Ephraim and Samaria are so pridefully sure of their own strength to withstand Assyria that they disdain the prophecies of destruction. They can replace demolished buildings with “hewn stone,” a superior material, and their felled sycamores with “cedars,” a commercially valuable wood.
This arrogance and unrepentance on their part is the cause of Yahweh’s punishing justice, marked with “Therefore” at the beginning of the next verse. Thus, they minimize the effects of the predicted devastation.
Translation: The Book of Mormon has “inhabitants” (plural) while the King James Version has “inhabitant” (singular). Tvedtnes notes that the word in the Masoretic text is singular, but plural in the Septuagint. “There is a great likelihood that the original text had an abbreviated w-yws(h), which could have been read as either singular or plural.” Because this verse focuses on the people, “inhabitants” is a better translation. “Inhabitant” is a possible reading but only if the king represents the people. Such a reading, however, does not match the focus within each stanza.