9:1 O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly 1 like the nations,
for you are unfaithful 2 to your God.
You love to receive a prostitute's wages 3
on all the floors where you thresh your grain.
10:11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain;
I myself put a fine yoke 4 on her neck.
I will harness Ephraim.
Let Judah plow! 5
Let Jacob break up 6 the unplowed ground for himself!
1 tn Heb “do not rejoice unto jubilation”; KJV “Rejoice not…for joy”; NASB “Do not rejoice…with exultation.”
2 tn Heb “you have committed adultery”; NRSV “you have played the whore.”
3 tn Heb “you love the wages of the prostitute” (NIV similar); NAB “loving a harlot’s hire.”
4 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.
5 tn Or “Judah will plow” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV, CEV “Judah must plow.”
6 tn Or “Jacob will break up.”