2 Kings 17:24

The King of Assyria Populates Israel with Foreigners

17:24 The king of Assyria brought foreigners ¹  from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria ²  in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

Numbers 13:21

The Spies’ Activities

13:21 So they went up and investigated the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ³  at the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ 

Numbers 34:8

34:8 from Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath, ⁵  and the direction of the border will be to Zedad.

Isaiah 11:11

11:11 At that time ⁶  the sovereign master ⁷  will again lift his hand ⁸  to reclaim ⁹  the remnant of his people ¹⁰  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ¹¹  Cush, ¹²  Elam, Shinar, ¹³  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 39:5

39:5 But the Babylonian ¹⁵  army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho ¹⁶  and captured him. ¹⁷  They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah ¹⁸  in the territory of Hamath and Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him there.

Jeremiah 49:23

Judgment Against Damascus

49:23 The Lord spoke ¹⁹  about Damascus. ²⁰ 

“The people of Hamath and Arpad ²¹  will be dismayed

because they have heard bad news.

Their courage will melt away because of worry.

Their hearts will not be able to rest. ²² 

Zechariah 9:2

9:2 as are those of Hamath also, which adjoins Damascus, and Tyre ²³  and Sidon, ²⁴  though they consider themselves to be very wise.

[17:24]  ¹ tn The object is supplied in the translation.

[17:24]  ² sn In vv. 24-29 Samaria stands for the entire northern kingdom of Israel.

[13:21]  ³ sn Zin is on the southern edge of the land, but Rehob is far north, near Mount Hermon. The spies covered all the land.

[13:21]  ⁴ tn The idiom uses the infinitive construct: “to enter Hamath,” meaning, “on the way that people go to Hamath.”

[34:8]  ⁵ tn Or “to the entrance to Hamath.”

[11:11]  ⁶ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:11]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ¹¹ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ¹² tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹³ tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[39:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[39:5]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[39:5]  ¹⁷ sn 2 Kgs 25:5 and Jer 52:8 mention that the soldiers all scattered from him. That is why the text focuses on Zedekiah here.

[39:5]  ¹⁸ sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.

[49:23]  ¹⁹ tn The words “The Lord spoke” and “he said” are not in the text. There is only a title here: “Concerning Damascus.” However, something needs to be supplied to show that these are the Lord’s words of judgment (cf. v. 26 “oracle of the Lord” and the “I” in v. 27). These words have been supplied in the translation for clarity and consistency with the introduction to the other judgment speeches.

[49:23]  ²⁰ sn Damascus is a city in Syria, located below the eastern slopes of the Anti-lebanon Mountains. It was the capital of the Aramean state that was in constant hostility with Israel from the time of David until its destruction by the Assyrians in 732 b.c. At various times it was allied with the Aramean state of Hamath which was further north. Contingents from these Aramean states were involved in harassing Judah and Jerusalem in 598 b.c. when Jehoiakim rebelled (2 Kgs 24:2) but little is heard about them in the rest of the book of Jeremiah or in the history of this period.

[49:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “Hamath and Arpad.” There is no word for people in the text. The cities are being personified. However, since it is really the people who are involved and it is clearer for the modern reader, the present translation supplies the words “people of” both here and in v. 24. The verbs in vv. 23-25 are all to be interpreted as prophetic perfects, the tense of the Hebrew verb that views an action as though it were as good as done. The verbs are clearly future in vv. 26-27 which begin with a “therefore.”

[49:23]  ²² tc The meaning of this verse is very uncertain. The Hebrew text apparently reads “Hamath and Arpad are dismayed. They melt away because they have heard bad news. Anxiety is in the sea; it [the sea] cannot be quiet.” Many commentaries and English versions redivide the verse and read “like the sea” for “in the sea” (כַּיָּם [kayyam] for בַּיָּם [bayyam]) and read the feminine singular noun דְּאָגָה (dÿ’agam) as though it were the third masculine plural verb דָּאֲגוּ (da’agu): “They are troubled like the sea.” The translation follows the emendation proposed in BHS and accepted by a number of commentaries (e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 333; J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 723, n. 1). That emendation involves reading נָמֹג לִבָּם מִדְּאָגָה (namog libbam middÿ’agah) instead of נָמֹגוּ בַּיָּם דְּאָגָה (namogu bayyam dÿ’agah). The translation also involves a double reading of “heart,” for the sake of English style, once in the sense of courage (BDB 525 s.v. לֵב 10) because that is the nuance that best fits “melts” in the English idiom and once in the more general sense of hearts as the seat of fear, anxiety, worry. The double translation is a concession to English style.

[9:2]  ²³ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[9:2]  ²⁴ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.