51:38 The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey.
They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat. 1
51:39 When their appetites are all stirred up, 2
I will set out a banquet for them.
I will make them drunk
so that they will pass out, 3
they will fall asleep forever,
they will never wake up,” 4
says the Lord. 5
50:10 Babylonia 8 will be plundered.
Those who plunder it will take all they want,”
says the Lord. 9
50:11 “People of Babylonia, 10 you plundered my people. 11
That made you happy and glad.
You frolic about like calves in a pasture. 12
Your joyous sounds are like the neighs of a stallion. 13
50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.
The land where you were born 14 will be disgraced.
Indeed, 15 Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.
It will become a dry and barren desert.
50:13 After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. 16
It will be totally desolate.
All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it. 17
50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows. 18
Shoot 19 all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! 20
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. 21
Her towers 22 will fall.
Her walls will be torn down.
Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, 23
take out your vengeance on her!
Do to her as she has done!
15:1 Here is a message about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
24:8 The happy sound 24 of the tambourines stops,
the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,
the happy sound of the harp ceases.
24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; 25
the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
24:10 The ruined town 26 is shattered;
all of the houses are shut up tight. 27
24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; 28
all joy turns to sorrow; 29
celebrations disappear from the earth. 30
47:5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, 31
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed, 32 you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’
18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,
flute players, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you 33 again.
No 34 craftsman 35 who practices any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the noise of a mill 36 will never be heard in you again.
18:23 Even the light from a lamp
will never shine in you again!
The voices of the bridegroom and his bride
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,
because all the nations 37 were deceived by your magic spells! 38
1 tn Heb “They [the Babylonians] all roar like lions. They growl like the cubs of lions.” For the usage of יַחְדָו (yakhdav) meaning “all” see Isa 10:8; 18:6; 41:20. The translation strives to convey in clear terms what is the generally accepted meaning of the simile (cf., e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 358, and J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 762).
2 tn Heb “When they are hot.”
3 tc The translation follows the suggestion of KBL 707 s.v. עָלַז and a number of modern commentaries (e.g., Bright, J. A. Thompson, and W. L. Holladay) in reading יְעֻלְּפוּ (ye’ullÿfu) for יַעֲלֹזוּ (ya’alozu) in the sense of “swoon away” or “grow faint” (see KBL 710 s.v. עָלַף Pual). That appears to be the verb that the LXX (the Greek version) was reading when they translated καρωθῶσιν (karwqwsin, “they will be stupefied”). For parallel usage KBL cites Isa 51:20. This fits the context much better than “they will exult” in the Hebrew text.
4 sn The central figure here is the figure of the cup of the
5 tn Heb “Oracle of the
6 sn Compare Jer 7:24 and 16:9 for this same dire prediction limited to Judah and Jerusalem.
7 sn The sound of people grinding meal and the presence of lamps shining in their houses were signs of everyday life. The
8 tn Heb “The land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
9 tn Heb “Oracle of the
10 tn The words “People of Babylonia” are not in the text but they are implicit in the reference in the next verse to “your mother” which refers to the city and the land as the mother of its people. These words have been supplied in the translation to identify the referent of “you” and have been added for clarity.
11 tn Or “my land.” The word can refer to either the land (Jer 2:7, 16:8) or the nation/people (Jer 12:7, 8, 9).
12 tc Reading כְּעֶגְלֵי דֶשֶׁא (kÿ’egle deshe’) or כְּעֵגֶל בַּדֶּשֶׁא (kÿ’egel baddeshe’) as presupposed by the Greek and Latin versions (cf. BHS note d-d) in place of the reading in the Hebrew text כְּעֶגְלָה דָשָׁה (kÿ’eglah dashah, “like a heifer treading out the grain”) which does not fit the verb (פּוּשׁ [push] = “spring about” [BDB 807 s.v. I פּוּשׁ] or “paw the ground” [KBL 756 s.v. פּוּשׁ] and compare Mal 3:20 for usage). This variant reading is also accepted by J. Bright, J. A. Thompson, F. B. Huey, and G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers.
13 tn Heb “Though you rejoice, though you exult, you who have plundered my heritage, though you frolic like calves in a pasture and neigh like stallions, your mother…” The particle כִּי (ki) introduces a concessive protasis according to BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c(a). Many interpret the particle as introducing the grounds for the next verse, i.e., “because…” The translation here will reflect the concessive by beginning the next verse with “But.” The long protasis has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.
14 tn Heb “Your mother will be utterly shamed, the one who gave you birth…” The word “mother” and the parallel term “the one who gave you birth” are used metaphorically for the land of Babylonia. For the figure compare the usage in Isa 50:1 (Judah) and Hos 2:2, 5 (2:4, 7 HT) and see BDB 52 s.v. אֵם 2 and 408 s.v. יָלַד Qal.2.c.
15 tn Heb “Behold.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.
16 tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the
17 sn Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.
18 tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”
19 tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew
20 tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”
21 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.
22 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.
23 tn Heb “Because it is the
24 tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).
25 tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”
26 tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.
27 tn Heb “every house is closed up from entering.”
28 tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”
29 tn Heb “all joy turns to evening,” the darkness of evening symbolizing distress and sorrow.
30 tn Heb “the joy of the earth disappears.”
31 tn Heb “darkness,” which may indicate a place of hiding where a fugitive would seek shelter and protection.
32 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
33 tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.
34 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
35 tn On this term BDAG 1001 s.v. τεχνίτης states, “craftsperson, artisan, designer…Of a silversmith Ac 19:24, 25 v.l., 38….Of a potter 2 Cl 8:2 (metaph., cp. Ath. 15:2). πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης Rv 18:22.”
36 tn This is a different Greek word (μύλος, mulos) from the one for the millstone in v. 21 (μύλινος, mulinos). See L&N 7.68.
37 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
38 tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”