9:10a

9:10b

9:10a–b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^10a I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.

^10b I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season.

The underlined parts refer to the time when Israel was a young nation. The parts in bold print are similes that compare the LORD’s delight with them to the delight of a person who finds delicious fruit that he was not expecting to find.

I found Israel…I saw your fathers: These parallel phrases refer to the time in the desert of Sinai when the LORD chose Israel to be his people. The second phrase clarifies that he chose their fathers, meaning their “ancestors.”Keil (page 124). Make sure that your translation does not imply that the people were lost or that the LORD did not know where they were and was looking for them.

Here are some other ways to translate these parallel phrases:

I came upon Israel…I looked on their forefathers with joy (REB)

When I first found Israel…When I first saw your ancestors (GNT)

like grapes in the wilderness…as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season: Both these similes describe uncommon situations that give pleasure to a traveler or to any person who discovers them. Grapes do not usually grow in a desert, and the figs that appear early in the season or in the tree’s first year (see interpretation below) are more delicious and less common than figs that ripen later.Wood (page 206) and McComiskey (page 148).

Here are some other ways to translate these parallel similes:

it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert…it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season (NLT)

It was like finding grapes in the desert…like seeing early fruit on a fig tree (NJB)

There are two main interpretations of the phrase that the BSB translates as firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season:

1. This phrase means the first figs of the season that appear on the tree in late spring or early summer.Davies (page 223) and Macintosh (page 360). That fruit ripens on sprouts of the previous year. These figs are especially delicious. The more common figs appear in late summer on new sprouts.Stuart (page 151). For example:

   it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season (GNT) (GNT, GW, NIV, NLT, NJB)

2. This phrase means the very first year/season that the fig tree bears fruit.McComiskey (page 148), Andersen and Freedman (page 540), Hubbard (page 164), and Keil (page 124). These words imply that the tree is five or six years old.Hubbard (page 164). For example:

   Like the first fruit on the fig tree, in its first season (NRSV) (BSB, ESV, KJV, NASB, NET, NRSV)

Some versions are ambiguous and have not been listed above. TNN follows interpretation (1). However, either interpretation is acceptable and makes good sense in this context.

9:10c

But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame: The relationship between the LORD and Israel changed when the people came to Baal-peor, located at “Mount Peor” (GNT). There the people turned away from the LORD to worship Baal. (See Numbers 25:1–11.)

This verse part contrasts strongly with 9:10a–b.The Masoretic Text has the pronoun “they” here. Literally it is “they they-came Baal Peor.” Macintosh (page 362) identifies the function of the pronoun as a strong adversative. In 9:10a–b, the LORD was delighted with the people of Israel. Here in 9:10c–d, he was disgusted with them.Stuart (page 151). Many English versions indicate the contrast with the word But. Use a natural way in your language to indicate a contrast.

and consecrated themselves to Shame: The LORD used the negative term Shame as the name of the idol Baal.Stuart (page 151), Dearman (pages 251–252), Davies (page 226), Macintosh (page 360), Hubbard (page 164), Andersen and Freedman (page 541), McComiskey (page 148), Wood (page 206), and Keil (page 124). See also Jeremiah 11:13.

Here are some other ways to translate the name of the idol:

thing of shame (ESV)

shameful idol (NIV)

It is recommended that you add a footnote to explain that the LORD substituted the word Shame for the name “Baal.” For example:

Here the LORD used the word “Shame” as the name of the idol Baal.

9:10d

so they became as detestable as the thing they loved: This clause means that the people of Israel became as detestable as the Baal idol that they loved.Macintosh (page 361), McComiskey (page 148), Davies (page 227), and Dearman (pages 251–252).

In some contexts, the term “Baal” can refer to more than one idol (see the note on 2:13a). That may be true here as well. English versions translate this term in two ways. Either way is acceptable:

• As singular. For example:

  and became detestable like the thing they loved (NRSV)

• As plural. For example:

  and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved (GNT)