Jeremiah 25:26

25:26 all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath, ¹  the king of Babylon ²  must drink it.

Isaiah 23:13

23:13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans,

these people who have lost their identity! ³ 

The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.

They erected their siege towers, ⁴ 

demolished ⁵  its fortresses,

and turned it into a heap of ruins. ⁶ 

¹ tn The words “have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity at the end of the list to serve as a transition to the next sentence which does not directly mention the cup or the Lord’s wrath.

² tn Heb “the king of Sheshach.” “Sheshach” is a code name for Babylon formed on the principle of substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on. On this principle Hebrew שׁ (shin) is substituted for Hebrew ב (bet) and Hebrew כ (kaf) is substituted for Hebrew ל (lamed). On the same principle “Leb Kamai” in Jer 51:1 is a code name for Chasdim or Chaldeans which is Jeremiah’s term for the Babylonians. No explanation is given for why the code names are used. The name “Sheshach” for Babylon also occurs in Jer 51:41 where the term Babylon is found in parallelism with it.

³ tn Heb “this people [that] is not.”

⁴ tn For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 118 s.v. *בַּחוּן.

⁵ tn Or “laid bare.” For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 889 s.v. ערר.

⁶ sn This verse probably refers to the Assyrian destruction of Babylon.