2:8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. 1
You steal a robe from a friend, 2
from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. 3
3:3 You 4 devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot 5 –
like meat in a kettle.
4:1 In the future 6 the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; 7
it will be more prominent than other hills. 8
People will stream to it.
6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,
you enduring foundations of the earth!
For the Lord has a case against his people;
he has a dispute with Israel! 9
6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, 10
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.” 11
7:18 There is no other God like you! 12
You 13 forgive sin
and pardon 14 the rebellion
of those who remain among your people. 15
You do not remain angry forever, 16
but delight in showing loyal love.
1 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).
2 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).
3 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.
4 tn Heb “who.”
5 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”).
6 tn Heb “at the end of days.”
7 tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”
8 tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”
9 tn This verse briefly interrupts the
10 tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”
11 tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the
12 tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”
13 tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.
14 tn Heb “pass over.”
15 tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”
16 tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”