48:5 As soon as they see, 1 they are shocked; 2
they are terrified, they quickly retreat. 3
48:6 Look at them shake uncontrollably, 4
like a woman writhing in childbirth. 5
1 tn The object of “see” is omitted, but v. 3b suggests that the
2 tn Heb “they look, so they are shocked.” Here כֵּן (ken, “so”) has the force of “in the same measure.”
3 tn The translation attempts to reflect the staccato style of the Hebrew text, where the main clauses of vv. 4-6 are simply juxtaposed without connectives.
4 tn Heb “trembling seizes them there.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).
5 tn Heb “[with] writhing like one giving birth.”
sn The language of vv. 5-6 is reminiscent of Exod 15:15.