9:4a–b
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
4a
They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD,
4b and their sacrifices will not please Him,
These lines indicate that in Assyria the people will no longer have the opportunity to offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD.
9:4a
They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD: In Hebrew, the phrase wine offerings is literally wine. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word offerings to clarify the meaning. Offerings of wine often accompanied a burnt offering or other animal sacrifice. See Exodus 29:40; Numbers 15:5.
Here are some other ways to translate this line:
The Israelites will not give offerings of wine to the Lord (New Century Version)
-or-
There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord. (New Living Translation (2004))
9:4b
and their sacrifices will not please Him:
There is a textual issue concerning the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as please :
(1) The Masoretic Text has “not will they be pleasing to him.” For example:
and their sacrifices shall not please him (English Standard Version)
(2) Some scholars have proposed that the original text was “not will they bring/give to him.” For example:
they will not give him sacrifices (New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions. It makes sense and fits the context. There is no evidence that the Masoretic Text is incorrect.
Here is another way to translate this line:
None of your sacrifices there will please him. (New Living Translation (2004))
9:4c
but will be to them like the bread of mourners: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “like bread of mourning(s) to them.” The subject of the Hebrew clause is left implicit. As a result, there are two main interpretations:
(1) The subject is sacrifices. 9:4a–b says that the people will not offer sacrifices to the LORD. This clause continues to describe those sacrifices. For example:
Such sacrifices shall be like mourners’ bread (New Revised Standard Version)
(2) The subject is bread or food. This refers to the bread/food that the exiles eat in Assyria. This clause introduces a new topic. For example:
Their bread shall be like mourners’ bread (Revised Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions. It makes good sense to understand this simile as a continuation of the topic of sacrifices. It begins to explain why the peoples’ sacrifices would not be pleasing to the LORD.
to them: This phrase refers back to the people who offer the sacrifices.
like the bread of mourners: This phrase is a simile that compares the peoples’ sacrifices to food that people ate at a funeral.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
like food eaten at funerals (Good News Translation)
-or-
like food touched by a person in mourning (New Living Translation (2004))
9:4d
all who eat will be defiled: In Hebrew, this clause is more literally “all [those who] eat it will make themselves unclean.” There are two main interpretations of the pronoun “it”:
(1) “It” refers to the mourners’ bread. The mourners’ bread is the nearest preceding noun. For example:
Their sacrifices will be like the food that mourners eat. All who eat this food will be unclean. (God’s Word)
(English Standard Version, Good News Translation, God’s Word, New American Bible, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible)
(2) “It” refers to the sacrifices. The pronoun refers back to the subject of the clause. For example:
All who present such sacrifices will be defiled. (New Living Translation (2004))
(NET Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004))
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Both the pronoun and the noun to which it refers are singular. With this interpretation, the line continues the description of the bread of mourners.
defiled: This word refers to spiritual uncleanness. Old Testament laws described activities and objects that were ritually unclean. Therefore they were not acceptable for worship of the LORD. See Deut 26:14; Num 19:11–13, 22.
General Comment on 9:4c–d
In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine these verse parts. For example:
they will be 4d unclean 4c like food offered to the dead (Contemporary English Version)
9:4e
For their bread will be for themselves: In Hebrew, this clause begins with the word ki. In this context, one possible function of this word is to indicate the reason for the preceding statement The reason that this food is considered to be unclean is that it is only for themselves. For example:
for their food will be for themselves alone (New Jerusalem Bible)
However, in many languages, this clause does not give a logical reason for the preceding statement. Many versions leave the relationship between the clauses implied. For example:
It will be used only to satisfy their hunger (Good News Translation)
-or-
Your food will only be used to satisfy your hunger (Contemporary English Version)
An advantage of leaving the connection implied is that it allows the reader to supply the connection that makes the most sense in a particular language.
their bread: The phrase their bread refers to the food in the sacrifices that are like mourner’s bread. The LORD regards this food to be unclean and those that eat it to be unclean. It will be food for those that eat it, but it is not fit to use for worship.
Here are some other ways to translate this line:
this food will be for themselves alone
-or-
this food will serve only to satisfy their appetite
9:4f
it will not enter the house of the LORD: This clause means that the LORD does not want this food to be offered to him in the temple.
it will not enter: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “it will not go.” This phrase is probably a prohibition. The LORD will not allow unclean bread in his house. It is not just a statement that it will not happen. Some versions make it explicit that this is a prohibition. For example:
they cannot sacrifice it in the Temple. (New Century Version)
-or-
it must not be offered in the house of the Lord (Revised English Bible)
house of the LORD: This refers to the temple in Jerusalem. It was the only worship center where the LORD allowed sacrifices to be offered.
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