278 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS(Gen 15:16). The time has now come for the rulers of the nations to be
slaughtered. In 51:40 Yahweh says he will bring down the lions of Babylon
like lambs to the slaughter. And in 50:27, Babylon's "bulls" are consigned to
the slaughter, although it is unclear in this verse whether reference is to ac-
tual bulls or the nation's leaders.
and you will be scattered. Hebrew utep8?8tfkem is generally taken to be a
mixed form of pu!J, "to scatter, disperse," combining the Qal tapu:Ju, "you will
be scattered," and the H-stem hapf:Jotfkem, "I will scatter you" (GKC §91 1).
The T has "and you will be scattered." Aquila, Symm, and Theod translate
with a noun (kai oi skorpismoi hymon, "and your scatterings"), as does Vg (et
dissipationes vestrae, "and your scatterings"), but a feminine noun, tepo:Ja, is
unattested and generally not accepted by commentators and the modern Ver-
sions-only the RSV and NRSV retain with slight change the translation of
AV: "For the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come." The term
is omitted by the LXX, for which reason a number of commentators (Cornill,
Rudolph, Bright, Holladay, McKane) and numerous modern Versions (NEB;
REB; JB [but not NJB]; NAB; NIV; NSB) omit. The view of Rudolph, Bright,
and Holladay that the verb is np:J or P??, both meaning "to shatter" (so Syriac),
is predicated on the assumption that the MT is defective, which enables these
scholars to delete the verb and go with the LXX's "rams" at the end of the line.
This eliminates entirely the shattered vessel image. But most agree that the
verb is a form of pu:J, "to scatter." A case can be made for retaining the verb. As
for the LXX omission, it can be attributed to haplography (homoeoarcton:
w ... w). The argument of Janzen ( 1973: 14), that two verbs overload the line
and that therefore one must be secondary and deleted, can be set aside. The
line is easily translated as a tricolon. And Holladay's claim that the "scattering"
image goes poorly with the "slaughtering" image is unconvincing. For kings
and nobles both images are eminently suitable: in war some kings and nobles
are killed; others are scattered by virtue of being exiled. This happened not
only to Judah's royal house but to royal houses of all nations.
and you will fall like a vessel of great value. Whether the kings and nobles are
killed or taken into exile, their fall will leave them broken individuals. The
metaphors change if MT is to be read, for the high and mighty are now com-
pared to vessels fallen and broken, Humpty Dumpty style. The colon is incor-
rectly said by Janzen ( 1973: 194 n. 17) not to make sense. In fact, it makes very
good sense. The construct kelf is a general noun meaning "vessel (of clay or
precious metal), jar, weapon, baggage," and the absolute f:zemda is a noun
meaning "precious, desirable thing," thus an item of great value. Reference
then is to a precious pottery vessel capable of being broken (cf. 19: 11; 22:28).
The expression "vessel(s) of great value" occurs elsewhere in Hos 13:15; Nah
2: IO[Eng 2:9]; 2 Chr 32:27; and 36: 10. The LXX in the present verse has "like
the chosen rams" (asper hoi krioi hoi eklektoi), also translating "nobles of the
flock" as "rams of the flock" (hoi krioi ton probaton ). The reading of LXX is that
the rams of the flock are going to fall like choice rams. If the MT reading is dif-
ficult, this rendering has to be worse, which is perhaps why even Duhm and