³ tn Heb “the crops of the land.”

⁴ tn Or “twelve crops” (one for each month of the year).

² sn Crops will be so abundant that even the work animals will eat well.

¹ sn The act of plowing is put for the whole process of planting a crop.

¹⁰ tc The MT has “from the city.” The translation assumes an emendation to עֲמִיר (ʿamir, “crops”).

¹ tn Heb “sprout up,” like crops. This verse continues the metaphor of rain utilized in v. 6.

³ sn This royal harvest may refer to an initial mowing of crops collected as taxes by the royal authorities.

² tn Grk “harvest,” but by extension of meaning this refers to the crops awaiting harvest in the fields. See BDAG 453 s.v. θερισμός 2.a.

¹ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

³ tn The term “your crops” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

¹ tn Heb “the field has been utterly destroyed.” The term “field,” a collective singular for “fields,” is a metonymy for crops produced by the fields.

¹ tn Or “has eaten.” This verb is repeated three times in v. 4 to emphasize the total devastation of the crops by this locust invasion.

¹ tn Heb “showers of blessing.” Abundant rain, which in turn produces fruit and crops (v. 27), is a covenantal blessing for obedience (Lev 26:4).

³ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

¹ tn The direct object “crops” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

⁴ sn The imagery of this verse compares the blessings produced by the king’s reign to fructifying rains that cause the crops to grow.

³ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

¹ tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.

² sn This refers to the region of fields just outside and surrounding the city where cattle were kept and garden crops were grown (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177).

³ sn “Food” is a metonymy of effect here. The picture is of the driving rain that should cause crops to grow so that food can be produced—but does not (some English versions assume the crops are destroyed instead, e.g., NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). The point the proverb is making is that a show of strength may not produce anything except ruin.