18:19 He has neither children nor descendants 1 among his people,
no survivor in those places he once stayed. 2
109:9 May his children 3 be fatherless,
and his wife a widow!
109:10 May his children 4 roam around begging,
asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! 5
109:11 May the creditor seize 6 all he owns!
May strangers loot his property! 7
109:12 May no one show him kindness! 8
May no one have compassion 9 on his fatherless children!
109:13 May his descendants 10 be cut off! 11
May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives! 12
109:14 May his ancestors’ 13 sins be remembered by the Lord!
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! 14
109:15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them, 15
and cut off the memory of his children 16 from the earth!
14:20 You will not be buried with them, 17
because you destroyed your land
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned again.
14:21 Prepare to execute 18 his sons
for the sins their ancestors have committed. 19
They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.” 20
14:22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, 21
including the offspring she produces,” 22
says the Lord.
1 tn The two words נִין (nin, “offspring”) and נֶכֶד (nekhed, “posterity”) are always together and form an alliteration. This is hard to capture in English, but some have tried: Moffatt had “son and scion,” and Tur-Sinai had “breed or brood.” But the words are best simply translated as “lineage and posterity” or as in the NIV “offspring or descendants.”
2 tn Heb “in his sojournings.” The verb גּוּר (gur) means “to reside; to sojourn” temporarily, without land rights. Even this word has been selected to stress the temporary nature of his stay on earth.
3 tn Or “sons.”
4 tn Or “sons.”
5 tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (vÿdoreshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (yÿgoreshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shi’elu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.
6 tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).
7 tn Heb “the product of his labor.”
8 tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”
9 tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).
10 tn Or “offspring.”
11 sn On the expression cut off see Ps 37:28.
12 tn Heb “in another generation may their name be wiped out.”
13 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
14 tn Heb “not be wiped out.”
15 tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the
16 tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.
17 tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).
18 tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”
19 tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”
20 sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.
21 tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).
22 tn Heb “descendant and child.”