Yeremia 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem! ¹ 

Sound the trumpet ²  in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks ³  out of the north;

it will bring great destruction. ⁴ 

Yehezkiel 33:2-6

33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people, ⁵  and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman. 33:3 He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet, ⁶  and warns the people, ⁷  33:4 but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death. ⁸  33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. ⁹  If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. 33:6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, ¹⁰  but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’ ¹¹ 

Hosea 8:1

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

8:1 Sound the alarm! ¹² 

An eagle ¹³  looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me, ¹⁴ 

and have rebelled against my law.

Amos 3:6

3:6 If an alarm sounds ¹⁵  in a city, do people not fear? ¹⁶ 

If disaster overtakes a ¹⁷  city, is the Lord not responsible? ¹⁸ 

Amos 3:8

3:8 A lion has roared! ¹⁹  Who is not afraid?

The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy? ²⁰ 

[6:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”

[6:1]  sn Compare and contrast Jer 4:6. There people in the outlying areas were warned to seek safety in the fortified city of Jerusalem. Here they are told to flee it because it was about to be destroyed.

[6:1]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:1]  ² tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[6:1]  ³ tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

[6:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.

[6:1]  sn This passage is emotionally charged. There are two examples of assonance or wordplay in the verse: “sound” (Heb tiq’u, “blow”), which has the same consonants as “Tekoa” (Heb uvitqoa’), and “signal fire,” which comes from the same root as “light” (Heb sÿ’u mas’et, “lift up”). There is also an example of personification where disaster is said to “lurk” (Heb “look down on”) out of the north. This gives a sense of urgency and concern for the coming destruction.

[33:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “shofar,” a ram’s horn rather than a brass instrument (so throughout the chapter).

[33:3]  ⁷ tn Sounding the trumpet was a warning of imminent danger (Neh 4:18-20; Jer 4:19; Amos 3:6).

[33:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “his blood will be on his own head.”

[33:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “his blood will be on him.”

[33:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

[33:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”

[8:1]  ¹² tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”

[8:1]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[8:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”

[3:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “If the ram’s horn is blown.”

[3:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “tremble” (NASB, NIV, NCV); or “shake.”

[3:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “is in”; NIV, NCV, NLT “comes to.”

[3:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “has the Lord not acted?”

[3:8]  ¹⁹ sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see 1:2; cf. 3:4, 12). Verses 7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action.

[3:8]  ²⁰ sn Who can refuse to prophesy? When a message is revealed, the prophet must speak, and the news of impending judgment should cause people to fear.