5:5 We are pursued – they are breathing down our necks; 1
we are weary and have no rest. 2
5:6 We have submitted 3 to Egypt and Assyria
in order to buy food to eat. 4
1 tn Heb “We are hard-driven on our necks”
2 sn For the theological allusion that goes beyond physical rest, see, e.g., Deut 12:10; 25:19; Josh 1:13; 11:23; 2 Sam 7:1, 11; 1 Chron 22:18; 2 Chron 14:6-7
3 tn Heb “we have given the hand”; cf. NRSV “We have made a pact.” This is a Semitic idiom meaning “to make a treaty with” someone, placing oneself in a subservient position as vassal. The prophets criticized these treaties.
4 tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for the general (= food).