30:1 “The rebellious 1 children are as good as dead,” 2 says the Lord,
“those who make plans without consulting me, 3
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, 4
and thereby compound their sin. 5
30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. 6
For this reason I call her
‘Proud one 7 who is silenced.’” 8
30:15 For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; 9
if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, 10
but you are unwilling.
30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’
so you will indeed flee.
You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’
so your pursuers will be fast.
30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; 11
at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, 12
until the remaining few are as isolated 13
as a flagpole on a mountaintop
or a signal flag on a hill.”
1 tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”
2 tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”
3 tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”
4 tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.
5 tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”
6 tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”
7 tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).
8 tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.
9 tn Heb “in returning and in quietness you will be delivered.” Many English versions render the last phrase “shall be saved” or something similar (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV).
10 tn Heb “in quietness and in trust is your strength” (NASB and NRSV both similar).
11 tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.
12 tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.
13 tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).