translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: MIC

label: NET study note

text: Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.


text: This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.


text: The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.


text: The city of David, located within Jerusalem, is addressed as Daughter Zion . As the home of the Davidic king, who was Israel’s shepherd ( Ps 78:70-72 ), the royal citadel could be viewed metaphorically as the watchtower of the flock.


text: Jerusalem ( Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8 ) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves .