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Political Upheavals[a]

Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
    the trumpet in Ramah!
Sound the alarm in Beth-aven:(A)
    “Look behind you, Benjamin!”[b]
Ephraim shall become a wasteland
    on the day of punishment:
Among the tribes of Israel
    I announce what is sure to be.
10 The princes of Judah have become
    like those who move a boundary line;[c](B)
Upon them I will pour out
    my wrath like water.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:8–14 This passage describes political and military conflict between Judah and Israel. Perhaps some allusion is made to the Syro-Ephraimite war of 735–734 B.C., when a coalition of Arameans and Israelites attempted to dethrone the king of Judah (2 Kgs 16:5; Is 7:1–9). Judah repulsed the attempt with the aid of Assyria, and the latter devastated both Aram and Israel.
  2. 5:8 A vision of invasion, from Gibeah and Ramah in northern Judah, into Israel.
  3. 5:10 Move a boundary line: invasion by Judah (v. 8) is compared to a case of social injustice (Dt 19:14; 27:17; Prv 23:10–11).