Deuteronomy 32:23

32:23 I will increase their ¹  disasters,

I will use up my arrows on them.

Deuteronomy 32:42

32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

and my sword will devour flesh –

the blood of the slaughtered and captured,

the chief ²  of the enemy’s leaders!’”

Psalms 21:12

21:12 For you make them retreat ³ 

when you shoot your arrows at them. ⁴ 

Psalms 45:5

45:5 Your arrows are sharp

and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.

Nations fall at your feet. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 50:9

50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon

a host of mighty nations ⁶  from the land of the north.

They will set up their battle lines against her.

They will come from the north and capture her. ⁷ 

Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ⁸ 

who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ⁹ 

[32:23]  ¹ tn Heb “upon them.”

[32:42]  ² tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).

[21:12]  ³ tn Heb “you make them a shoulder,” i.e., “you make them turn and run, showing the back of their neck and shoulders.”

[21:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “with your bowstrings you fix against their faces,” i.e., “you fix your arrows on the bowstrings to shoot at them.”

[45:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “your arrows are sharp – peoples beneath you fall – in the heart of the enemies of the king.” The choppy style reflects the poet’s excitement.

[50:9]  ⁶ sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.

[50:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”

[50:9]  ⁸ tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew mss and some of the versions in place of מַשְׁכִּיל (mashkil, “one who kills children”) with the majority of Hebrew mss and some of the versions. See BHS note d for the details.

[50:9]  ⁹ tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”