14 The reads יְדַעְתִּיךָ (yéda’tikha, Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix from יָדַע, yada’, “to know”), followed by , (“I did know thee”). The and reflect an alternate textual tradition of רְעִיתִיךָ (ré’it’kha, Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix from רָעָה, ra’ah, “to feed”), which is followed by most recent English versions (e.g., , , , , , , ).
15 Heb “land of intense drought” or “intensely thirsty land.” The noun תַּלְאֻבוֹת (tal’uvot) occurs in the OT only here. It probably means “drought” ( 520 תַּלְאֻבָה). The related Arabic verb means “to be thirsty” and the related Arabic noun means “a stony tract of land.” The plural form (singular = תַּלְאֻבָה, tal’uvah) is a plural of intensity: “a [land] of intense drought.” The term functions as an attributive genitive, modifying the construct אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”). The phrase is variously rendered: “land of (+ great ) drought” (, ), “thirsty land” (), “thirsty desert” (), “dry, desert land” (), and the metonymical (effect for cause) “land of burning heat” ().