46:9 Go ahead and 4 charge into battle, you horsemen!
Drive furiously, you charioteers!
Let the soldiers march out into battle,
those from Ethiopia and Libya who carry shields,
and those from Lydia 5 who are armed with the bow. 6
50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows. 7
Shoot 8 all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! 9
For she has sinned against the Lord.
50:29 “Call for archers 15 to come against Babylon!
Summon against her all who draw the bow!
Set up camp all around the city!
Do not allow anyone to escape!
Pay her back for what she has done.
Do to her what she has done to others.
For she has proudly defied me, 16
the Holy One of Israel. 17
1 tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”
2 tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”
3 tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”
4 tn The words “Go ahead and” are not in the text but are intended to suggest the ironical nature of the commands here. The
5 sn The peoples that are referred to here are all known to have been mercenaries in the army of Egypt (see Nah 3:9; Ezek 30:5). The place names in Hebrew are actually Cush, Put, and Lud. “Cush” has already been identified in Jer 13:23 as the region along the Nile south of Egypt most commonly referred to as Ethiopia. The identification of “Put” and “Lud” are both debated though it is generally felt that Put was a part of Libya and Lud is to be identified with Lydia in Asia Minor. For further discussion see M. J. Mellink, “Lud, Ludim” IDB 3:178, and T. O. Lambdin, “Put,” IDB 3:971.
6 tn Heb “who grasp and bend the bow.”
7 tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”
8 tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew
9 tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”
10 tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.
11 tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”
12 tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the
14 tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the
13 tn For this word see BDB 914 s.v. III רַב and compare usage in Prov 26:10 and Job 16:12 and compare the usage of the verb in Gen 49:23. Based on this evidence, it is not necessary to emend the form to רֹבִים (rovim) as many commentators contend.
14 tn Heb “for she has acted insolently against the
15 sn The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the