30:9 On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom; 3 for beware – it is coming!
15:14 The nations will hear 4 and tremble;
anguish 5 will seize 6 the inhabitants of Philistia.
15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified, 7
trembling will seize 8 the leaders of Moab,
and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.
15:16 Fear and dread 9 will fall 10 on them;
by the greatness 11 of your arm they will be as still as stone 12
until 13 your people pass by, O Lord,
until the people whom you have bought 14 pass by.
51:9 Foreigners living there will say, 15
‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.
Let’s leave Babylonia 16 and each go back to his own country.
For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.
It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’ 17
11:2 Howl, fir tree,
because the cedar has fallen;
the majestic trees have been destroyed.
Howl, oaks of Bashan,
because the impenetrable forest has fallen.
“Woe, woe, O great city,
Babylon the powerful city!
For in a single hour your doom 18 has come!”
1 tn Heb “descend from.”
2 tn Heb “and they will be astonished over you.”
3 tn Heb “in the day of Egypt.” The word “doom” has been added in the translation to clarify the nature of this day.
4 tn This verb is a prophetic perfect, assuming that the text means what it said and this song was sung at the Sea. So all these countries were yet to hear of the victory.
5 tn The word properly refers to “pangs” of childbirth. When the nations hear, they will be terrified.
6 tn The verb is again a prophetic perfect.
7 tn This is a prophetic perfect.
8 tn This verb is imperfect tense.
9 tn The two words can form a nominal hendiadys, “a dreadful fear,” though most English versions retain the two separate terms.
10 tn The form is an imperfect.
11 tn The adjective is in construct form and governs the noun “arm” (“arm” being the anthropomorphic expression for what God did). See GKC 428 §132.c.
12 sn For a study of the words for fear, see N. Waldman, “A Comparative Note on Exodus 15:14-16,” JQR 66 (1976): 189-92.
13 tn Clauses beginning with עַד (’ad) express a limit that is not absolute, but only relative, beyond which the action continues (GKC 446-47 §138.g).
14 tn The verb קָנָה (qanah) here is the verb “acquire, purchase,” and probably not the homonym “to create, make” (see Gen 4:1; Deut 32:6; and Prov 8:22).
15 tn The words “Foreigners living there will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the third line. These words are generally assumed by the commentaries and are explicitly added in TEV and NCV which are attempting to clarify the text for the average reader.
16 tn Heb “Leave/abandon her.” However, it is smoother in the English translation to make this verb equivalent to the cohortative that follows.
17 tn This is an admittedly very paraphrastic translation that tries to make the figurative nuance of the Hebrew original understandable for the average reader. The Hebrew text reads: “For her judgment [or punishment (cf. BDB 1078 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f) = ‘execution of judgment’] touches the heavens, and is lifted up as far as the clouds.” The figure of hyperbole or exaggeration is being used here to indicate the vastness of Babylon’s punishment which is the reason to escape (vv. 6, 9c). For this figure see Deut 1:28 in comparison with Num 13:28 and see also Deut 9:1. In both of the passages in Deut it refers to an exaggeration about the height of the walls of fortified cities. The figure also may be a play on Gen 11:4 where the nations gather in Babylon to build a tower that reaches to the skies. The present translation has interpreted the perfects here as prophetic because it has not happened yet or they would not be encouraging one another to leave and escape. For the idea here compare 50:16.
18 tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”