7:8 For Syria’s leader is Damascus,
and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation. 1
23:17 At the end of seventy years 2 the Lord will revive 3 Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms. 4
32:10 In a year’s time 5
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape 6 harvest will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
38:10 “I thought, 7
‘In the middle of my life 8 I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived 9 of the rest of my years.’
38:15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted. 10
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief. 11
38:16 O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;
may years of life be restored to me. 12
Restore my health 13 and preserve my life.’
1 tn Heb “Ephraim will be too shattered to be a nation”; NIV “to be a people.”
sn This statement is problematic for several reasons. It seems to intrude stylistically, interrupting the symmetry of the immediately preceding and following lines. Furthermore, such a long range prophecy lacks punch in the midst of the immediate crisis. After all, even if Israel were destroyed sometime within the next 65 years, a lot could still happen during that time, including the conquest of Judah and the demise of the Davidic family. Finally the significance of the time frame is uncertain. Israel became an Assyrian province within the next 15 years and ceased to exist as a nation. For these reasons many regard the statement as a later insertion, but why a later editor would include the reference to “65 years” remains a mystery. Some try to relate the prophecy to the events alluded to in Ezra 4:2, 10, which refers to how the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal settled foreigners in former Israelite territory, perhaps around 670
2 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
3 tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.”
4 tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.”
5 tn Heb “days upon a year.”
6 tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.
7 tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
8 tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).
9 tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”
10 tn Heb “and he has spoken and he has acted.”
11 tn Heb “because of the bitterness of my soul.”
12 tn The translation offered here is purely speculative. The text as it stands is meaningless and probably corrupt. It reads literally, “O lord, on account of them [the suffix is masculine plural], they live, and to all in them [the suffix is feminine plural], life of my spirit.”
13 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as indicative, “you restore my health,” but the following imperatival form suggests it be understood as an imperfect of request.