10:30 Shout out, daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah!
Answer her, Anathoth! 1
23:16 “Take the harp,
go through the city,
forgotten prostitute!
Play it well,
play lots of songs,
so you’ll be noticed!” 2
28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,
fairness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, 3
the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
29:9 You will be shocked and amazed! 4
You are totally blind! 5
They are drunk, 6 but not because of wine;
they stagger, 7 but not because of beer.
46:1 Bel 10 kneels down,
Nebo 11 bends low.
Their images weigh down animals and beasts. 12
Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. 13
46:9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! 14
Truly I am God, I have no peer; 15
I am God, and there is none like me,
51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law! 16
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!
54:15 If anyone dares to 17 challenge you, it will not be my doing!
Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. 18
1 tc The Hebrew text reads “Poor [is] Anathoth.” The parallelism is tighter if עֲנִיָּה (’aniyyah,“poor”) is emended to עֲנִיהָ (’aniha, “answer her”). Note how the preceding two lines have an imperative followed by a proper name.
2 tn Heb “so you will be remembered.”
3 tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.
4 tn The form הִתְמַהְמְהוּ (hitmahmÿhu) is a Hitpalpel imperative from מָהַהּ (mahah, “hesitate”). If it is retained, one might translate “halt and be amazed.” The translation assumes an emendation to הִתַּמְּהוּ (hittammÿhu), a Hitpael imperative from תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). In this case, the text, like Hab 1:5, combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of תָּמַה (tamah). A literal translation might be “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sound draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572 §34.4c.
5 tn Heb “Blind yourselves and be blind!” The Hitpalpel and Qal imperatival forms of שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blind”) are combined to draw attention to the statement. The imperatives have the force of an emphatic assertion.
6 tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.
7 tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.
8 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
9 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
10 sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.
11 sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.
12 tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”
13 tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”
14 tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”
15 tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
16 tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”
17 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.
18 tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”