25:13 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called the “The Sea.” 8 They took the bronze to Babylon. 25:14 They also took the pots, shovels, 9 trimming shears, 10 pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. 11 25:15 The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers 12 and basins. 25:16 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple – including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” 13 and the movable stands – was too heavy to be weighed. 25:17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet 14 high. The bronze top of one pillar was about four and a half feet 15 high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.
50:28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon.
They are coming to Zion to declare there
how the Lord our God is getting revenge,
getting revenge for what they have done to his temple. 16
51:11 “Sharpen 17 your arrows!
Fill your quivers! 18
The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in 19 the kings of Media. 20
For he intends to destroy Babylonia.
For that is how the Lord will get his revenge –
how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple. 21
1 tn The object (“it all”) is supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn Heb “went up.”
3 tn Heb “that was found.”
4 tn Or “bribe money.”
5 tn Heb “that was found.”
6 tn Heb “At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nebuchadnezzar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
9 sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.
10 sn These were used to trim the wicks.
11 tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”
12 sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.
13 tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (vÿha-) on וְהַבָּקָר (vÿhabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vÿhammÿkhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.
14 tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.
15 tn Heb “three cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”
16 tn Heb “Hark! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the
17 sn The imperatives here and in v. 12 are directed to the soldiers in the armies of the kings from the north (here identified as the kings of Media [see also 50:3, 9; 51:27-28]). They have often been addressed in this prophecy as though they were a present force (see 50:14-16; 50:21 [and the study note there]; 50:26, 29; 51:3) though the passage as a whole is prophetic of the future. This gives some idea of the ideal stance that the prophets adopted when they spoke of the future as though already past (the use of the Hebrew prophetic perfect which has been referred to often in the translator’s notes).
18 tn The meaning of this word is debated. The most thorough discussion of this word including etymology and usage in the OT and Qumran is in HALOT 1409-10 s.v. שֶׁלֶט, where the rendering “quiver” is accepted for all the uses of this word in the OT. For a more readily accessible discussion for English readers see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:422-23. The meaning “quiver” fits better with the verb “fill” than the meaning “shield” which is adopted in BDB 1020 s.v. שֶׁלֶט. “Quiver” is the meaning adopted also in NRSV, REB, NAB, and NJPS.
19 tn Heb “The
20 sn Media was a country in what is now northwestern Iran. At the time this prophecy was probably written they were the dominating force in the northern region, the most likely enemy to Babylon. By the time Babylon fell in 538
21 tn Heb “For it is the vengeance of the
22 tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).
23 tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.
24 tn Or “taken.”
25 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
26 sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.
27 tc The present translation reads וְכַסְפָּא (vÿkhaspa’, “and the silver”) with Theodotion and the Vulgate. Cf. v. 2. The form was probably accidentally dropped from the Aramaic text by homoioteleuton.
28 tn Aram “the temple of the house of God.” The phrase seems rather awkward. The Vulgate lacks “of the house of God,” while Theodotion and the Syriac lack “the house.”