Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageMy father laid a heavy burden on you — I will make it heavier still. My father disciplined you with whips; I will discipline you with scorpions!'"
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GAnd now — my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!'"
KJV
King James VersionAnd now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleWhereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
Footnotes
*עַקְרַבִּים* (*aqravim*, scorpions) almost certainly refers not to the arachnid but to a barbed, multi-thonged whip — a vicious instrument known as a 'scorpion.' The escalation from *שׁוֹטִים* (*shotim*, whips/rods) to scorpions is deliberate rhetorical brutality. The young men are not counselling political firmness; they are counselling systematic terror. Both translations preserve both instruments literally, trusting that 'scorpions' still communicates savagery even where the specific implement is unfamiliar to modern readers.
