ח (Khet)
2:8 The Lord was determined to tear down
Daughter Zion’s wall.
He prepared to knock it down; 7
he did not withdraw his hand from destroying. 8
He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament;
together they mourned their ruin. 9
1:4 Edom 14 says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all 15 responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as 16 the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.
1 tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
2 tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
3 tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
4 tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
5 tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).
6 tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.
7 tn Heb “he stretched out a measuring line.” In Hebrew, this idiom is used (1) literally: to describe a workman’s preparation of measuring and marking stones before cutting them for building (Job 38:5; Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16) and (2) figuratively: to describe the
8 tn Heb “He did not return His hand from swallowing.” That is, he persisted until it was destroyed.
9 tn Heb “they languished together.” The verbs אָבַּלּ (’aval, “to lament”) and אָמַל (’amal, “languish, mourn”) are often used in contexts of funeral laments in secular settings. The Hebrew prophets often use these terms to describe the aftermath of the
10 tn Heb “and I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.” The context indicates this is technical covenant vocabulary in which “love” and “hate” are synonymous with “choose” and “reject” respectively (see Deut 7:8; Jer 31:3; Hos 3:1; 9:15; 11:1).
11 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “I set his mountains as a desolation.”
13 tn Or “inheritance” (so NIV, NLT).
14 sn Edom, a “brother” nation to Israel, became almost paradigmatic of hostility toward Israel and God (see Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:8; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; Obad 10-12).
15 sn The epithet
16 tn Heb “and they will call them.” The third person plural subject is indefinite; one could translate, “and people will call them.”