10:24 So 1 here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. 2
17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, 3
when he shouts at 4 them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles 5 before a strong gale.
1 tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.
2 tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”
3 tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
4 tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.
5 tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”