3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people
are as good as dead. 1
If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace. 2
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him. 3
5:3 So the Lord 4 will hand the people of Israel 5 over to their enemies 6
until the time when the woman in labor 7 gives birth. 8
Then the rest of the king’s 9 countrymen will return
to be reunited with the people of Israel. 10
1 tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the
2 tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.
3 tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
5 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.
8 sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.
9 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
sn The rest of the king’s brothers are the coming king’s fellow Judahites, while the sons of Israel are the northern tribes. The verse pictures the reunification of the nation under the Davidic king. See Isa 11:12-13; Jer 31:2-6, 15-20; Ezek 37; Hos 1:11; 3:5.