1 Kings 16:4

16:4 Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family ¹  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

1 Kings 21:19

21:19 Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Haven’t you committed murder and taken possession of the property of the deceased?”’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood they will also lick up your blood – yes, yours!”’”

1 Kings 21:23-24

21:23 The Lord says this about Jezebel, ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the outer wall ²  of Jezreel.’ 21:24 As for Ahab’s family, dogs will eat the ones ³  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

Isaiah 66:24

66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ⁴  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ⁵  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ⁶ 

Jeremiah 15:3

15:3 “I will punish them in four different ways: I will have war kill them. I will have dogs drag off their dead bodies. I will have birds and wild beasts devour and destroy their corpses. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 39:17-19

39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter ⁸  which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood. 39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors ⁹  and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan. 39:19 You will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, ¹⁰  at my slaughter ¹¹  which I have made for you.

Revelation 19:17-18

19:17 Then ¹²  I saw one angel standing in ¹³  the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ¹⁴ 

“Come, gather around for the great banquet ¹⁵  of God,

19:18 to eat ¹⁶  your fill ¹⁷  of the flesh of kings,

the flesh of generals, ¹⁸ 

the flesh of powerful people,

the flesh of horses and those who ride them,

and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, ¹⁹ 

and small and great!”

¹ tn Heb “the ones belonging to Baasha.”

² tc A few Hebrew mss and some ancient versions agree with 2 Kgs 9:10, 36, which reads, “the plot [of ground] at Jezreel.” The Hebrew words translated “outer wall” (חֵל, khel, defectively written here!) and “plot [of ground]” (חֵלֶק, kheleq) are spelled similarly.

³ tn “Dogs will eat the ones who belonging to Ahab who die in the city.”

⁴ tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”

⁵ tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”

⁶ tn Heb “and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

⁷ tn The translation attempts to render in understandable English some rather unusual uses of terms here. The verb translated “punish” is often used that way (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.3 and compare usage in Jer 11:22, 13:21). However, here it is accompanied by a direct object and a preposition meaning “over” which is usually used in the sense of appointing someone over someone (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.B.1 and compare usage in Jer 51:27). Moreover the word translated “different ways” normally refers to “families,” “clans,” or “guilds” (cf. BDB 1046-47 s.v. מִשְׁפָּחָה for usage). Hence the four things mentioned are referred to figuratively as officers or agents into whose power the Lord consigns them. The Hebrew text reads: “I will appoint over them four guilds, the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.”

⁸ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

⁹ sn See Rev 19:17-18.

¹⁰ sn Eating the fat and drinking blood were God’s exclusive rights in Israelite sacrifices (Lev 3:17).

¹¹ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

¹³ tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.

¹⁴ tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.

¹⁵ tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.

¹⁶ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.

¹⁷ tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.

¹⁸ tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

¹⁹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.