1:13 Residents of Lachish, 1 hitch the horses to the chariots!
You 2 influenced Daughter Zion 3 to sin, 4
for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back 5 to you!
5:1 (4:14) 6 But now slash yourself, 7 daughter surrounded by soldiers! 8
We are besieged!
With a scepter 9 they strike Israel’s ruler 10
on the side of his face.
1 sn The place name Lachish sounds like the Hebrew word for “team [of horses].”
2 tn Heb “she”; this has been translated as second person (“you”) in keeping with the direct address to the residents of Lachish in the previous line.
3 sn The epithet Daughter Zion pictures the city of Jerusalem as a young lady.
4 tn Heb “She was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion.”
5 tn Heb “for in you was found the transgressions of Israel.”
6 sn Beginning with 5:1, the verse numbers through 5:15 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 5:1 ET = 4:14 HT, 5:2 ET = 5:1 HT, 5:3 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:15 ET = 5:14 HT. From 6:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
7 tn The Hebrew verb גָדַד (gadad) can be translated “slash yourself” or “gather in troops.” A number of English translations are based on the latter meaning (e.g., NASB, NIV, NLT).
sn Slash yourself. Slashing one’s body was a form of mourning. See Deut 14:1; 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5.
8 tn Heb “daughter of a troop of warriors.”
sn The daughter surrounded by soldiers is an image of the city of Jerusalem under siege (note the address “Daughter Jerusalem” in 4:8).
9 tn Or “staff”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “rod”; CEV “stick”; NCV “club.”
sn Striking a king with a scepter, a symbol of rulership, would be especially ironic and humiliating.
10 tn Traditionally, “the judge of Israel” (so KJV, NASB).