28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, 1
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, 2
situated 3 at the head of a rich valley,
the crown of those overcome with wine. 4
28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
will be like an early fig before harvest –
as soon as someone notices it,
he grabs it and swallows it. 5
5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire 6 devours straw,
and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,
so their root will rot,
and their flower will blow away like dust. 7
For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies,
they have spurned the commands 8 of the Holy One of Israel. 9
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.
2 tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.
3 tn Heb “which [is].”
4 tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.
5 tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”
6 tn Heb “a tongue of fire” (so NASB), referring to a tongue-shaped flame.
7 sn They are compared to a flowering plant that withers quickly in a hot, arid climate.
8 tn Heb “the word.”
9 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.