When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows

When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.

These words have very great obscurity in the first view of them, and I find a mighty deal of puzling among Interpreters about them. The difficulty is in the word that is here translated Furrows, the same letters of the word, take away the points of the Hebrew, and they may be for these two sins, or their two eyes, there's a little difference in the Vau and the Jod which are much like one another. And in all these three ways according to the signification of the word, Either Furrows, Sins, or Eyes, the sense may go reasonable well. As thus:

First, For Sins. And they shall bind themselves. You may turn it as well of God's Threatning what he would do; for it is, bind them, or, in binding them, so it is translated by others, in binding them for their two sins: I will bind them for their two sins, so I find Arias Montanus has it, Bind them for their two sins.

And I find the Septuagint translate it so too, Chastise them for their two sins, for so it may be, Chastise as well as Bind, for the words are very near together that signifies either binding, or chastising.

I will chastise them for their two sins: When he binds them he will chastise them. And so I find that Luther has it, for he doubles these.

And then they think that it has reference to the two calves of Dan and Bethel: Or the two sins, of bodily and spiritual adultery: Or otherwise it has the same sense with that in (Jeremiah 2:13), My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Or if you will have it in the second place, according as it is in your books, They shall bind themselves in their two furrows, then the meaning of it is this, That I will bring their enemies upon them, and they shall yoke them like oxen that are yoked to plow, they shall bring them into servitude, and into bondage, they shall make them plow in their two furrows, (double work.) So Polanus, because they shall put double work upon them and make them work in a servile way. And the rather do I think this is the meaning of it, because the Holy Ghost does follow the metaphor of it, An Heifer, as it follows;