2 Samuel 5:21

5:21 The Philistines ¹  abandoned their idols ²  there, and David and his men picked them up.

Isaiah 46:1-2

The Lord Carries His People

46:1 Bel ³  kneels down,

Nebo ⁴  bends low.

Their images weigh down animals and beasts. ⁵ 

Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. ⁶ 

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ⁷ 

they themselves ⁸  head off into captivity. ⁹ 

[5:21]  ¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ² tc For “idols” the LXX and Vulgate have “gods.”

[46:1]  ³ sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.

[46:1]  ⁴ sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.

[46:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”

[46:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”

[46:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ⁸ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ⁹ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.