Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageHe broke off the topmost shoot and carried it to a land of commerce, setting it down in a city of merchants.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GHe snapped off the tip of its young shoots and brought it to a land of traders; he set it down in a city of merchants.
KJV
King James VersionHe cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHe plucked off its topmost shoot, carried it to the land of merchants, and planted it in a city of traders.
Footnotes
The phrase translated 'land of traders' is literally *ʾereṣ Kənaʿan*—'land of Canaan.' This is a deliberate double entendre: *Kənaʿan* functioned in the ancient world both as a proper name and as a common noun meaning 'merchant/trader' (cf. Prov. 31:24; Isa. 23:8; Zeph. 1:11). Here it almost certainly refers to Babylon—whose commercial dominance was proverbial—while simultaneously evoking the bitter irony of Israel's king being taken to a 'Canaan-like' place of exile and commodification. FOG renders 'land of traders' to preserve the wordplay; FOG Message uses 'land of commerce' to carry the same thrust into contemporary idiom.
