Paragraph 2:6–7

In this paragraph, the husband (symbolizing the LORD) continued talking to his children about the unfaithfulness of their mother (symbolizing the nation of Israel). He told them that he will discipline her so that she will change her behavior and return to him.

2:6

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

6a Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns;

6b
I will enclose her with a wall so she cannot find her way.

In 2:6b, the parallelism implies that thornbushes will also be used to wall in the woman. The purpose of blocking her path or making a wall around her with thornbushes is to keep her from going to her lovers.

2:6a–b

I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall:
It was a common practice to make a fence, hedge, or wall out of thornbushes either to protect a vineyard or to keep an animal from wandering off. Here the two lines are used figuratively. The husband will restrain his wife from leaving home to look for other lovers just like a person fences in an animal to keep it from wandering away.

If the figurative meaning is not clear, it may be necessary to change the metaphors to similes and to make some of the points of comparison explicit. For example:

⌊ It is as if⌋I will hedge up her path with thorns. ⌊I will restrain her like a person fences in an animal ⌋.
-or-
I will ⌊keep her from leaving home. She will be like an animal whose owner ⌋ plants thornbushes across its path or builds a wall around it so that it cannot wander away.

General Comment on 2:6a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the parallel ideas into one line. For example:

I, the Lord will build a fence of thorns to block her path. (Contemporary English Version)

2:6a

Therefore: In Hebrew, this word introduces the husband’s response that results from the immoral behavior of his wife.

Here are some other ways to introduce this result:

That is why (Revised English Bible)
-or-
So (Good News Translation)

Some versions leave the connection implied. Use a natural way in your language to introduce this result.

behold: In Hebrew, the next word in this sentence is hinneh. Some versions translate this word as behold, as the Berean Standard Bible does. Some other versions leave this word implied. The usual function of hinneh is to direct the attention of the reader or listener to what follows. Here, the LORD described what will happen immediately or in the near future. For example:

Therefore, I will soon fence her in with thorns (NET Bible)

Use a natural way in your language to produce this sense of immediate action.

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