8:3a
This verse repeats part of the warning given in Deut. 28:15–68. If the people disobey the LORD, he will cause them to be defeated by their enemies.
But: This word is not in the Hebrew text. The Berean Standard Bible and some other versions add it to make explicit the contrast between what the people said (8:2) and what the people did (8:3a).
Israel has rejected good: This clause probably refers back to 8:1. That verse says that the people had broken the covenant of the LORD and rebelled against his law. So here the word good probably refers specifically to his covenant and his law. The Contemporary English Version makes this meaning explicit:
But your enemies will chase you for rejecting our good agreement. (Contemporary English Version)
It also refers to the blessings that the LORD gave to people who kept them. Those blessings included fertile fields and a secure and prosperous nation. When the people rejected the covenant, they also caused those good blessings to be taken away.
8:3b
an enemy will pursue him: This clause gives the result of Israel rejecting what is good. Israel’s enemy will pursue them. Some versions make explicit that this is a result. For example:
They have rejected what is good. Because of this their enemies will pursue them. (Good News Translation)
The word pursue implies here that Israel’s enemies will defeat them in battle. They will chase the survivors to capture or kill them or plunder their possessions.
Some versions, such as the Good News Translation quoted above, use the pronoun “them” instead of him to refer to Israel. Use whatever is natural in your language to refer to a nation or the people of a nation.
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