1:11 Residents 1 of Shaphir, 2 pass by in nakedness and humiliation! 3
The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. 4
Beth Ezel 5 mourns, 6
“He takes from you what he desires.” 7
2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out 8
they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. 9
Their king will advance 10 before them,
The Lord himself will lead them. 11
1 tn The Hebrew participial form, which is feminine singular, is here used in a collective sense for the all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.
2 sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.
3 tn The imperatival form is used rhetorically, emphasizing that the inhabitants of Shaphir will pass by into exile.
4 tn Heb “have not come out”; NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”
sn The expression can’t leave their city alludes to a siege of the town. The place name Zaanan sounds like the verb “come out” (i.e., “can’t leave”) in Hebrew.
5 sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.
6 tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).
7 tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (’emdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).
tn The precise meaning of the line is uncertain. The translation assumes: (a) the subject of the third masculine singular verb יִקַּח (yiqqakh, “he/it takes”) is the conqueror, (b) the second masculine plural suffix (“you”) on the preposition מִן (min, “from”) refers to the residents of Shaphir and Zaanan, (c) the final form עֶמְדָּתוֹ should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ, “his (the conqueror’s) desire.”
8 tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.
9 tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.
sn The “fold” from which the sheep/people break out is probably a reference to their place of exile.
10 tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.
11 tn Heb “the