JDG 5:23 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance=trivial (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) ⇔ ‘Curse that Meroz place,’ said Yahweh’s messenger.
⇔ ‘You shall certainly curse its inhabitants
⇔ because they didn’t come and help Yahweh—
⇔ to help Yahweh against the mighty ones.’

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX καταρᾶσθαι Μηρὼζ, εἶπεν ἄγγελος Κυρίου, καταρᾶσθε· ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κατοικῶν αὐτὴν, ὅτι οὐκ ἤλθοσαν εἰς βοήθειαν Κυρίου, εἰς βοήθειαν ἐν δυνατοῖς.
(katarasthai Maʸrōz, eipen angelos Kuriou, katarasthe; epikataratos pas ho katoikōn autaʸn, hoti ouk aʸlthosan eis boaʸtheian Kuriou, eis boaʸtheian en dunatois. )

BrTr to curse Meroz: Curse ye it, said the angel of the Lord; cursed is every one that dwells in it, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to his help among the mighty.

ULT ‘Curse Meroz!’ said the messenger of Yahweh.
⇔ ‘You shall surely curse those dwelling in it,
⇔ because they did not come to the aid of Yahweh—
⇔ to the aid of Yahweh against the mighty men.’

UST The angel sent by Yahweh said,
⇔ ‘I curse the people of the town of Meroz
⇔ because they did not come to help Yahweh
⇔ to defeat the mighty warriors of Canaan.’

BSB ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD.
⇔ ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants;
⇔ for they did not come to help the LORD,
⇔ to help the LORD against the mighty.’

OEB No OEB JDG book available

WEBBE ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the LORD’s angel.
⇔ ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants,
⇔ because they didn’t come to help the LORD,
⇔ to help the LORD against the mighty.’

WMBB (Same as above)

NET ‘Call judgment down on Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic messenger;
⇔ ‘Be sure to call judgment down on those who live there,
⇔ because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle,
⇔ to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’

LSV Curse Meroz, said a messenger of YHWH,
Cursing, curse its inhabitants! For they did not come to the help of YHWH,
To the help of YHWH among the mighty!

FBV ‘Curse Meroz,’[fn] says the angel of the Lord. ‘Totally curse those who live there, for they refused to come help the Lord, to help the Lord against the powerful enemies.’

5:23 “Meroz”: the place is not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture. It is thought it may refer to Israelites who had become so “Canaanized” that they refused to help their fellow countrymen.

T4T The angel sent by Yahweh said,
⇔ ‘Curse the people of Meroz town,
⇔ because they did not come to help Yahweh
⇔ to defeat the mighty warriors of Canaan.’

LEB • ‘curse bitterly its inhabitants, • because they did not come to the help of Yahweh, • to the help of Yahweh against the mighty.’

BBE A curse, a curse on Meroz! said the angel of the Lord. A bitter curse on her townspeople! Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord among the strong ones.

Moff No Moff JDG book available

JPS 'Curse ye Meroz', said the angel of the LORD, 'Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.'

ASV Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah.
⇔ Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof,
⇔ Because they came not to the help of Jehovah,
⇔ To the help of Jehovah against the mighty.

DRA Curse ye the land of Meroz, said the angel of the Lord: curse the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to help his most valiant men.

YLT Curse Meroz — said a messenger of Jehovah, Cursing, curse ye its inhabitants, For they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah among the mighty!

Drby Curse Meroz, saith the Angel of Jehovah; Curse, curse the inhabitants thereof; For they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah among the mighty.

RV Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

Wbstr Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly its inhabitants; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

KJB-1769 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
(Curse ye/you_all Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye/you_all bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. )

KJB-1611 Curse ye Meroz (said the Angel of the LORD) curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof: because they came not to the helpe of the LORD, to the helpe of the LORD against the mighty.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Curse ye the citie of Meros (sayd the angel of the Lord) curse the inhabitants therof: because they came not to helpe the Lord, to helpe the Lord against the mightie.
(Curse ye/you_all the city of Meros (said the angel of the Lord) curse the inhabitants thereof: because they came not to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.)

Gnva Curse ye Meroz: (sayd the Angel of the Lord) curse the inhabitantes thereof, because they came not to helpe the Lord, to helpe the Lord against the mighty.
(Curse ye/you_all Meroz: (said the Angel of the Lord) curse the inhabitantes thereof, because they came not to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty. )

Cvdl Curse the cite of Meros (sayde ye angell of the LORDE) curse the citesyns therof, because they come not to helpe ye LORDE, to helpe the LORDE to the giauntes.
(Curse the cite of Meros (sayde ye/you_all angell of the LORD) curse the citesyns thereof, because they come not to help ye/you_all LORD, to help the LORD to the giauntes.)

Wycl Curse ye the lond of Meroth, seide the `aungel of the Lord, curse ye `the dwelleris of hym, for thei camen not to the help of the Lord, `in to the help of the strongeste of hym.
(Curse ye/you_all the land of Meroth, said the `aungel of the Lord, curse ye/you_all `the dwellers of him, for they came not to the help of the Lord, `in to the help of the strongeste of him.)

Luth Fluchet der Stadt Meros, sprach der Engel des HErr’s; fluchet ihren Bürgern, daß sie nicht kamen dem HErr’s zu Hilfe, zu Hilfe dem HErr’s zu den Helden!
(Fluchet the/of_the city Meros, spoke the/of_the angel the LORD’s; fluchet your citizens, that they/she/them not came to_him LORD’s to Hilfe, to Hilfe to_him LORD’s to the Helden!)

ClVg Maledicite terræ Meroz, dixit angelus Domini: maledicite habitatoribus ejus, quia non venerunt ad auxilium Domini, in adjutorium fortissimorum ejus.]
(Maledicite terræ Meroz, he_said angelus Domini: maledicite habitatoribus his, because not/no venerunt to auxilium Master, in adyutorium fortissimorum his.] )

UTN 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 messenger 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

messenger 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]

Parallel JDG 5:23