1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 tn Heb “Surely.” 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 sn This could be a reference to cultic temple prostitution connected with the pagan shrines. For allusion to this in the OT, see, e.g., Deut 23:17 and 2 Kgs 23:7. 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 sn There is a wordplay on the Hebrew word translated “wind” (רוּחַ, ruakh) which also means “spirit.” The prophets spoke by inspiration of the Spirit of the 42 43 44 sn Here the emphasis appears to be on the fact that the 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 sn It was typical for an army in time of war in the ancient Near East not only to eat up the crops but to destroy the means of further production. 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 sn There is a wordplay in the use of this word which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God. 80 sn These words are repeated from 5:9 to give a kind of refrain justifying again the necessity of punishment in the light of such sins. 81 82