49:14 I said, 1 “I have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,
‘Gather your armies and march out against her!
Prepare to do battle with her!’” 2
49:31 The Lord says, 3 “Army of Babylon, 4 go and attack
a nation that lives in peace and security.
They have no gates or walls to protect them. 5
They live all alone.
50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows. 6
Shoot 7 all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! 8
For she has sinned against the Lord.
50:15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city.
She will throw up her hands in surrender. 9
Her towers 10 will fall.
Her walls will be torn down.
Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, 11
take out your vengeance on her!
Do to her as she has done!
50:16 Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon.
Kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time. 12
Let all the foreigners return to their own people.
Let them hurry back to their own lands
to escape destruction by that enemy army. 13
13:2 14 On a bare hill raise a signal flag,
shout to them,
wave your hand,
so they might enter the gates of the princes!
13:3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; 15
I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, 16
my boasting, arrogant ones. 17
13:4 18 There is a loud noise on the mountains –
it sounds like a large army! 19
There is great commotion among the kingdoms 20 –
nations are being assembled!
The Lord who commands armies is mustering
forces for battle.
13:5 They come from a distant land,
from the horizon. 21
It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, 22
coming to destroy the whole earth. 23
1 tn The words “I said” are not in the text but it is generally agreed that the words that follow are Jeremiah’s. These words are supplied in the translation to make clear that the speaker has shifted from the
2 tn Heb “Rise up for battle.” The idea “against her” is implicit from the context and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “Oracle of the
4 tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “no gates and no bar,” i.e., “that lives securely without gates or bars.” The phrase is used by the figure of species for genus (synecdoche) to refer to the fact that they have no defenses, i.e., no walls, gates, or bars on the gates. The figure has been interpreted in the translation for the benefit of the average reader.
6 tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”
7 tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew
8 tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”
9 tn Heb “She has given her hand.” For the idiom here involving submission/surrender see BDB 680 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.z and compare the usage in 1 Chr 29:24; 2 Chr 30:8. For a different interpretation, however, see the rather complete discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 366) who see this as a reference to making a covenant. The verb in this line and the next two lines are all Hebrew perfects and most translators and commentaries see them as past. God’s Word, however, treats them as prophetic perfects and translates them as future. This is more likely in the light of the imperatives both before and after.
10 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The definition here follows that of HALOT 91 s.v. אָשְׁיָה, which defines it on the basis of an Akkadian word and treats it as a loanword.
11 tn Heb “Because it is the
12 tn Heb “Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time.” For the meaning “kill” for the root “cut off” see BDB 503 s.v. כָּרַת Qal.1.b and compare usage in Jer 11:19. The verb is common in this nuance in the Hiphil, cf. BDB 504 s.v. כָּרַת Hiph, 2.b.
13 tn Heb “Because of [or out of fear of] the sword of the oppressor, let each of them turn toward his [own] people and each of them flee to his [own] country.” Compare a similar expression in 46:16 where the reference was to the flight of the mercenaries. Here it refers most likely to foreigners who are counseled to leave Babylon before they are caught up in the destruction. Many of the commentaries and English versions render the verbs as futures but they are more likely third person commands (jussives). Compare the clear commands in v. 8 followed by essentially the same motivation. The “sword of the oppressor,” of course, refers to death at the hands of soldiers wielding all kinds of weapons, chief of which has been a reference to the bow (v. 14).
14 sn The Lord is speaking here (see v. 3).
15 tn Heb “my consecrated ones,” i.e., those who have been set apart by God for the special task of carrying out his judgment.
16 tn Heb “my warriors with respect to my anger.”
17 tn Heb “the boasting ones of my pride”; cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV “my proudly exulting ones.”
18 sn In vv. 4-10 the prophet appears to be speaking, since the Lord is referred to in the third person. However, since the Lord refers to himself in the third person later in this chapter (see v. 13), it is possible that he speaks throughout the chapter.
19 tn Heb “a sound, a roar [is] on the mountains, like many people.”
20 tn Heb “a sound, tumult of kingdoms.”
21 tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”
22 tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”
23 tn Or perhaps, “land” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT). Even though the heading and subsequent context (see v. 17) indicate Babylon’s judgment is in view, the chapter has a cosmic flavor that suggests that the coming judgment is universal in scope. Perhaps Babylon’s downfall occurs in conjunction with a wider judgment, or the cosmic style is poetic hyperbole used to emphasize the magnitude and importance of the coming event.