51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins.
Jackals will make their home there. 1
It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,
a place where no one lives. 2
51:1 The Lord says,
“I will cause a destructive wind 3 to blow
against 4 Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia. 5
9:8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows. 6
They are always telling lies. 7
Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths.
But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. 8
9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. 9
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation 10 of people that has been disloyal to him. 11
7:21 The Lord said to the people of Judah, 15 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 16 says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too! 17
ס (Samek)
2:15 All who passed by on the road
clapped their hands to mock you. 18
They sneered and shook their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem.
“Ha! Is this the city they called 19
‘The perfection of beauty, 20
the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” 21
פ (Pe)
2:16 All your enemies
gloated over you. 22
They sneered and gnashed their teeth;
they said, “We have destroyed 23 her!
Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.
We have lived to see it!” 24
6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; 25
you follow their policies. 26
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, 27
the city’s 28 inhabitants will be taunted derisively, 29
and nations will mock all of you.” 30
2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up 31 –
the city that was so secure. 32
She thought to herself, 33 “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” 34
What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!
Everyone who passes by her taunts her 35 and shakes his fist. 36
1 tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.” Compare 9:11.
2 tn Heb “without an inhabitant.”
3 sn The destructive wind is a figurative reference to the “foreign people” who will “winnow” Babylon and drive out all the people (v. 2). This figure has already been used in 4:11-12 and in 49:36. See the study note on 4:11-12 and the translator’s notes on 22:22 and 49:36.
4 tn Or “I will arouse the spirit of hostility of a destroying nation”; Heb “I will stir up against Babylon…a destroying wind [or the spirit of a destroyer].” The word רוּחַ (ruakh) can refer to either a wind (BDB 924 s.v. רוּחַ 2.a) or a spirit (BDB 925 s.v. רוּחַ 2.g). It can be construed as either a noun followed by an adjectival participle (so, “a destroying wind”) or a noun followed by another noun in the “of” relationship (a construct or genitival relationship; so, “spirit of a destroyer”). The same noun with this same verb is translated “stir up the spirit of” in 1 Chr 5:26; 2 Chr 21:16; 36:22; Hag 1:14; and most importantly in Jer 51:11 where it refers to the king of the Medes. However, the majority of the exegetical tradition (all the commentaries consulted and all the English versions except NASB and NIV) opt for the “destructive wind” primarily because of the figure of winnowing that is found in the next verse. The translation follows the main line exegetical tradition here for that same reason.
5 sn Heb “the people who live in Leb-qamai.” “Leb-qamai” is a code name for “Chaldeans” 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. This same principle is used in referring to Babylon in 25:26 and 51:41 as “Sheshach.” See the study note on 25:26 where further details are given. There is no consensus on why the code name is used because the terms Babylon and Chaldeans (= Babylonians) have appeared regularly in this prophecy or collection of prophecies.
6 tc This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See HALOT 1354 s.v. II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.
7 tn Heb “They speak deceit.”
8 tn Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”
9 tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
10 tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
11 tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.
12 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.
13 tn Heb “this place.” Some see this as a reference to the temple but the context has been talking about what goes on in the towns of Judah and Jerusalem and the words that follow, meant as a further explanation, are applied to the whole land.
14 tn Heb “the trees of/in the field and the fruit of/in the ground.”
15 tn The words “The
16 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
17 tn Heb “Add your burnt offerings to your [other] sacrifices and eat the meat!” See the following sn for explanation. This is an example of the rhetorical use of the imperative for a sarcastic challenge. Cf. GKC 324 §110.a; cf. Amos 4:4, “Go to Bethel and sin!”
18 tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).
19 tn Heb “of which they said.”
20 tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.
21 tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.
22 tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”
23 tn Heb “We have swallowed!”
24 tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.
25 tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”
26 tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”
27 tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.
28 tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.
30 tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).
31 tn Heb “this is the proud city.”
32 tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”
33 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
34 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”
35 tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”
36 sn Hissing (or whistling) and shaking the fist were apparently ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.