for himself!
1 tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”
2 tc The MT is unintelligible: עַל־טוּב (’al-tuv, “upon a fine [thing]”?). Cf. KJV “I passed over upon her fair neck”; NRSV “I spared her fair neck.” The BHS editors suggest the revocalization עֹל־טוּב (’ol-tuv, “a fine yoke”), followed by many modern English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The noun עֹל (’ol, “yoke”) also appears in 11:4 in a metaphor which compares Israel to a young heifer as well.
3 tn Or “Judah will plow” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV, CEV “Judah must plow.”
4 tn Or “Jacob will break up.”