Jeremiah 9:16

9:16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors ¹  have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords ²  until I have destroyed them.’” ³ 

Jeremiah 48:2

48:2 People will not praise Moab any more.

The enemy will capture Heshbon ⁴  and plot ⁵  how to destroy Moab, ⁶ 

saying, ‘Come, let’s put an end to that nation!’

City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed. ⁷ 

A destructive army will march against you. ⁸ 

Leviticus 26:33

26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ⁹  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

Ezekiel 5:2

5:2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them.

Ezekiel 5:12

5:12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. ¹⁰  A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, ¹¹  and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.

Ezekiel 12:14

12:14 All his retinue – his attendants and his troops – I will scatter to every wind; I will unleash a sword behind them.

¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

² tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.” The sword here is probably not completely literal but refers to death by violent means, including death by the sword.

³ sn He will destroy them but not completely. See Jer 5:18; 30:11; 46:28.

⁴ 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.

⁵ sn There is a wordplay in Hebrew on the word “Heshbon” and the word “plot” (חָשְׁבוּ, khoshvu).

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn Heb “A sword will follow after you.” The sword is again figurative of destructive forces, here the army of the Babylonians.

⁹ tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

¹⁰ sn The judgment of plague and famine comes from the covenant curse (Lev 26:25-26). As in v. 10, the city of Jerusalem is figuratively addressed here.

¹¹ sn Judgment by plague, famine, and sword occurs in Jer 21:9; 27:13; Ezek 6:11, 12; 7:15.