OET interlinear JDG 5:23

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes

א֣וֹרוּ מֵר֗וֹז אָמַר֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה אֹ֥רוּ אָר֖וֹר יֹשְׁבֶ֑י⁠הָ כִּ֤י לֹֽא־בָ֨אוּ֙ לְ⁠עֶזְרַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה לְ⁠עֶזְרַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה בַּ⁠גִּבּוֹרִֽים

curse Mērōz he/it_had_said angel YHWH curse! to_curse inhabitants,its that/for/because/then/when not come to,help YHWH to,help YHWH in/on/at/with,mighty

If it would be clearer in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [The angel of Yahweh said that we must certainly curse the people who lived in Meroz, because they did not come to the aid of Yahweh against the warriors]

Note 2 topic: translate-names

מֵר֗וֹז

Mērōz

The word Meroz is the name of a town. It was probably along the route that Sisera’s army took when fleeing from the battlefield, and the people of the town could have blocked their way so that the Israelites could have kept many more of the enemy soldiers from escaping.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה

angel YHWH

See the discussion of this phrase in the General Introduction to Judges, and see how you translated the same phrase in 2:1. Translate it here as you do in other parts of the book, even though there is no further information here about how or when the angel of Yahweh appeared on this occasion.

Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

אֹ֥רוּ אָר֖וֹר יֹשְׁבֶ֑י⁠הָ כִּ֤י לֹֽא־בָ֨אוּ֙ לְ⁠עֶזְרַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה לְ⁠עֶזְרַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה בַּ⁠גִּבּוֹרִֽים

curse! to_curse inhabitants,its that/for/because/then/when not come to,help YHWH to,help YHWH in/on/at/with,mighty

If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the second phrase gives the reason for the result that the first phrase describes. Alternate translation: [Because they did not come to the aid of Yahweh, to the aid of Yahweh against the warriors, cursing, you shall curse the dwellers of it]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / reduplication

אֹ֥רוּ אָר֖וֹר

curse! to_curse

The song is repeating forms of the verb curse in order to intensify the idea that it expresses. If your language can repeat words for intensification, it would be appropriate to do that here in your translation. If not, your language may have another way of expressing the emphasis. Alternate translation: [You must certainly curse]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

לֹֽא־בָ֨אוּ֙ לְ⁠עֶזְרַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה לְ⁠עֶזְרַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה בַּ⁠גִּבּוֹרִֽים

not come to,help YHWH to,help YHWH in/on/at/with,mighty

These two phrases are saying the same thing. The second phrase emphasizes the meaning of the first by being more specific. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and you could show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation. However, if it would be clearer in your language, you could combine the phrases and express the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [they did not help Yahweh at all against the warriors]