² tn Heb “a calf of the stall.”

¹ tn Heb “and stalls for all beasts and beasts, and flocks for the stalls.” The repetition of בְּהֵמָה (b^ehemah, “beast”) here indicates various kinds of livestock.

² tc This line is textually uncertain. The MT reads, “the seed shrivels in their shovels/clods.” One Qumran manuscript (4QXXII^c) reads, “the heifers decay in [their] s[talls].” LXX reads, “the heifers leap in their stalls.”

² tn Grk “from the manger [feeding trough],” but by metonymy of part for whole this can be rendered “stall.”

¹ tn The words “in the stall” are added for clarification; note the immediately following reference to cattle from the pasture.

² tn Heb “streets,” but this must refer to streets set up with stalls for merchants to sell their goods. See HALOT 299 s.v. חוּץ.

² tn The word “pampered” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to explain the probable meaning of the simile. The mercenaries were well cared for like stall-fed calves, but in the face of the danger they will prove no help because they will not stand their ground but will turn and run away. Some see the point of the simile to be that they too are fattened for slaughter. However, the next two lines do not fit that interpretation too well.