43:14 This is what the Lord says,
your protector, 2 the Holy One of Israel: 3
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives, 4
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. 5
47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,
O virgin 6 daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed, 7 you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!
Who among them 8 announced these things?
The Lord’s ally 9 will carry out his desire against Babylon;
he will exert his power against the Babylonians. 10
48:20 Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Babylonians!
Announce it with a shout of joy!
Make this known!
Proclaim it throughout the earth! 11
Say, ‘The Lord protects 12 his servant Jacob.
1 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).
1 tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
2 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
3 tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”
4 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.
1 tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).
2 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
1 sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).
2 tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”
3 tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”
1 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
2 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.