1:8 For this reason I 1 will mourn and wail;
I will walk around barefoot 2 and without my outer garments. 3
I will howl 4 like a wild dog, 5
and screech 6 like an owl. 7
2:7 Does the family 8 of Jacob say, 9
‘The Lord’s patience 10 can’t be exhausted –
he would never do such things’? 11
To be sure, my commands bring a reward
for those who obey them, 12
2:8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. 13
You steal a robe from a friend, 14
from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. 15
3:3 You 16 devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot 17 –
like meat in a kettle.
5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 18
seemingly insignificant 19 among the clans of Judah –
from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, 20
one whose origins 21 are in the distant past. 22
6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, 23
how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.
Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,
so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” 24
7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.
They say 25 to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”
I will gloat over them. 26
Then they will be trampled down 27
like mud in the streets.
1 tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.
2 tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).
3 tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.
4 tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”
5 tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”
6 tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”
7 tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
8 tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’
9 tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).
10 tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the
11 tn Heb “Has the patience of the
12 tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The
13 tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (vÿ’etmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (vÿ’attem ’al, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yÿqomem, the imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a participle from the same root).
14 tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term מִמּוּל (mimmul, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in [ם] mem) and subsequent suppression of ע (ayin). The translation assumes an emendation to מֵעַל (me’al, “from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of שַׂלְמָה אֶדֶר (salmah ’eder, “a garment, glory [or robe]”) to שֹׁלְמִים אֲדֶרֶת (sholÿmim ’aderet, “[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s אֶדֶר (’eder) is the result of misdivision (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).
15 tc The passive participle שׁוּבֵי (shuvey) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle שָׁבִים (shavim).
tn Heb “from those passing by peacefully, returnees from war.” Actual refugees, however, are probably not in view. The second line compares those who pass by peacefully with individuals returning from war. The battle is over and they do not expect their own countrymen to attack them.
16 tn Heb “who.”
17 tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).
18 sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.
map For location of Bethlehem see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
19 tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.
20 tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”
21 tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.
22 tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.
sn In riddle-like fashion this verse alludes to David, as the references to Bethlehem and to his ancient origins/activities indicate. The passage anticipates the second coming of the great king to usher in a new era of national glory for Israel. Other prophets are more direct and name this coming ideal ruler “David” (Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos 3:5). Of course, this prophecy of “David’s” second coming is actually fulfilled through his descendant, the Messiah, who will rule in the spirit and power of his famous ancestor and bring to realization the Davidic royal ideal in an even greater way than the historical David (see Isa 11:1, 10; Jer 33:15).
23 tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”
24 tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the
25 tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
26 tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”
27 tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”