4:13a–b
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
13a They sacrifice on the mountaintops
13b and burn offerings on the hills
These lines describe one of the ways that the people and priests were unfaithful to God. They sacrificed to idols at pagan shrines. These shrines were frequently located on the tops of mountains or hills.
sacrifice…burn offerings: These parallel terms refer here to two kinds of offerings that people made when they worshiped Baal or other idols. The form of the Hebrew verbs indicates that they sacrificed regularly or repeatedly.
The word sacrifice refers to killing an animal and eating portions of it as part of a worship ceremony. The phrase burn offerings is literally “they make smoke.” It refers primarily to the smoke from burning incense. See the note on this verb at 2:13a. In some languages, it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:
They sacrifice ⌊animals ⌋ and burn ⌊incense ⌋ as an offering ⌊to their idols ⌋
on the mountaintops…on the hills: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hills usually refers to areas that are slightly lower than mountains. Here no distinction is intended between these two parallel terms. The parallel lines do not imply that people offered one kind of sacrifice on mountains and another kind on hills.
General Comment on 4:13a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the parallel parts into one line. For example
They never stop offering sacrifices on mountaintops and hills (Contemporary English Version)
4:13c
under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant: This phrase gives a further description of the places on the mountaintops and hills where the Israelites made sacrifices. Oak, poplar, and terebinth are three kinds of large trees that give good shade. If these trees are unknown in your area, you may use borrowed terms from another translation in your area. You may also use a descriptive phrase instead of stating the names of specific kinds of trees. For example:
under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant (Good News Translation)
Paragraph 4:13d–14
4:13d–e
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
13d And so your daughters turn to prostitution
13e and your daughters-in-law to adultery
In addition to offering sacrifices, another part of the people’s idol worship was getting drunk and sleeping with prostitutes. These lines describe a result of this idol worship. The immoral behavior of the men motivated young women to behave immorally also.
And so: This word introduces the response of the young women to the idol worship described in 4:13a–b. They became sexually immoral.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
As a result (Good News Translation)
-or-
That is why (Revised English Bible)
In some languages, it may not be clear that the young women’s response is due to idol worship. If that is true in your language, you may want to make the connection explicit. For example:
Because of ⌊the rituals that accompany ⌋ ⌊idol worship ⌋, your daughters…
your daughters…your daughters-in-law: In 4:12c–4:13b, “they” pronouns are used. Here in 4:13d–e, the pronouns change to your. This change of pronouns may help the hearers to realize what is happening to the young women in their own families.
The parallel phrases your daughters…your daughters-in-law function as a pair. They represent all the young women of Israel. In some languages, it may be more natural to refer to these two groups with a more general term. For example:
your female children
-or-
your young women
daughters-in-law: There are two ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as daughters-in-law :
(1) It means “daughters-in-law.” For example:
daughters-in-law (New Jerusalem Bible)
(2) It means “brides.” For example:
brides (English Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. This interpretation better fits the parallel term “daughters” in 4:13d.
turn to prostitution…to adultery: These parallel terms function together to indicate sexual immorality in general. This verse does not imply a distinction between one group of women who are prostitutes and another group who commit adultery.
General Comment on 4:13d–e
In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the parallel parts in these two lines. For example:
Your own daughters and daughters-in-law sell themselves for sex. (Contemporary English Version)
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