Genesis 10:22

10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, ¹  Asshur, ²  Arphaxad, ³  Lud, ⁴  and Aram. ⁵ 

Isaiah 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ⁶ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ⁷ 

Isaiah 22:6

22:6 The Elamites picked up the quiver,

and came with chariots and horsemen; ⁸ 

the men of Kir ⁹  prepared ¹⁰  the shield. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 25:25

25:25 all the kings of Zimri; ¹²  all the kings of Elam; ¹³  all the kings of Media; ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 49:34-39

Judgment Against Elam

49:34 Early in the reign ¹⁵  of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam. ¹⁶ 

49:35 The Lord who rules over all said,

“I will kill all the archers of Elam,

who are the chief source of her military might. ¹⁷ 

49:36 I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction

like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven.

I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds.

There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go. ¹⁸ 

49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,

who are seeking to kill them.

I will vent my fierce anger

and bring disaster upon them,” ¹⁹  says the Lord. ²⁰ 

“I will send armies chasing after them ²¹ 

until I have completely destroyed them.

49:38 I will establish my sovereignty over Elam. ²² 

I will destroy their king and their leaders,” ²³  says the Lord. ²⁴ 

49:39 “Yet in days to come

I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.” ²⁵ 

says the Lord. ²⁶ 

Ezekiel 32:24

32:24 “Elam is there with all her hordes around her grave; all of them struck down by the sword. They went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, those who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the pit.

[10:22]  ¹ sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.

[10:22]  ² sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.

[10:22]  ³ sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.

[10:22]  ⁴ sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.

[10:22]  ⁵ sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.

[21:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ⁷ sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[22:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with] the chariots of men, horsemen.”

[22:6]  ⁹ sn A distant region in the direction of Mesopotamia; see Amos 1:5; 9:7.

[22:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Kir uncovers” (so NAB, NIV).

[22:6]  ¹¹ sn The Elamites and men of Kir may here symbolize a fierce army from a distant land. If this oracle anticipates a Babylonian conquest of the city (see 39:5-7), then the Elamites and men of Kir are perhaps viewed here as mercenaries in the Babylonian army. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:410.

[25:25]  ¹² sn The kingdom of Zimri is mentioned nowhere else, so its location is unknown.

[25:25]  ¹³ sn See further Jer 49:34-39 for judgment against Elam.

[25:25]  ¹⁴ sn Elam and Media were east of Babylon; Elam in the south and Media in the north. They were in what is now western Iran.

[49:34]  ¹⁵ tn Or “In the beginning of the reign.” For a discussion of the usage of the terms here see the translator’s note on 28:1. If this refers to the accession year the dating would be 598/97 b.c.

[49:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “That which came [as] the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet about the Elam.” See the translator’s note on 14:1 for the construction here and compare also 46:1; 47:1; 50:1.

[49:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will break the bow of Elam, the chief source of their might.” The phrase does not mean that God will break literal bows or that he will destroy their weapons (synecdoche of species for genus) or their military power (so Hos 1:5). Because of the parallelism, the “bow” here stands for the archers who wield the bow, and were the strongest force (or chief contingent) in their military.

[49:36]  ¹⁸ tn Or more simply, “I will bring enemies against Elam from every direction. / And I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. // There won’t be any nation / where the refugees of Elam will not go.” Or more literally, “I will bring the four winds against Elam / from the four quarters of heaven. / I will scatter….” However, the winds are not to be understood literally here. God isn’t going to “blow the Elamites” out of Elam with natural forces. The winds must figuratively represent enemy forces that God will use to drive them out. Translating literally would be misleading at this point.

[49:37]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”

[49:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:37]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”

[49:38]  ²² tn Or “I will sit in judgment over Elam”; Heb “I will set up my throne in Elam.” Commentators are divided over whether this refers to a king sitting in judgment over his captured enemies or whether it refers to formally establishing his rule over the country. Those who argue for the former idea point to the supposed parallels in 1:15 (which the present translation understands not to refer to this but to setting up siege) and 43:8-13. The parallelism in the verse here, however, argues that it refers to the Lord taking over the reins of government by destroying their former leaders.

[49:38]  ²³ tn Heb “I will destroy king and leaders from there.”

[49:38]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:39]  ²⁵ tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[49:39]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”