1:6 For a nation 1 has invaded 2 our 3 land.
There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. 4
Their teeth are like those 5 of a lion;
they tear apart their prey like a lioness. 6
3:19 Egypt will be desolate
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, 7
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
1 sn As becomes increasingly clear in what follows, this nation is to be understood figuratively. It refers to the locust invasion as viewed from the standpoint of its methodical, destructive advance across the land (BDB 156 s.v. גּוֹי 2). This term is used figuratively to refer to animals one other time (Zeph 2:14).
2 tn Heb “has come up against.”
3 tn Heb “my.”
4 tn Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”
5 tn Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”
6 tn Heb “its incisors are those of a lioness.” The sharp, cutting teeth are metonymical for the action of tearing apart and eating prey. The language is clearly hyperbolic. Neither locusts nor human invaders literally have teeth of this size. The prophet is using exaggerated and picturesque language to portray in vivid terms the enormity of the calamity. English versions vary greatly on the specifics: KJV “cheek teeth”; ASV “jaw-teeth”; NAB “molars”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “fangs.”
7 tn Heb “violence of the sons of Judah.” The phrase “of the sons of Judah” is an objective genitive (cf. KJV “the violence against the children of Judah”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “violence done to the people of Judah”). It refers to injustices committed against the Judeans, not violence that the Judeans themselves had committed against others.