2 Chronicles 15:6

15:6 One nation was crushed by another, and one city by another, for God caused them to be in great turmoil. ¹ 

Isaiah 9:19-21

9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, ² 

and the people became fuel for the fire. ³ 

People had no compassion on one another. ⁴ 

9:20 They devoured ⁵  on the right, but were still hungry,

they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.

People even ate ⁶  the flesh of their own arm! ⁷ 

9:21 Manasseh fought against ⁸  Ephraim,

and Ephraim against Manasseh;

together they fought against Judah.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁹ 

Isaiah 19:2

19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, ¹⁰ 

brothers will fight with each other,

as will neighbors,

cities, and kingdoms. ¹¹ 

Ezekiel 21:27

21:27 A total ruin I will make it! ¹² 

It will come to an end

when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.’ ¹³ 

Haggai 2:21-22

2:21 Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah: ‘I am ready ¹⁴  to shake the sky ¹⁵  and the earth. 2:22 I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms. ¹⁶  I will overthrow chariots and those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as people kill one another. ¹⁷ 

Zechariah 14:2-3

14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ¹⁸  to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. ¹⁹ 

14:3 Then the Lord will go to battle ²⁰  and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. ²¹ 

Zechariah 14:13

14:13 On that day there will be great confusion from the Lord among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently.

Hebrews 12:27

12:27 Now this phrase “once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain.

[15:6]  ¹ tn Heb “threw them into confusion with all distress.”

[9:19]  ² tn The precise meaning of the verb עְתַּם (’ÿtam), which occurs only here, is uncertain, though the context strongly suggests that it means “burn, scorch.”

[9:19]  ³ sn The uncontrollable fire of the people’s wickedness (v. 18) is intensified by the fire of the Lord’s judgment (v. 19). God allows (or causes) their wickedness to become self-destructive as civil strife and civil war break out in the land.

[9:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “men were not showing compassion to their brothers.” The idiom “men to their brothers” is idiomatic for reciprocity. The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav (ו) consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ⁵ tn Or “cut.” The verb גָּזַר (gazar) means “to cut.” If it is understood here, then one might paraphrase, “They slice off meat on the right.” However, HALOT 187 s.v. I גזר, proposes here a rare homonym meaning “to devour.”

[9:20]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ⁷ tn Some suggest that זְרֹעוֹ (zÿro’o, “his arm”) be repointed זַרְעוֹ (zar’o, “his offspring”). In either case, the metaphor is that of a desperately hungry man who resorts to an almost unthinkable act to satisfy his appetite. He eats everything he can find to his right, but still being unsatisfied, then turns to his left and eats everything he can find there. Still being desperate for food, he then resorts to eating his own flesh (or offspring, as this phrase is metaphorically understood by some English versions, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The reality behind the metaphor is the political turmoil of the period, as the next verse explains. There was civil strife within the northern kingdom; even the descendants of Joseph were at each other’s throats. Then the northern kingdom turned on their southern brother, Judah.

[9:21]  ⁸ tn The words “fought against” are supplied in the translation both here and later in this verse for stylistic reasons.

[9:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched” (KJV and ASV both similar); NIV “his hand is still upraised.”

[19:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb I will provoke Egypt against Egypt” (NAB similar).

[19:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they will fight, a man against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Civil strife will extend all the way from the domestic level to the provincial arena.

[21:27]  ¹² tn Heb “A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it.” The threefold repetition of the noun “ruin” is for emphasis and draws attention to the degree of ruin that would take place. See IBHS 233 §12.5a and GKC 431-32 §133.k. The pronominal suffix (translated “it”) on the verb “make” is feminine in Hebrew. The probable antecedent is the “turban/crown” (both nouns are feminine in form) mentioned in verse 26. The point is that the king’s royal splendor would be completely devastated as judgment overtook his realm and brought his reign to a violent end.

[21:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “Also this, he was not, until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it.” The Hebrew text, as it stands, is grammatically difficult. The pronoun “this” is feminine, while the following negated verb (“was not”) is masculine. Some emend the verb to a feminine form (see BHS). In this case the statement refers to the destiny of the king’s turban/crown (symbolizing his reign). See the previous note. The preposition translated “when” normally means “until,” but here it seems to refer to the period during which the preceding situation is realized, rather than its termination point. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:19, 21. The second part of the statement, though awkward, probably refers to the arrival of the Babylonian king, to whom the Lord had assigned the task of judgment (see 23:24). Or the verse may read “A total ruin I will make, even this. It will not be until the one comes to whom is (the task of) judgment and I have assigned it.”

[2:21]  ¹⁴ tn The participle here suggests an imminent undertaking of action (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “I am about to”). The overall language of the passage is eschatological, but eschatology finds its roots in the present.

[2:21]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “sky” in 2:6. Most English translations render the Hebrew term as “heavens” here.

[2:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the kingdoms of the nations.” Cf. KJV “the kingdoms of the heathen”; NIV, NLT “foreign kingdoms.”

[2:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and horses and their riders will go down, a man with a sword his brother”; KJV “every one by the sword of his brother.”

[14:2]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[14:3]  ²⁰ sn The statement the Lord will go to battle introduces the conflict known elsewhere as the “battle of Armageddon,” a battle in which the Lord delivers his people and establishes his millennial reign (cf. Joel 3:12, 15-16; Ezek 38–39; Rev 16:12-21; 19:19-21).

[14:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).