25:37 Their peaceful dwelling places will be laid waste 1
by the fierce anger of the Lord. 2
47:6 How long will you cry out, 3 ‘Oh, sword of the Lord,
how long will it be before you stop killing? 4
Go back into your sheath!
Stay there and rest!’ 5
50:30 So her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the Lord. 6
8:14 The people say, 7
“Why are we just sitting here?
Let us gather together inside the fortified cities. 8
Let us at least die there fighting, 9
since the Lord our God has condemned us to die.
He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment 10
because we have sinned against him. 11
48:2 People will not praise Moab any more.
The enemy will capture Heshbon 12 and plot 13 how to destroy Moab, 14
saying, ‘Come, let’s put an end to that nation!’
City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed. 15
A destructive army will march against you. 16
49:26 For her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the Lord who rules over all. 17
51:6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. 18
Flee to save your lives.
Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins.
For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge.
He will pay Babylonia 19 back for what she has done. 20
1 tn For this meaning of the verb used here see HALOT 217 s.v. דָּמַם Nif. Elsewhere it refers to people dying (see, e.g., Jer 49:26; 50:30) hence some see a reference to “lifeless.”
2 tn Heb “because of the burning anger of the
3 tn The words “How long will you cry out” are not in the text but some such introduction seems necessary because the rest of the speech assumes a personal subject.
4 tn Heb “before you are quiet/at rest.”
5 sn The passage is highly figurative. The sword of the
5 tn Heb “Oracle of the
7 tn The words “The people say” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift of speakers between vv. 4-13 and vv. 14-16. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “Gather together and let us enter into the fortified cities.”
9 tn Heb “Let us die there.” The words “at least” and “fighting” are intended to bring out the contrast of passive surrender to death in the open country and active resistance to the death implicit in the context.
10 tn The words “of judgment” are not in the text but are intended to show that “poison water” is not literal but figurative of judgment at the hands of God through the agency of the enemy mentioned in v. 16.
11 tn Heb “against the
9 sn Heshbon was originally a Moabite city but was captured by Sihon king of Og and made his capital (Num 21:26-30). It was captured from Sihon and originally assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Num 32:37; Josh 13:17). Later it was made a Levitical city and was assigned to the tribe of Gad (Josh 21:39). It formed the northern limits of Moab. It was located about eighteen miles east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea.
10 sn There is a wordplay in Hebrew on the word “Heshbon” and the word “plot” (חָשְׁבוּ, khoshvu).
11 tn Heb “In Heshbon they plot evil against her [i.e., Moab].” The “they” is undefined, but it would scarcely be Moabites living in Heshbon. Hence TEV and CEV are probably correct in seeing a reference to the enemy which would imply the conquest of this city which lay on the northern border of Moab.
12 tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The translation here follows all the modern English versions and commentaries in reading the place name “Madmen” even though the place is otherwise unknown and the Greek, Syriac, and Latin version all read this word as an emphasizing infinitive absolute of the following verb “will be destroyed,” i.e. דָּמוֹם יִדֹּמּוּ (damom yiddommu). Some see this word as a variant of the name Dimon in Isa 15:9 which in turn is a playful variant of the place name Dibon. There is once again a wordplay on the word “Madmen” and “will be destroyed”: מַדְמֵן (madmen) and יִדֹּמּוּ (yiddommu). For the meaning of the verb = “perish” or “be destroyed” see Jer 8:14; Ps 31:18.
13 tn Heb “A sword will follow after you.” The sword is again figurative of destructive forces, here the army of the Babylonians.
11 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.” For this title for God see the study note on 2:19.
13 tn The words “you foreign people” are not in the text and many think the referent is the exiles of Judah. While this is clearly the case in v. 45 the referent seems broader here where the context speaks of every man going to his own country (v. 9).
14 tn Heb “her.”
15 tn Heb “paying to her a recompense [i.e., a payment in kind].”