Ezekiel 26:9

26:9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons. 1 

Isaiah 23:11

23:11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea, 2 

he shook kingdoms;

he 3  gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses. 4 

Jeremiah 5:10

5:10 The Lord commanded the enemy, 5 

“March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them. 6 

But do not destroy them completely.

Strip off their branches

for these people do not belong to the Lord. 7 

Amos 1:10

1:10 So I will set fire to Tyre’s city wall; 8 

fire 9  will consume her fortresses.”

Zechariah 9:3

9:3 Tyre built herself a fortification and piled up silver like dust and gold like the mud of the streets!

1 tn Heb “swords.”

2 tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”

3 tn Heb “the Lord.” For stylistic reasons the pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation here.

4 tn Heb “concerning Canaan, to destroy her fortresses.” NIV, NLT translate “Canaan” as “Phoenicia” here.

5 tn These words to not appear in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for the sake of clarity to identify the implied addressee.

6 tn Heb “through her vine rows and destroy.” No object is given but “vines” must be implicit. The word for “vineyards” (or “vine rows”) is a hapax legomenon and its derivation is debated. BDB 1004 s.v. שּׁוּרָה repoints שָׁרוֹתֶיהָ (sharoteha) to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ (shuroteha) and relates it to a Mishnaic Hebrew and Palestinian Aramaic word meaning “row.” HALOT 1348 s.v. שּׁוּרָה also repoints to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ and relates it to a noun meaning “wall,” preferring to see the reference here to the walled terraces on which the vineyards were planted. The difference in meaning is minimal.

7 tn Heb “for they do not belong to the Lord.” In the light of the context and Jeremiah’s identification of Israel as a vine (cf., e.g., 2:21) and a vineyard (cf., e.g., 12:10), it is likely that this verse has a totally metaphorical significance. The enemy is to go through the vineyard that is Israel and Judah and destroy all those who have been unfaithful to the Lord. It is not impossible, however, that the verse has a double meaning, a literal one and a figurative one: the enemy is not only to destroy Israel and Judah’s vines but to destroy Israel and Judah, lopping off the wicked Israelites who, because of their covenant unfaithfulness, the Lord has disowned. If the verse is totally metaphorical one might translate: “Pass through my vineyard, Israel and Judah, wreaking destruction. But do not destroy all of the people. Cut down like branches those unfaithful people because they no longer belong to the Lord.”

8 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

9 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.