9:8 3 The sovereign master 4 decreed judgment 5 on Jacob,
and it fell on Israel. 6
1 map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.
2 tn Heb “them.”
3 sn The following speech (9:8-10:4) assumes that God has already sent judgment (see v. 9), but it also announces that further judgment is around the corner (10:1-4). The speech seems to describe a series of past judgments on the northern kingdom which is ready to intensify further in the devastation announced in 10:1-4. It may have been written prior to the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom in 734-733
4 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 17 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
5 tn Heb “sent a word” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “sends a message.”
6 tn The present translation assumes that this verse refers to judgment that had already fallen. Both verbs (perfects) are taken as indicating simple past; the vav (ו) on the second verb is understood as a simple vav conjunctive. Another option is to understand the verse as describing a future judgment (see 10:1-4). In this case the first verb is a perfect of certitude; the vav on the second verb is a vav consecutive.