ב (Bet)
2:2 The Lord 1 destroyed 2 mercilessly 3
all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. 4
In his anger he tore down
the fortified cities 5 of Daughter Judah.
He knocked to the ground and humiliated
the kingdom and its rulers. 6
ג (Gimel)
2:3 In fierce anger 7 he destroyed 8
the whole army 9 of Israel.
He withdrew his right hand 10
as the enemy attacked. 11
He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob; 12
it consumed everything around it. 13
פ (Pe)
2:16 All your enemies
gloated over you. 14
They sneered and gnashed their teeth;
they said, “We have destroyed 15 her!
Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.
We have lived to see it!” 16
1 tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the
2 tn Heb “has swallowed up.”
3 tc The Kethib is written לֹא חָמַל (lo’ khamal, “without mercy”), while the Qere reads וְלֹא חָמַל (vÿlo’ khamal, “and he has shown no mercy”). The Kethib is followed by the LXX, while the Qere is reflected in many Hebrew
4 tn Heb “all the dwellings of Jacob.”
5 tn Heb “the strongholds.”
6 tn Heb “He brought down to the ground in disgrace the kingdom and its princes.” The verbs חִלֵּל…הִגִּיע (higgi’…khillel, “he has brought down…he has profaned”) function as a verbal hendiadys, as the absence of the conjunction ו (vav) suggests. The first verb retains its full verbal force, while the second functions adverbially: “he has brought down [direct object] in disgrace.”
7 tc The MT reads אַף (’af, “anger”), while the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate) reflect אַפּוֹ (’appo, “His anger”). The MT is the more difficult reading syntactically, while the ancient versions are probably smoothing out the text.
8 tn Heb “cut off, scattered.”
9 tn Heb “every horn of Israel.” The term “horn” (קֶרֶן, qeren) normally refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Israel. This term is often used figuratively as a symbol of strength, usually in reference to the military might of an army (Deut 33:17; 1 Sam 2:1, 10; 2 Sam 22:3; Pss 18:3; 75:11; 89:18, 25; 92:11; 112:9; 1 Chr 25:5; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:3, 17; Ezek 29:21) (BDB 901 s.v. 2), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” Cutting off the “horn” is a figurative expression for destroying warriors (Jer 48:25; Ps 75:10 [HT 11]).
10 tn Heb “he caused his right hand to turn back.” The implication in such contexts is that the
11 tn Heb “from the presence of the enemy.” This figurative expression refers to the approach of the attacking army.
12 tn Heb “he burned in Jacob like a flaming fire.”
13 tn Or “He burned against Jacob, like a raging fire consumes all around.”
14 tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”
15 tn Heb “We have swallowed!”
16 tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.