49:4 Why do you brag about your great power?
Your power is ebbing away, 1 you rebellious people of Ammon, 2
who trust in your riches and say,
‘Who would dare to attack us?’
4:31 In fact, 3 I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion 4 gasping for breath,
reaching out for help, 5 saying, “I am done in! 6
My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”
1 tn Or “Why do you brag about your valleys, about the fruitfulness of your valleys.” The meaning of the first two lines of this verse are uncertain primarily due to the ambiguity of the expression זָב עִמְקֵךְ (zav ’imqekh). The form זָב (zav) is either a Qal perfect or Qal participle of a verb meaning flow. It is common in the expression “a land flowing with milk and honey” and is also common to refer to the seminal discharge or discharge of blood which makes a man or woman unclean. BDB 264 s.v. זוּב Qal.2 sees it as an abbreviation of the idea of “flowing with milk and honey” and sees it as referring to the fertility of Ammon’s valley. However, there are no other examples of such an ellipsis. Several of the modern English versions and commentaries have taken the word עֵמֶק (’emeq) not as a reference to a valley but to the homonym cited in the note on 47:5 and see the reference here to the flowing away of Ammon’s strength. That interpretation is followed here. Instead of explaining the plural ending on עֲמָקִים (’amaqim) as being an enclitic ם (mem) as others who follow this interpretation (e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 325), the present translation understands the plural as a plural of amplification (cf. GKC 397-98 §124.e and compare the noun “might” in Isa 40:26).
2 tn Heb “apostate daughter.” This same term is applied to Israel in Jer 31:22 but seems inappropriate here to Ammon because she had never been loyal to the
3 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.
4 sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless maiden.
5 tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.
6 tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”